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The Continuing Saga of Simplicity 2700

Wed, 08/10/2011 - 19:05 — Maggie

Simplicity 2700 WinklesSimplicity 2700 Winkles
I am sorry, dear readers, it seems that I am cruel enough to subject you to mirror pictures of my butt. I've been trying to fiddle with the fit even though I haven't figured out the waistband yet. I'm thinking I should have used the curvy pieces instead of the regular pieces.. but it's hard to tell. While my butt isn't so flat as it seemed to be before I had any clues about how pants were supposed to fit, it's not my butt that's a fitting issue, it's my thighs. What I'm getting is those diagonal wrinkles in the back from crotch to hips. And some bagginess in the front. Of course, maybe I'm a total idiot for trying to do any fitting before figuring out the issues with the yoke.
I think what I have to do is extend lengthen the crotch curve such that there is more room in the thighs. I'll probably need to cut out entirely new pieces to get it right. I let out the side seams, which helped some, but that may just be because they're looser. I think what I really need is more room in the inner thighs.. it seems logical, anyway.
Simplicity 2700 Left Front Yoke NotchesSimplicity 2700 Left Front Yoke Notches
I started a WIP on PR for the pattern, and when I didn't get any suggestions through that, I started a thread. I got some good, logical suggestions.. or rather, suggestions that would be logical if not for the pattern. Mainly, that perhaps the pieces weren't meant to be the right size and needed to be eased in. But the notches and stay-stitching make that unlikely.

Here's a picture of the front left yoke, from both sides. With the notches lined up, the side of the yoke meets the side of the front of the pants correctly. So all of that easing would have to be happening within those four inches from notch to edge-- no way can I get a whole seam allowance by stretching non-stretch fabric over a four-inch seam.

As for the back, I think any chance of easing-in intent on the part of the drafter would have been nixed by the instruction to stay-stitch the top edge. If I was supposed to stretch it out to make the pieces fit, that would make the instruction to stay-stitch that edge to prevent stretching utterly nonsensical, right?

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Simplicity 2700 In-Progress

Mon, 08/08/2011 - 14:35 — Maggie

Simplicity 2700 Inside Front In-ProgressSimplicity 2700 Inside Front In-Progress
I've been working on Simplicity 2700, the "amazing fit" pants. I'm doing them in a $1.99/yard Dockers cotton I got from FabricMart awhile ago as a mockup for eventually doing them in the lovely striped wool that is dfr's fault.

The instructions aren't bad (and I'm pretty demanding of instructions) but I do have some concerns. For one thing, the left front yoke. As you can see, all matched up, it only extends up to the edge of the fly underlap. This is a problem because the yoke has a facing, which of course requires a seam allowance.. but there doesn't seem to be an allowance.

Simplicity 2700 Back In-ProgressSimplicity 2700 Back In-ProgressThen there's the back yoke. It extends significantly beyond the main pattern pieces on the sides, and I don't see that explained anywhere. It seems that for a pair of pants that includes darts, they completely ignored the effect of the darts when drafting the yoke.
Simplicity 2700 Front In-ProgressSimplicity 2700 Front In-Progress Actually this doesn't seem all that surprising, since the main pieces have three different versions (for "slim," "regular," and "curvy" figures) but they all use the same yoke pieces. That might not explain it, though; to pick a size, the instructions say to "Measure your waist and hip (at the fullest point). [sic] Compare those measurements to the measurements on the pattern envelope." So the waist size shouldn't be different between the different versions, should it? The "curvy" pieces use two darts while the "slim" and "regular" pieces use one. (I'm using the regular pieces currently.)
So they must have neglected to account for the darts in drafting. This seems like a rather significant drafting mistake to me. It also makes me nervous. It's not explained anywhere, and I don't like to trim down pieces when I don't know why they're not the right size. It couldn't relate to the lack of a seam allowance for the end of the left front yolk, because there are notches that match up. (And because that would just be bizarre.)

So, I'm plugging along with the pattern, and hoping that it fits well, but for something that got such rave reviews, I'm certainly disappointed that there seem to be such significant errors.

I should note that this is only the second "real" pants pattern I've sewn. I've done drawstring pants and leggings, but the only other pants with pockets and a fly and all that I've done was Jalie 2908, and not many patterns can live up to that. I think I like that the fly construction method doesn't involve basting the front closed-- apparently that's a very "home sewing method."
I guess I won't really be able to develop a "true" opinion of the pattern until I've gotten far enough to get into the fitting.

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