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altering the waistline on pant block
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Thu, 12/08/2011 - 01:29
I like to wear pants and skirts about 3cm below the waist. How do I alter the natural waistline on the front and back of pant block. And when I do this how do I change the waist band.
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Dear PixieAnne,
If you are using the block pattern lesson on our site, you already have a waistline on your pattern. Before adding the seam allowance above the waistline, measure down 3 cm all around the waistline and draw a new waistline. Now you need to add the seam allowance above the new waistline.
If you are using a store bought pattern which does not have a waistline, but only the seam allowance lines, read the instructions to find out the amount of the seam allowance and add it to the 3 cm you want to lower the waistline by. Now measure and mark down from the top edge all around the patterns. Connect the marks to get the new waistline. Next you need to measure up from the new waistline to mark and draw the new waistline seam allowance.
When drafting the waistband pattern you need to measure along the new waistline of the front and back block patterns and multiply this measurement by 2 to get the length for the new waistband. You need to add a few cm more to allow for the overlap and incase you need to do some adjustments when doing your fitting.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
thankyou for that Nehzat. I am using block pattern on your site.
If I wanted to drop the waist line more than 3cm I would loose a lot of the dart. Can you tell me what I need to do with the remaining darts, as they would decrease in size quite considerably. The centre back would start to gape because of such a drop in waistline so would that have to be reshaped. If I take in the gape at the centre back, it would tighten around the buttocks and start to pull would it not?
With the waistband, do I still measure around the new waistline and multiply by two plus overlape nor measure around the body where the waistline sits.
Dear PixieAnne,
It is okay if the darts become shorter and more narrow along the new waistline.
However if you notice that during the fitting the pants are a bit loose, you can take in from the darts and the seams as well wherever it is needed. You may need to make the darts longer as well.
For the waistband it is easier to measure around the new waistline of the pattern. If you notice that the waistband is a bit big for you during the fitting, you can deduct the excess from it at that time.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat