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January 13, 2023
You all are so awesome I can't tell you. Immediately after the announcement of the class, I got a bunch of EXCELLENT questions. And see, this is where I have problems. I've been sitting here sewing my own clothes for so long (and haven't even had to think about where I would have to go buy my clothes), that I do forget what it was like to have to make things for the first time. But also, I haven't been seriously shopping for clothes since
1979. I just don't try clothes on or even look at them.
This is what comes from sewing my clothing, because I know exactly what I want, and I can get incredibly specific - deep pockets (enough to hold my phone with its gigantor protective case) but no side, non-slimming, cargo pockets, a waistband that doesn't ride up or down when I stand or sit, just the right length for a slight boot heel, or my comfy flats, a crotch height that doesn't make me look like an NBA player yet without that "old lady" pant silhouette, and on and
on. I don't have to try on pants that have so many problems, are uncomfortable as everything, with no hope of alteration because the crotch is so high. I don't have to worry about how the color is not quite right. I don't have to worry that the fabric is a little heavy or too light weight. I don't have to worry that the hem is down to the basement or that the shape of the pant leg is off - too thin, too large, not tapered correctly.
I skip all that and go directly to my pant pattern, cut them out, sew them up, try them on for a hem length (sometimes I want my pants for boots only, and sometimes only for flats), and BINGO - I'm done. It's really that simple. But I'm not encumbered by what I see on Kimmie or her sister Chloe or Beyonce or any of those celebs that are displaying waaaaaaaaaaaay TMI about their figures. I'm sure they feel great in their outfits, but I feel if I were to do
TMI, it would be visual pollution that might pollute your eyes and memory for ever!!! Ha!
That's really a cute way of saying that I don't have to put up with the BS type styles that are all that's offered in pants. What I do have to wrestle with is:
Is it the right color - or a shade too blue or yellow?
Is it the right print?
Is it the right color to tone with my jade jacket?
Is it the right "look" to complement a jacket I'm thinking about?
Well, you get the idea - fit, flattery and comfort are already built in, so all I have to do is worry about the fashion part.
I know what looks good on me.
I know the look I want to project.
I know that I want to look responsible, modern, together but not weird, frumpy or sloppy.
And my bet is that most people want to look that way. They don't want their pants too lose or baggy. At the same time they don't want to worry that the seams will be busting a minute or two after they've sat down.
This sounds impossible because our expectations of what pants are supposed to look like are:
  
Is it no wonder we haven't the faintest idea about what a good pants is supposed to look like? So then we look at something we think might be normal, and we get this:
 
And this is fine for someone who's reed thin and has a staff out searching all the stores for what might be the perfect pants for this or that occasions.
But where are the models for the real people who want to wear responsible, modern pants that are comfortable, smart-looking and flattering? To be honest, they are hard to come by, but I can find a few that are appropriate.
 Theresa May was one of my favorites for pants, but there's a problem here. The former PM was very short-waisted and her legs went from her bust to the China - her legs were enormously long, so that made her a natural for pants.
This is kind of cheating in a way, cause it really doesn't show a natural proportion.
Angela Merkel in this photo from  2009, has all the proportions correct AND a normal figure.
Here's what's right:
- Stance (low enough to be feminine, but high enough not to dislodge "the girls")
- Last button - high enough so that when she sits, the jackets doesn't bunch up around her hips or waist.
- Length- right at the crotch line where the biggest part of her hip is and where it draws away from her large hips.
- Nicely tapered pants, with a nip at the knee, and yet not skin tight around the calf.
- Beautiful hem length, no crush, which makes her length look longer (nothing to break the nice crease in her pants)
You can see there's a lot going on here that's right and yet it's not TMI or anything frumpy at all. She looks smart, up-to-date, but not weird or grandma looking!
So when you are setting out to make a pair of pants. Let's be practical about this. You really don't want your pants to fit skin tight to show every ripple of your body. At the same time while you want to have a shape to your body, you don't want it to fit like a box.
This is my problem with so many art-to-wear garments that their only goal is to cover up. Albeit some of the work is absolutely gorgeous and detailed, but there is no shape to it. For me this is just as bad as too tight on the body.
And finally, it must be comfortable. There's nothing wrong with having this as one of your key components for your pants.
So what I'm aiming for and what I teach is that you will have a pant that will have this:
- Seated - this means that when you sit and stand and sit again and stand again, that it will settle or be seated in the same place when you're standing.
- The pants won't be bowed or splayed - which is either flaring out or in
- The pants won't be tilting forward or back - they will be hanging straight even though you may be sway back, or yourself tilting a little forward or backward.
These are the key factors in fitting your pant well. There may be a little gathering around the waist. This doesn't bother me at all. If you don't want that, you can simply dart this, and add a zipper in back, but this is only if you want to tuck in your blouse, which I really don't recommend with a ponte pant. There may be a bit of ease in the back, and this doesn't bother me
either. This isn't bagginess - it's ease that's required to have when you sit or stand. This is part of the fit that makes the pant hang straight.
This may sound like a lot, and it may seem extremely foreign as the RTW industry has managed to scare any idea of fitting with comfort and flattery out of our minds to the point that we don't even ask for that or expect it when we shop. Shopping is like a constant giving in of what we really want when it should be the opposite: a constant whittling away of what we really want from selections that are all excellent choices.
My fitting parameters are that the pants must hang correctly. These ponte pants can do a tucked-in shirt, but mostly they don't. If you would like to have something just drop softly on the hips right below the waist, that would be beautiful, however if you want to tuck something in- that could be more difficult cause of the nature of stable knits. Of course if you have large hips or the largest part of your hips, stomach and fanny are below the waist (either at
4" or 9" below the waist), having a top that stops at the waist isn't the best silhouette. This is that pear & hourglass shape. The apple or rectangle shape can handle that shorter top.
One last remark here. The tough part about pants is that they are hard to fit. That's the hard part. When you have that pattern that fits and works, it usually takes about two or so hours to make up those pants which includes cutting, sewing and finishing up.
This is important to remember while you're on the pant-fitting trek because there are many times when you do something little, then try them on, and do a little more, try them on, then do a little more and try them on over and over. It can get a little discouraging, but the important thing to remember here is that we are making a pattern that will last and last. It will look and act like a tailored pair of pants, but feel comfy and give you a nice trim look without being
too tight and certainly without feeling your going to split a seam.
On another topic,
Thank you so much for your questions. So to start with, YES, there will be a Ponte Pants Resource in the SewingArtistry Library. It will be complete with most of the stuff here and a whole lot more, in order as you would take it in class. So if you can't make it here for class here - no worries, it will be up in the library soon.
The SewingArtistry Resource Library is designed to contain information to not only make your sewing better, but to aid you in fit and flattery of your shape, size and style. Check it out.
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