Possible really dumb question regarding pant construction.

[spookietoo]

Having a hard time wrapping my head around this one.......

When I was younger - and more shapely - I could easily alter commercial pant patterns, (short rise, extra long legs, tiny waist, preference for tapered legs) and all came out wonderful. When pressing, inseam matched outseam and creased beautifully when pressed on both front and back - no leg twisting.

As I experiment with my current lovely shape (massive sarcasm here), I maintain the balance from the knee down (no twisting), but find the inseam and outseam no longer match when pressing the upper portion. (Big belly, very flat, low hanging arse). Is this to be expected as the figure itself is no longer balanced?

Like I said, probable dumb question, but I need a bit of "spoon feeding" on this one.

Thank you.

[hutch--]

I had to laugh at this one, the one thing you can garrantee with the ladies is they get rounder and cheekier over time. Rough guess is you need some extra ease in the seat and back of the legs and some change in the slope of the front seam to accommodate some extra luxury in the stomach area. Now of course this is easier said than done but I think we have a few folks here who could have a look at the pattern you are using.

[spookietoo]

Hutch - thank you for your reply....And.when I was younger....I would have assumed all your predictions to be correct! And that's the problem! Instead I have no rump and apparently small thighs compared to my massive waist.

I've gained no more than 2" in the hip area yet 12" in the waist - and of course still a short rise given my girth.

After all these months of measuring, drafting, etc. I finally took a commercial pattern that looked like my favorite from back in the day (how could this possibly work given my massive shape change???), I eyeballed the scoop out of the back rise, adjusted for the waist, left the front alone. So far, all looks balanced, yet still too roomy in the arse and thighs.......However, I think I'll be able to remove the excess and maintain the balance.  These are looking like a possible winner. May need to play with back dart.

I may have something I'm happy with....finally.  May even post pics for fit critique if that's okay. I know this site isn't about commercial patterns, but my "corpulent" shape has proven quite problematic with the drafting.

[Schneiderfrei]

Fitting is still fitting.

[Greger]

Back dart you may not need, unless it goes the other way. Some people gain in the back and some in the sides and some in the front. It Maybe gain front and sides. Or, back and sides. Or, all the way around. Where the girth needs to be added has to happen. This usually means extra height there, too. More distance to gain the waistband elevation. There is often another way for the garment to be held up. When in elementary school if a girl wanted to wear  skirt she needed something to hold it up that went over her shoulders. No hips wide enough to hold them up. Four year old boys also have this problem. Over weight men have this problem (suspenders). It's an old problem that tailors have cut for centuries. Each person is different, so varies as to how much where. Its not about what it looks like on paper that matters. Its about fit. The old tailor and cutter has some directions. Poulin shows some about fitting skirts, mentioning finished pattern can be rather (very) different from normal.

Leg lengths being uneven. Some patterns require this and shrinking is done or stretching.

[posaune]

hi Spookietoo,
A commercial pattern which you choose from hip circ will give you too much width at the back (if you have a belly).
(You will be better off with a drafted one.)
First you must measure the front center length, the back center length  and both side length from floor to a horizontal waist band. It must be horizontal - to get a balanced pattern! You can cut it later to your liking.
Look how this is in your pattern. If the waist sits about 4 cm down your waist it does not play a role at all if this shortening is done on all the 4 places.
But the crux is the crotch "diameter" this will likely be to much.
So I suggest to measure the hip circ in back over the cheeks but in front under the belly over the "?" don't know the english word (Schamhuegel). So your crotch diameter will be smaller and this is better for your back pattern. For a belly you have to add higher to centerfront (that will be straight) and no darts and to front side seam. You have to deceide how much you need in front and how much for high hip.
Or you take your old pattern and you do first not add at inseam! Just let generous allowance there. Sideseam front and back gets a larger allowance too. If you need 12 " there you have to have them. Start with 4 at front waist and 2 at back waist.
Now for the flat behind you may have to get another angle for the seat. That depends a lot on style of the pants.
The back crotch seam maybe shortened about 1-2 cm. You cut across (after the low curve) and rotate the upper part to the center. Rotating point is side seam let it overlapp 1-2 cm.
The best if your are alone with fitting you just eyball how much you can pin out at the back (cheeks). Do it equal amount from waist to hem straight down to hem so that your thighs are not"drowning" in fabric anymore.  The pants will now be to tight on several places. This you have to add from knee up to waist the fabric again at the back side seam. This will give the back side seam more shape.
As the inseams are differently shaped you have to measure them from knee up to crotch. The back inseam can be 1-1.5 cm shorter if there is  much fabric there. Because it is on bias you can stretch that while sewing. That also gives you less fabric under  the tush.
But without a pic it is like reading in coffee grinding
lg
posaune

[Schneiderfrei]

Schamheugel = mons pubis, mount of venus

[Greger]

I push fuzzy logic. Logic is math. 1+1 will always = 2. Add fuzzy to logic and 1+1 might = 2. Art can be mathematical. Art may include math. Some art doesn't include math, subject wise, at all. There are four rules to better art, perhaps alway. Contrast, balance, and t don't remember the other two. These are mathematical. But, are there any math formulas for them? All by eye. Or, perhaps fuzzy logic. There is a word that is all four of them. Clothes are about visual display. Therefore, supposed to be art.

Reading posaune directions had me thinking that a laser level would be really nice. All the way around the height from the floor would be the same. Measure from the beam at the four places she said down to the floor. Poulin tells how to take these four measurements for the purpose of making skirts. Reading directions from different view points helps. It could also be used to measure shoulder heights. Wonder how accurate the cheap ones are?

[pfaff260]

This is the picture Greger is talking about.