Why I love the internet...reason #2123

I've been busy working on my SWAP items. Next in line is May 2007 Burda WoF #112:
As I have never made a pair of pants from the Burda company, I figured it would be wise to make a muslin out of the 10 yards of $.50 black poly-cotton woven I picked up at Joann's 6 months ago at a clearance event. I was doing fine in the construction of said muslin until I came to the zipper insertion. The instructions referred me to pattern #110. Flip one page back and read 110. Shall I reenact what passes for instruction in the Burda world?

Press fly self-facings to the inside, on the right along center front, on the left 5mm before center front. Ahh, okay, I can do this. Measure 5mm, mark, pin, press, done. Stitch the zip under the left fly edge (underlap) (underlap?? huh? WTF?) stitching close to the teeth. Pin the zipper to the left fly edge and baste in place, knowing the stitches are going to have to come out as these instructions are nothing but trouble. Still, I persist. Pin the opening together matching centers. Centers are pinned. Stitch the loose zip band on the right facing, without catching in the trouser piece. Okay, are there separate pieces for the facing? What? Baste facing in place. Which facing? Right or left? Am I dehydrated? Topstitch the opening from the top to 3cm before the end as marked. Flod fly underlap (there it is again: underlap) lengthways, stitch bottom end together. Turn. Place underlap under the left opening edge, pin to fly facing. I am thoroughly lost now. Definitely need water. Stitch the fly facing to underlap close to the zip seam. Close fly again and topstitch to the end , catching in the underlap.

Are you confused? Cause I am seriously confused. I pulled out the big sewing book to reference fly front zips. They have great instructions but they are for separate facings, not extensions as are used in this pattern...I tried to make sense of it all and it made me seriously question my intelligence many, many times.

This, of course, leads me to reason #2123 why I love the internet. While, there is no one I can call at midnight for help, I can log on and search for both information and affirmation of my intelligence on line.

I give you a Video Tip by Sandra Betzina, curtesy of Threads Magazine. The tip for inserting fly front zips is easy, straight forward, and best of all, comprehensible!

Please, help yourself or someone you love:
http://www.taunton.com/threads/pages/tvt008.asp

Now, I just need a new seam ripper. Mine is duller than I felt trying to make sense of BWoF zipper...

Vogue 8157

My first pair of pants! I was so excited to finish these pants that I sewed almost through the night. I started with this pattern about a week before I actually cut the fabric. I had initially laid out the pattern front thinking that it would be fairly straightforward. However, I was determined not to go about this project without consideration. My father, a master carpenter, has always said "measure twice, cut once." Looking at the front pattern piece, I decided to take his advice. The inseam on these pants was 32" including the 1.5" hem allowance. Now, I am 5'9" and my favorite pants have a 34" inseam. I decided I would lengthen the pattern, but before doing this, I traced it out to keep the original pattern unaltered. I transfered all pattern markings, added 3" to the front and back at the lower lengthening points and then cut my fabric. The length worked out quite well for me, as you can see below. It works with both heels and flats.

I thoroughly enjoyed the sewing process of these pants. I knew I would have to make an adjustment for my sway back and my small waist but I left that for fitting with fabric. I ended up taking in about 1/2" on the side seams at the hip and taking in 2" at the CB. I also altered the crotch curve a bit, to eliminate some of the bagginess just below the fly. It was a learning experiment for me

The first seams were stitched before I made any adjustments. I *should* have basted everything together, but it was late and I was more than a little tired after working a full day on Friday. I tend to make silly mistakes when I am tired and one would think I would have learned this about myself by now. I managed to sew the inner seams on the wrong side, so the SA was on the outside where it shouldn't have been. Once I ripped out the seam, I basted everything afterwards and tried on the pants inside out to make tailoring easier.

The instructions call for hemming the bottoms by hand, but I machined it using a blind stitch. It was definitely quicker and it's invisible. After looking at the pictures my husband took of me, I realized that I somehow didn't measure correctly and the left leg is longer than the right. It's not visible head on, but obvious from the rear where you can see about 1" of heel on the right and none on the left.