Friday, April 4, 2008

Gauchos!!

The gauchos are finally done! It's about time, huh? Let's have a little parade to celebrate. LOL!



This is a Threads Magazine Collection pattern for boot leg pants in two lengths, city shorts, wide leg pants, and gauchos. The sizes are misses' 6-14 with a petite alteration option. The pattern includes "perfect fit techniques" as well. I liked the waistband of these pants as well as the bootcut look, so I made View D, the gauchos and used the petite length.

Having never made pants before, I agonized over what size to cut. I finally decided to cut a size 12 waistband, a size 12 for the top 3 inches or so of the pants, then tapered to a size 10 at the low hip and legs. In hindsight, I possibly could've pulled off a size 10 or even a 12 may have looked nice. I ended up taking in the waistband quite a bit more than I expected and it is still quite roomy. I wasted too much time trying to decide what size to make when probably either one would've been OK.

I made these gauchos out of some black cotton wrinkle-resistant pant fabric I found at Wal-Mart. I'm sure I'll have to deal with lint, but you almost always do with black pants anyway.

These pants went together surprisingly easy! I was surprised at how good the pattern instructions were. They didn't assume you know everything about sewing pants and were pretty darn good about leading you through step by step. The waistband pieces can be confusing, but if you mark which side is which, etc. you should be OK. (Also, don't take 5 months to make the things and you won't forget where you're at in the process!)

I did have some problems with the fly. The instructions for making the fly and inserting the zipper were pretty good even though I had a hard time seeing how it all fit together before doing it. However, once I was getting toward the end and was sewing the crotch/back seam, I ran into problems with getting the bottom of the zipper to lie flat and not pucker. I don't know about you, but I don't particularly need to draw attention to my crotch with a puckered zipper! So, after many seam-rippings and rebastings, my mom suggested that I take out part of the top-stitching on the front of the fly--basically the curve at the bottom. Then, I resewed the crotch/back seam and voila! A flat fly front! Next time, I'd like to try Sandra Betzina's flat fly front zipper directions, but at this point in the gaucho-making process, it just wasn't possible.


I'm happy with how these came out. I hope they last and I'll get some good use out of them. I have a blouse to make that just might look pretty darn cute with these, so sometime I'll get a good full-body pic of me dressed in them.

Have a great weekend!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very cute and they look like they fit you well!

Carrie

One Crowded House said...

You are so crafty! Those look great!