PM7 pant pattern: Round 2

In my last post I was trying to decide if Pattern Maker 7 was a worthwhile investment of my time. On one hand it offered the possibility of custom tailored patterns. On the other hand it contained incomplete pattern collections, absolutely no sewing instructions, and a high learning curve. In the end I wound up with skinny pants. But a quick redrafting (based upon the same measurements) yielded a totally different pattern, and some much more promising results. Check these out:

I can even sit down in these!

Not particularly form-fitting, but most men's pants aren't (or shouldn't be). I do wish they were a bit narrower below the knee, but that should be fairly easy to do.

And an ass shot, because I wanted to show off that the program actually makes a pretty well fitting seat. I didn't add rear pockets because this was a test muslin and I didn't see the need to mess with such details.

So what are my final impressions? If you are looking for a way to bang out some men's basics (lets face it, that's all men have) and you want to draft the pieces quickly and easily, than Pattern Maker 7 is probably not for you. I found many places where the pattern drafted incorrectly (like the way that the pocket assemblies draft without a seam allowance, even though it shows one) or simply cut corners (like the lack of rear waist darts and the single piece fold-over waist band).

But if you are looking for a program that will design a pattern for those basics, and you are willing to then tune that pattern to get it where you want it (basically, just use it at a starting point for a self-draft) than the $400 + $30 (for the men's pattern pack) may be the perfect thing for you. However, I feel it worthwhile to mention that there are many other drafting programs out there for under $300... and they may offer complete mens collections.

That's about all I have for tonight. It's been a long week here, but I've got some cool stuff for yall on the horizon, including photos of the finished Christmas suit (I borrowed it from Tom and had my wife snap a few shots) and a review of TheSewingGuru.com's tutorial series. Stay tuned!

Well that didn't work...

When we last left off, I had decided to try and create a pair of pants using a CAD made pattern. The results were, well, less than spectacular:

Where, oh where did I leave my Desert boots and fixed gear bicycle? As you can see, the pants were mostly a failure. PM7 asks for your exact measurements and says it will add ease for you. I generally like more ease than this:

That is seriously the full range of motion I have for each leg. I will say that the calf-fit wasn't bad, but at the same time, the thighs fit like tights. The heavy taper accentuates the oddness of my leg build and makes me look like a weird androgynous hipster.

But surely the program was only doing what I told it to do right? Perhaps it arises from some metric/imperial conversion error. It has been known to happen, even to the best of us. So I reentered everything (in centimeters this time) and got a very different pattern. Was the difference because I used a measurement file this time versus manual entry? Was it metric/imperial madness? Who cares. Check the difference:

I think my thighs will fit in these pants! I also attached the infamous unknown part to the pant-front to create a zipper shield. The women's pattern did not generate the weirdo, but did create a flap (attached). Also the instructions (which are still pretty vague) have this picture:

Perhaps the men's pattern is not fully debugged? After a long day here are my impressions of PM7 thus far:

The men's patterns seem a bit rough. The women's patterns (aside from being much more plentiful) seem like they would produce solid garments. The men's patterns seem like they will need work. The zipper shield is either missing or oddly detached, there are no darts for the rear waist (I expected that there would be; the women's pants include them-- so have every pair of pants I've ever owned), and the fit this time around was not very good.

The program its self is a little raw too. The documentation is sparse and very technical. The interfaces are not very intuitive. I feel like I could love it (and I really want to) one day. But first I'm going to have to commit a lot of time that I just don't have. Have any of you ever used PM7? Did you just make stuff from the women's collection or did the menswear work out fine for you too?

Next time I'll post up the new pair, and maybe a little love for the garden too. I found a patch of bamboo growing wild, and there are 6 trellises that need building. Stay tuned:

Lets talk (about my ass)

Well, that took longer than expected. Two weeks ago, I promised a plethora of ass shots and a discussion on trouser seats. Blogoshpere, I fully intend to deliver:

Just look at those beauties. Actually, do look at them-- it's two examples of well fitting trouser seats. Notice that there's no bunching or pulling nor is there any excess material. This is what I wanted from Wally's old trousers, and here is what I started with:

Hey! Not bad at all. I guess this project was a breeze and there is absolutely no reason for the lack of progress updates. Well, that would be true, except that this photo is rigged; I am, in fact, cheating.

Awkward posture aside, that's a whole lot of material that needs to come out from the waist band. A whole lot of material:

Taking a pair of trousers in 2 inches is pretty simple. 4 inches means that a fair amount of reworking will be necessary. Plus, I have a confession to make: The last pair of trousers I attempted to "fix" are currently occupying space under my bed, in many pieces, and assembled in a way that my wife would call "Ruined". I really hope that I learned something last time...

Here's what I planned to do: First, take the pants in exactly as I would under normal circumstances. Second, re-work the seat seam to fix the inevitable mess that will be created. Third, narrow the legs down to be less blousey. Finally, hem the length for (hopefully) close to a half brake, and also conceal the damaged section at the bottom of the trouser leg. Alright, enough gum flapping, lets get to work!

The first step is to remove everything that is holding the rear seam together:

The more material needs to come out from the waist, the further down the rear seam things have to open. Since I'm are approaching madness here, I went ahead and opened the seam all the way to the crotch joint:

Flip the waist band up and find the old stitch line. Mark the new width on both sides, mark a line (following the shape of the old line) that runs from your new waist band, down to the seam. Pin that bad-boy and give it a quick stitch:

Sweet. Pull your pins out and give things a test fit. Be sure you find all your pins you do not want to forget one and find it later during the test fit.

Well, that looks like crap. I could fit two more of my ass into the seat of these pants. This is a great example of what it looks like if you take too much out of the waist and not nearly enough out of the rear-crotch assembly. It looks fine from the side however:

I'm telling you, I have curves. Kiki calls it my "Christmas Ham". Too bad you can't really get a clear look at it because it's getting lost in these baggy pant legs. But one problem at a time here folks, lets fix that seat.

To be completely fair, I'd have to post up literally two days worth of photos similar to the one above, as I slowly moved more and more material into the seat-seam. In the end (pardon the pun) I was shocked at how much that seat came in. Just remember to use a strong stitch for that seat once you get it right. I unfortunately do not have a picture of the new crotch assembly (Tommy is supposed to send me one). I do, however, have a few cool shots of how to finish the waist/seat alteration:

When you put the seam back together, make sure that the fabric grain and belt loops are vertical. Otherwise you have to reopen the seam (as I had to) and straighten things out. If things are not squared out, the waist band will start to 'V' out and no longer be flat.

Run a quick stitch-in-the-ditch line down the joint between the trousers and the waist band. This will attach the waistband to the trousers. Flip the inner band down and tack it in place (by hand or by machine), then reattach your belt loops. It should wind up something similar to this:

I was able to press out all of the creases that are evident here at the top. I'd love to show off the final project (then entire suit) but Tommy has yet to send me pictures of it. You'd think that a guy with a fancy dSLR would be more than happy to send his poor old tailor brother a few jpgs, but as of now we'll all have to wait.

What do you think, readers? How'd the pants come out? Any thoughts on how to motivate Tom to send me the pictures? Drop me some love in the comments.

(I want to apologize for the slightly lower quality images this go-around. I'm working from my laptop and GIMP =/= Photoshop.)