Sewing Diary: Work Pants, Part 1

Feeling some guilt about my lack of sewing posts, I decided to go all out and create a new feature called Sewing Diary, in which I take tons of pictures and record my thoughts about the process of creating a garment or other sewn item from start to finish.  It remains to be seen if I will make this a recurring feature or a one timer.

For now, I hope you enjoy seeing a more detailed post about the process of turning this:

into this:

(Just a note that this post is going to be written in more than one part, as there are approximately 120 pictures of the process!)

Step 1: Buy fabric.  I bought this fabric on Ebay, though other common sources of my fabric are Goodwill and Etsy.

Wash and dry fabric and least once, which is especially important for pants that would become utterly unwearable if they shrank too much.

 

Iron fabric before even thinking about cutting anything out. 

Lay out fabric precisely (or as precisely as I can muster) on grain.  For me this means measuring and shifting the fabric at least 10 times until I'm satisfied with it being close enough.

Lay out and pin pattern pieces, also precisely on grain. 

 Make adjustments as I go, then adjust the adjustments as needed along the way.

Compare pattern pieces to previous versions of the garment, just in case I think I might have changed something without actually writing it down.  In this case, I did not.

Use rotary cutter with a fresh new blade to make quick work of cutting out the fabric.  Note the extensive pattern adjustments that have been made (see the tape, pen, and pencil marks that appear on most pattern pieces).

Remember to snip all the parts that need snipping.  Inevitably forget to snip some, which requires matching the pattern up to the cut out piece at a later, less convenient time.

Save the big scraps for other projects.  

Try to get away with pinning as little as possible. 

Decide if any of the little scraps are worth saving, and toss the rest. 

Accidentally cut too many welt pocket pieces.  

Once I'm tired of cutting everything out, remember I still need to cut interfacing for a couple of pieces.  

Fuse the interfacing to the fabric, using a press cloth and that has been sprayed with some water. 

Come up with tasks that take 10-12 seconds while the iron does the work.  

Organizing the mess I just made is always a good decision.

 Try to fold the pattern pieces up neatly. 

Remember that I still have some lining pieces to cut after putting all the pattern pieces away.  

 Audition thread and zippers.

Wind a couple of bobbins from the bobbin case with the chosen thread.

Thread sewing machine and serger.  

Test the serger stitches on a scrap of fabric.

Review the sewing instructions.

Remind myself which piece is which before stitching anything together. 

Determine right side and wrong side.  On this fabric it is fairly easy to detect. 

Wonder why the pieces don't really line up. 

Chainstitch as much as possible.  This means to not stop and cut the threads after each individual piece has been sewn, but to keep on going so the pieces are linked and can be cut apart later. 

Wonder why the serger twisted up the edges. 

Press them flat. 

Sew as much as possible at once before needing to press anything, which is where the chainstitching comes in handy.  

Trim the seams constantly. 

Use pressing tools as needed. 

Roll the outer edge in a little bit so you won't be able to see the lining from the outside, and press in place.  

Remember to clip thread tails as I go. 

Admire the progress, no matter how small!

Stay tuned for part two, in which I tackle both a fly front and back welt pockets!