76: Sewing Pants

Sew pants in this order:

Check the pant pattern with
a muslin fitting.

Cutting to match produces
high-quality pants, no
matter what fabric is used.

Caution: Before cutting the pants make a muslin to be sure they fit. The muslin can be made from inexpensive fashion fabric. If the muslin's fit is good, the muslin can be worn.


Only an inexpensive sewing machine is needed to make high quality pants, or other high quality garments for that matter. 

Only an inexpensive sewing machine
is needed to make high-quality clothing.
Shown is a 1941
feather-weight sewing machine

1. Set the pockets.

2. Set the zipper. The zipper is set BEFORE the crotch seam is sewn.

When sewing zippers ALWAYS put the fabric that
has more give down to the feed, as shown here. That way
the feed dog will take up the ease, producing a professional finish.
 (The fly facing is stiffened with fusing, 
causing it to be stiffer than the pant front. )

(In the industry one seamstress sets the left side of the zipper, another seamstress sets the other side of the zipper, , the reason there is no stop at the bottom of fly zippers that have been sewn in the industry. After the side and inseams are sewn, the slide is slid up the zipper teeth to close the zipper. Then the crotch seam is sewn. In the home this is not usually practical.) 

3.Sew the crotch seam from the bottom of the zipper's stop to 1 1/2 inch from the front seam/inseam intersection.

4. Sew the side seams.

5. Sew the inseams. 

 Note: If the pants are encased with lining, there is no need to finish the seams, as encasing with lining IS a seam finish. 

6. Sew the crotch seam from 1 1/2 inch from the front seam/inseam to the back waist.

7.  Hem the pants.

8. Sew the waistband.

 The Basics for Sewing Pants and Skirts
contains the information needed to cut and sew
professional pants and skirts.

For complete classroom tested pant sewing information, consider The Basics for Sewing Pants and Skirts. It contains 470 pages of professional, step-by-step sewing instructions that include inset back and front pockets, zipper sets, lining, hemming and other procedures and tips too numerous to mention.

Making a sample book of the
procedures included in The Basics for Sewing Pants and Skirts
helps to develop professional sewing and
tailoring skills. All of these
procedures can be done at home
with minimal equipment.

Many of the procedures in the book are complicated. Making a mock up of some of these procedures is a good idea before attempting to make them in a garment. That is why purchase of the book includes a file of the sample book one can make as one works through the book. Two other files are also included with the purchase: a file of all the mock up patterns that can be printed, and a printout of all of the sample book pages that includes all of the information on the author's master sample book.

If interested in reading more posts about fashion technology, please consider adding your name to this blog's circles. Please consider following me on Facebook where I post links to fashion feeds and other fashion related topics.

Look for the article about seam allowance modification that I wrote for Threads Magazine. It is in their 199 issue that is now in libraries and on the newsstands. 

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