Crotch Master Part 3

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Using your Pants Block

© 2022 Carol Kimball

Check to be sure you’re transferring your darts from the side you liked! Lay your shorts as flat as you can and feel for the center and side seams. Pin the sewing line of the pattern at those edges. The paper will bubble up at the dart. Pinch it out.
Mark the top and bottom of the crease.
Here’s our mess on our rough master. Note that the dart in the bottom graphic was lengthened once examined on the body. The sequence is done on fresh pieces of paper (note the numbers in the upper right corners).
This isn’t as complicated as it looks; we’ll take it step by step. The gold was the original dart. It’s going to be split into two, with part of its takeup coming out of the side seam (the front will need the same adjustment). Based on how the muslin looked, the angle of the legs has changed to the gold lines.
The big dart was split in half, and the shorter dart to the side had more taken out that will come from the side seam.
Straight legs for this step.
Another fresh piece of paper; the darts have been traced with curved legs and the top of the side seam taken in. Note the whiteout on the smaller dart: my early patterns and muslins have marker and whiteout all over. Darts are usually pressed away from the center of the body and down from the top. Note the unevenness of the top edge.
The top sewing line has been gentled (particularly above the smaller dart) and the seam allowance drawn in.
When successive garments are cut out, it’s important to preserve those weird little wavelets at the top cutting line, so that the raw edges of the seam allowances will line up.
Transferring our corrected darts back to the muslin: line up the paper pattern with the edges as before. Fold back and draw right at the edge of the dart centers, etc.
New lines on the muslin. The basting shows the original sewing lines. The side seams were opened far enough to take them in.
The corrected darts basted in. That sloppy zipper is plenty good enough for this stage.
Trace a clean copy for your completed crotch master.
This will serve as the base for all your pants’ blocks.