For our first project, we had to design and make a pair of pants for someone in our class. My partner was Suzie Wilder, and I took her measurements, and asked her questions about what kind of pants she likes to wear, and what she would want from the pants we are making in class.
For this project, we learned how to make a pattern for pants and sew them together. We were taught how to sew pockets, a fly zipper, and a waistband. The first thing that I did was make the pattern pieces. My design pant was different from the muslin pant because it was tighter, and the waist was lower. I had to measure down from the waist, and make a curved waistband for the new pants. I also put in jean pockets, instead of the pockets we did for the muslin pant. After I made the patterns, I cut out the fabric. I chose a thick black cotton for my pants. On the sides of the legs, I used a flat felt seam. The inside leg seam, I used a regular seam to close it.
Before I sewed the legs closed, I added the velvet fabric ribbon to decorate the bottom and sides of the pants. The velvet ribbon ties up the legs like ballet shoes, and becomes a bow on the outside of the legs. When I was finished putting that in, I closed the legs, and hemmed the bottom. The most challenging part of this project were sewing the pockets in. It is important that all the pattern pieces are labeled correctly, so you know which piece goes where. Another challenging part was coming up with a design that was creative and unique, but also nice and elegant. I had to redo some of the details in the pants, but I am happy with how they turned out.
