First Pants

For my Apparel Design 2 class we are starting off the semester by making pants. Now we don't just go buy a pattern and make pants, oh no, we do it all from scratch. First we take our model's measurements then draft a pattern for a sloper using those measurements. Then we take that pattern and make it into a muslin pair of pants and have a fitting with one of our professors. Next we make any changes from the fitting to the patterns. After that we can make a sloper using those patterns. Using the sloper allows us to create a final pattern where we're able to add design details such as a waistband, pockets, zipper, and more.

 I started with my model's (Eric) measurements and was able to create my drafted pattern. There were a few times where I was nervous that they wouldn't turn out correct. For example, the waist to hip was 5 inches and my professor told me usually for guys it's 7-9 inches, so I was a little worried. But then I made the muslin pants and eagerly awaited the fitting. I only had to add 1/4 of an inch from the hip line to the crotch line, so I did pretty well for my first pair of pants. I am pretty happy with myself because I thought I would have to make a lot more changes and I didn't expect them to fit as well as they did.

You can see the muslin pants on the left, they're pretty basic. My lines didn't match up so it makes me nervous for when I use my actual fabric because it is black with white plaid lines and I have to be really careful and take my time so that all of the horizontal and vertical lines match up and are perfect. I really want these pants (and his whole outfit) to turn out really well so when I apply to London in the fall for the spring semester I will have a variety of garments that will be (hopefully) well constructed. I don't plan on sending London bad pictures of poorly constructed garments because then I definitely wouldn't get accepted, but I would love it if all the pieces I make this semester to turn out amazingly well.

Back to the pants, after the fitting I was able to tweak my patterns and start on my slopers.
Here they are:

They are the Back and Front pant legs in oak tag. I have all my lines drawn and notches notched. Now I am waiting for class on Tuesday to see what else I need to do. I've copied my slopers on to pattern paper but I know I need to add more to the patterns and am unsure of how much space I need so I might actually have to redo my patterns, but no big deal since I have my sloper.

I will keep you updated as the pants progress, I think the final pair are due the first week of February but we've already had an extension so it might be later but I hope to have them done quickly, I'm just so excited to see the outcome.