SWAP #6 - OneSeam Pants -- Fait Accompli!!

Everything that could have gone wrong did...but the OneSeams are done, and they look terrific!

I decided to make these pants because they seem to be one of the online community's favorite wardrobe items. Knowing they were elastic waist, and quite roomy, I figured I could use them for tai chi pants, but honestly did not think they would suit me as a true 'wardrobe' item.

Things that went wrong #1: Cut the wrong size: My friend and I cut our patterns together, and helped with our alterations and size choices. After cutting, I lost a bit of weight, and did a bit more careful measuring and decided I should have cut a smaller size. My friend meanwhile, came to the same conclusion, fortunately BEFORE she had done the cutting. She finished her pants, I tried them on, and re-cut my pieces. It was trickier than I expected to get the smaller size to fit completely within the medium pieces without changing the grain line. Also, I had to re-measure for the length and crotch adjustments.

Things that went wrong #2: Used lining for the pocket: I decided to use the elephant ear pockets as my fashion fabric was quite heavy, and I did not want 2 more layers of it in the front of the pants. I used a piece of lining fabric, a bit lighter in color than the pants. It did not occur to me until the pockets were sewn in that I should have faced an inch or so on the bottom pocket piece with the same fabric as the pants. The difference in the fabric is obvious if the pocket opening is pulled in the least way. I adjusted the bar tack at the bottom and moved it further up, and stitched down form the waist a bit to make the pocket opening smaller, and hold the front ovelap in place. All's well that ends well.

Things that went wrong #3: Sewed the pocket onto the wrong side: This happened AFTER I got the directions clarified by Louise Cutting herself. Feeling especially gratified and confident, I proceeded to put in the second pocket up to the point where the first one had stymied me. My plan was to follow Louise's new directions on both pockets at once. Fine idea, until I came to the part where it says "turn pocket to the wrong side" whereupon I discovered it was already on the wrong side. These pockets have a long slit into the side of the pants, the seam is sewed with tiny stitches tapering to nothing at the bottom. These I had to remove, re-sew, re-serge the edges and finally get the pocket done right. This is when I decided never to do elephant ear pockets again. I would rather get used to stuffing a kleenex in my sock.

Things that went wrong #4: Made the elastic too long: I have difficulty knowing exactly where my waist is, but I measured the elastic snugly, and 6.5 inches shorter than the top of the pants, per the pattern recommendations. It went in nicely, but when I tried it on, it was not snug enough. I cut about an inch and a half off.....and let go of the ends!! It took me 2 TV shows and a phone call to fish out the ends with a pin, bit by bit, at the end of which time my daughter said "Why didn't you use the kitchen tongs?" I pinned both ends back a couple of inches and tried the pants on. The fit was good, so I decided to cut the 4" off.

Things that went wrong #5: The elastic would not stretch enough: Early this morning, thinking I would be able to finishe the pants in time for tai chi class at 10:00 am, I sewed the elastic ends together and proceeded to make the first topstitching line. Delightfully even, nicely matching thread, machine purring and happy.....until I got to about 10" from the starting point and had a pile of gathers accumulating and no way for the elastic to stretch through them. All this before breakfast yet! Now I know why Louise has an instruction about making a tuck in the waistband if the elastic will not stretch as long as the top of the pants. This must be done at the start, however, not after cutting another 5.5 inches off the recommended length. I figured I would just cut off the whole band and sew on another one, but when I returned to the task I found that if I removed half of the topstitching row and paid more attention to the stretching I could get it to work, just barely, but it did work.

Things that went wrong #6: Hems don't match: Happy to be almost done, I serged the leg bottoms, turned them up on the hemline and tried them on. One leg is quite a bit shorter than the other. How can this be when both pieces were cut together? The mystery remains, and will forever. I got someone to pin the hems, cut and re-serged one leg, and stitched them up.


ALL IN ALL, the pants would have gone quite quickly but for correcting all these misadventures, and best of all, the final product looks quite sharp, and is incredibly comfortable. I would like to try the pattern again, just to get some value out of all these problems. I am going to try the tapered leg version, as the straight leg ones are quite large in the legs. I am wondering what they would be like made from a light knit -- perhaps I would have to downsize once more to allow for the stretch - research required.

Hitting Walls -- Climbing Walls

This has not been a particularly productive sewing week. Mostly I've fussed and fidgeted over things that gave me trouble earlier. It seems, though, that the fussing is gradually moving things forward toward the finish line.

The Beige Blouse: I tackled the sleeve alterations that I had been procrastinating. I had moved the shoulder seam forward, and ended up with a twisted sleeve. I could not alter the sleeve much as it was already cut. Ultimately, after several failed attempts to figure it out, I had to pull the back portion of the sleeve cap up a fair bit to get rid of the twistedness. This was strictly trial and error, mostly error. Many bastings in and out. Many coffee breaks. I ended up eliminating most of the fullness in the sleeve cap. All-in-all, it does not look bad, especially as I am not all that crazy about full sleeves anyway, fashion not-with-standing.

I did some fashion consultation with my daughter, and decided to leave the redesigned sleeves as is, but shorten the blouse an inch or so. This is a lovely design, but definitely should not have been made in a sheer fabric - (nor modelled as such with a black bra underneath). I actually thing the muslin is a better job -- though it is also a very soft cotton, and it also is not finished yet.

What's left: Re-do the hem, hem the sleeves, buttons and button-holes. So far, this shirt has hassled me at the shoulder seams, the collar, and the sleeves - so presumably, I have a few hassles left before I can kiss it goodbye -- or should I say 'hello.'

One-Seam Pants: These were cut out in December, but not made up - waiting on a friend's pair to try on. Last week, I re-cut from Medium to Small --which took far longer than it should have, and changed from patch pockets to elephant ear ones, which were too bulky for my fabric. The EE pockets require a slit to be made in the side of the pants. This is definitely a good thing to procrastinate -- no second chances.

I got one pocket almost finished and stumbled head-long into confusion over the directions near the end. It was only about 4 hours before Louise Cutting herself answered my plea on the Stitchers forum, telling me to do what made perfect common sense. The directions on the pattern have more recently been revised to eliminate the confusion. Did you know -- there are 40,000 OneSeam pants pattern out there scattered around the world.

Now I need to decide whether to put in the second pocket or leave it at one. Personally, I like to have a pocket in pants, but only for a kleenex -- so really, why do I need two?

Without the second pocket, I should have these whipped up in a couple of hours according to some online comments. Well, maybe no the first pair.

Jean Jacket: My wonderful jacket is fully done except for the snaps. I bought snaps. I tried a test snap using a cutting board on the kitchen counter for a hammering base. The result was hideous. This is where I learned that there are decent snaps with hard little pokey things on the underneath part; and there are idiotic snaps with little round springs, and bulky unattractive underparts. I checked out some of my store-bought clothes and lo, they all have the snaps with the little pokey bits. Off to the store, only to find they have only one package left....more waiting for me! But I am glad I did not compromise on the fasteners, because I really am quite thrilled with the way it turned out.

Reversible Jacket: This will be the second jacket of my SWAP. My friend Lynn and I have been planning to take this course for awhile. It's a stippled, reversible jacket, and I am using a Saf-T-Pockets pattern, sans appliques. I have no color sense, so I went to our local quilt shop and got some assistance picking good quality cotton for the 2 sides, and the binding. Not only did the 3 patterns have to go together, but they had to go with my SWAP pieces. It is amazing how many things won't work, and how few will in a case like this. $84 later I had my fabric, but not the batting or flannel for inside the two layers. I need to talk to people about that to decide what is best. At these prices, it's good that this will end up being 2 jackets. Comparatively, my lovely jean jacket of which I am so fond, cost a maximum of $20, all bits and bobs included.

It's good to have the fabric decision made on this. The first class is Feb 9. Between now and then, I should do some checking of the pattern for fit, maybe whip up a muslin with something in the stash -- or a vest perhaps to go with the SWAP.