21 piece pattern--for pants!

Vogue 8890

School is out for the week so the kids are home. I decided this would give me some time to sew without having to run to pick them up. Ha. What was I thinking?

Well, we sat down yesterday morning to watch some shows together. I used the time to start cutting out Mr. Toad's pants pattern. Uh...twenty...one...pieces! Yikes. 

Since he is a 34 in the pants--per Vogue sizing--and 38 in the waist, I decide to cut a 34 from the hips down and 38 above. After 45 minutes of glorious tissue cutting--while  blocking small dogs from jumping or stealing the tissue, I started marking the seam lines. I did this so that I could give larger seam allowances for adjusting. 

Vogue 8890

I am going into uncharted territory for Mrs. Toad. Men's dress pants and tailoring. I am making a muslin. Mostly for sizing and maybe practice the back pocket with their instructions. 

Seams lines marked. I use a thin Sharpie, because they do not
bleed or rub off after they are dry.

I am using Vogue 8890 View D. The muslin is the short version just to save on muslin. In addition to the the pattern instructions, I am also using Classic Tailoring Techniques: A Construction Guide for Men's Wear (F.I.T. Collection) and Making Trousers for Men & Women: A Multimedia Sewing Workshop. I have had the first for two and a half years and the second for three years. That is how long it has taken me to get to this. Procrastination? Fear? Intimidation? 21 pieces? I have used the David Coffin a lot for sewing pants for myself and the boys. Just not for Mr. Toad.

Machine thread traced seam lines. The colors are meaningless
I use whatever I have that I want to finish.

Once I marked the seam lines, I started laying out on muslin. I decided I am not doing the waistband on the muslin. If I make the back pocket, I will do one. I will do the front pockets because those will effect the fit. I may or may not do the fly. 


I thread traced the seam lines and dart lines. Then I played around with the pieces to see where they fit together and how I could add some room to the waist. These are a flat front pant, so eliminating pleats won't work. I finally decided to make one dart between the two original. 

Lining up the pieces to see how it will go together.

Some of these decisions are based on when I can get Mr. Toad to try the muslin on. Not easy. I think that is the hardest part of fitting others, especially men. I think women like to try things on

 After referring to Classic Tailoring Techniques: A Construction Guide for Men's Wear (F.I.T. Collection), I found that the back seam is where it wants you to add the extra. 

I decided to make one dart instead of two to add two
inches to the waist. 3 more to go!

Since Mr. Toad will not be available to try these on for a while, I've decided to practice the back pocket. Then I'll sew these up and wait for him to try these on tonight.  

If I finish before he tries these one, I will start to cut out the pattern for my safari jacket that I'm trying to finish to enter into the Inspired by the Movies Contest at Pattern Review. I think I must like juggling projects. I always seem to have two or more going at a time.

Expensive, but
it is full of information
on men's tailoring and fitting.
Men's clothes are definitely
built differently than women's,

I just found out that
I can get a Kindle version
for $2.99 because I
already have the print version!