- Kaine
Sewing 208 - Pattern Drafting: The Basic Pants
Updated: May 27
Today we shall draft the Pants block. From this you can make any style of trousers or shorts and it can even be used for Jumpsuits.
Principles of pattern drafting.
We shall be drafting a whole Front piece and Back piece. Trousers are bifurcated garments as you need two sets of each piece (front and back) for each leg. Depending on the part of the body, some measurements will be divided into 2, and some will be divided into 4. It will all become clearer as we draft.
Tools you will need
Straight ruler
Set square
Curve ruler
Pencils / Eraser /Sharpener
Brown paper/ Drafting Paper - 1 sheet (50L x 50W inches) or 2 sheets ( 50L x 20W inches) each
Measurements you will need (Feel free to work in Inches or Cm)
Waist
Hip
Hip depth
Crotch
Crotch depth
Outseam (Waist to Floor)
Inseam
Waist to knee
Knee circumference
Upper thigh circumference
Foot circumference
IMPORTANT. DOWNLOAD WORKSHEET HERE FIRST.
BASIC PANTS DRAFTING
FRONT
1. Leaving a space of about 2 inches (5cm) from the top of the paper, Square a line straight down on the right hand side of the paper. Mark Point A at the top of this line.
2. Point A - B = Hip depth
3. Point A - C = Crotch depth
4. Point A - D = Waist to knee
5. Point A - E = Outseam
6. Square across guidelines from points A, B, C, D and E.
7. Line A - F = 1/4 Hip measurement
8. Line F-G-H = Square a straight line down from point F stopping on the crotch line
9. Line H - I = Front crotch extension measurement
10. Measure Line C - I and mark mid-point. From this point square a straight line up to the waist line and down to the base line. Label as points J, K, L and M as illustrated (Crease Line)
11. Line F - N = Waist + Dart measurement. Square up 1/2 inch (1cm) from point N. Label as n1
12. Insert dart at Point J = Split dart measurement equally on either side of point J. Label as O and P.
13. Point J - Q = 1/2 Hip Depth measurement
14. Connect points O - Q and P - Q to form dart
15. Connect point P - n1 with a curved line to complete waist
16. Connect points F - I and n1 - B with curved lines to complete centre front and side as illustrated.
17. Line R - S = 1/2 Knee measurement at Point L. Split the measurement equally on either side of point L. Label as R and S.
18. Line T - U = Line RS minus 2inches (4cm). Split the measurement equally on either side of point M. Label as T and U.
19. Connect Points I - R and C - S with gently curved lines
20. Connect Points R - T and S - U with straight lines
That completes the front part.
BACK
The Back is a modification of the front. Copy the front unto new paper and flip it horizontally so that the centre front is now on the right hand side.
21. Line H - 1 = 1/2 of Line H-I
22. Line 1 - 2 = Back crotch extension measurement
23. Point O - 3 = 1/4 of Line O - F
24. Joint points 1 and 3 with a straight line and extend it pass point 3 by 1inch(2cm) Label as point 4.
25. Extend the waist and hip line out to the left as guidelines (red dotted lines)
26. Point 4 - * = Measure and mark Back waist + dart measurement. Square up 1/2inch(1cm) from * to Point 5. Join points 4 - 5 with straight line.
27. Point 4 - 6 = Hip Depth measurement
28. Point 6 - 7 = 1/4 Hip measurement
29. Highlight Line J - M. This will now be the Crease line for the Back.
30. Join points 5 - 7 and 2 - 4 with curved lines to form centre back and side as illustrated.
31. Line 8 - 9 = Extend Line R-S on each side by 1/2inch(1cm). This will make the back 1inch(2cm wider than the front)
32. Line 10 - 11 = Extend Line T-U on each side by 1/2inch(1cm). This will make the back 1inch(2cm wider than the front)
33. Connect Points 7 - 8 and 2 - 9 with gently curved lines
34. Connect Points 8 - 10 and 9 - 11 with straight lines
35. Point 12 = Mark midpoint of line 4-5
36. Split dart measurement equally on either side of point 12. Label as 13 and 14.
37. Point 12 -15 = 3/4 Hip Depth measurement. Make this line perpendicular to line 4-5 or parallel to line 4-6.
38. Connect points 13 - 15 and 14 - 15 to form dart.
This completes the Back. Try it out and let me know how it goes. Please watch the video to see the final step on how to true the outseam, inseam and the crotch curves for easy sewing. Do not skip this step.
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