Fitting trouser muslin

[DrLang]

This is my first time really trying to make a pattern fit right. This fit looks a lot better than where I started, but I wonder if I can't let a little more of those wrinkles out. I'm just a bit lost on where to take it from here.



https://imgur.io/a/jYqEtm6

[Gerry]

Not bad for a first attempt, but certainly a little room for improvement.

Difficult to know how much those lines are being caused by the cloth (with it being muslin, having little drape and being prone to creasing); a shirt being tucked into the cloth (rucking things); or stress. I'd say the latter: possibly things are a little tight across the small of the back?

If you haven't cut the darts and they're reasonably wide, then perhaps unpick them and get someone to pin them on you (the dart projecting outwards rather than inwards) until things look smooth. Mark the new darts with pen and transfer to your pattern. If the darts are on the skinny side, or they've been cut open, then leave them be and release some of the tightness at the top of the CB seam and/or top of the side seams.

A general (but very good) guide to fitting trousers:

https://youtu.be/ggqPtY2uiGc?si=pOuirp33VkEtcB4M

[DrLang]

Not bad for a first attempt, but certainly a little room for improvement.

Difficult to know how much those lines are being caused by the cloth (with it being muslin, having little drape and being prone to creasing); a shirt being tucked into the cloth (rucking things); or stress. I'd say the latter: possibly things are a little tight across the small of the back?

If you haven't cut the darts and they're reasonably wide, then perhaps unpick them and get someone to pin them on you (the dart projecting outwards rather than inwards) until things look smooth. Mark the new darts with pen and transfer to your pattern. If the darts are on the skinny side, or they've been cut open, then leave them be and release some of the tightness at the top of the CB seam and/or top of the side seams.

Thank you very much. I will mess around with those suggestions this evening. I have been so hyper focused on fixing the ridiculous amount of extra room that was in the seat when I first put it together and the new problems I introduced to the legs when I did that I completely missed the tension in small of the back. My work reshaping the CB seam would definitely have contributed to the tension in the back. I'll see if I can reshape that line first.

[DrLang]

Looking at what I had done up to this point, the darts were slashed and there was not much room to take out at the CB seam. I was able to gain about half an inch and I think it made a difference. I also took in about half an inch on the side seams at the hips. I'm pretty happy with this and will take it to my main fabric.

[Schneiderfrei]

The transverse (Horizontal) pulls (folds) tell that there is not sufficient width across the top of the trousers.

I am tempted to suggest that the side seams get let out 0.5 cm on each side at the backsides, to see if that relaxes the back sufficiently.  Always I have found that small increments are better.

Also, importantly, provide 4 shots with each correction: Front, Back and left and right Side shots, and try to include as much of the silhouette as possible.

[Steelmillal]

Def not ready for main fabric. Still looks wrong. CB opening means more inlays. call this learning and do it again in muslin. You plenty of time for stuff up prime fabric. Its Friday. Have an oat soda and see who else chimes in for shared wisdom.

and there was not much room to take out at the CB seam.
 

Also, importantly, provide 4 shots with each correction: Front, Back and left and right Side shots, and try to include as much of the silhouette as possible.

Very importnat and captures history.

[DrLang]

Alright, I'm almost convinced to make a second muslin (the first is already in pieces anyway). Any issues with using something that drapes better than light weight cotton? I only ask because I seem to have some polyester "linen" that has been sitting in my stash for who knows how long and I might as well get some use out of it rather than going out to buy more cotton. I do appreciate muslin's ability to amplify issues though.

[Steelmillal]

I pillage thrift stores for donor bodies, er, uh, I mean, material for pennies. Wool trousers are easy to find in smaller sizes and largeish to cut down for practice. America has plenty of fat guys who think 34s/36s look good with a spare tire. Look around. The weights are very different than available shelf items, too.

Poly-anything is for backpacking, not bespoke. Stick with muslin for patterns yet.

[DrLang]

I pillage thrift stores for donor bodies, er, uh, I mean, material for pennies.

Ha! I don't know if you have been to Goodwill in the last few months, but their prices have gone way up beyond pennies. Though, harvesting their plethora of large wool trousers is not a bad idea.

Poly-anything is for backpacking, not bespoke. Stick with muslin for patterns yet.

Eh, this might be a poly-rayon blend. It drapes very nicely and is about the same weight as my main fabric, but I would not want to wear it as a finished piece. I have no idea why I have it. Would probably make nice napkins.

[Schneiderfrei]

Idon't know about sticking to actual muslin, which can be expensive, I try to find a cheeeep fabric that resembles the final stuff, especially as far as thickness and fall go.

As far as toiles/muslins go, Posaune's great advice is "thrash them 'til they are dead!"

[Gerry]

For toiles, I'm not keen on muslin either. Like Schneiderfrei I prefer actual cloth and I use a couple of companies that specialise in remnant stock. They buy up from the fashion houses and sell on cheap.

It never ceases to amaze me how poor a lot of the cloth is that gets made into ready-to-wear. Still, it's good enough for toiles and better than muslin and calico. And occasionally, the cloth is really good (in which case it gets set aside for the finished garment).

If you do decide to commit to cloth DrLang, hopefully you've learnt two important lessons from your toile:

Leave plenty of inlay so that you can make adjustments after your first fitting.

Don't cut the darts until your fit/pattern is perfect (you many need to alter them).

[Greger]

Clarence Poulin has a few simple instructions in his book for trousers. He explains a little bit about inlays so you can make reasonable adjustments for a normal body. He doesn't explain for bodies that are heavier and other problems. Some tailors add a half inch along the sideseam of the back pieces. The back darts may be extremely small to two per panel and the back seam being another. May be three per panel is better. The darts are sewn straight or curved? Some guys have narrow hips while some are wider,in these cases the side seams are adjusted. How close to how far apart your feet are includes another change. And there are other problems are sometimes considered. How large or small the seat is changes the angle, height and length of fork.

[Schneiderfrei]

DrLang, try to show us side and front images.

[DrLang]

Wash, rinse, and repeat. I took some time to make a new toile from scratch following some of the advice here. After taking apart the first one, it became obvious that the fabric had shrunk in places. This new toile will better mimic the final fabric anyway.

After my first couple rounds of adjustments, this is where I am. I could probably take more time and do better, but I would be curious what you all think at this point.

[Gerry]

That's a lot better, much cleaner.

Obviously the darts look a little odd, because they're on the outside not the inside, but perhaps angle them in slightly (or pull them in more towards the CB) so that they terminate over the fuller part of the seat. As things stand, they're slightly to the sides and seem to be causing creasing past their points.

Not easy to find an assistant, but it helps if someone can smooth the cloth over the seat, pinning as they go, to sort out the darts. Very difficult to do this yourself (if my own experience is anything to go by), so you might have to have a number of goes to get them right if working on your own.

Much better though.