Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Skinny Jeans by Peek-a-Boo Patterns and making clothes that fit

I had set a challenging task for myself, to make a pair of pants for my niece that actually fit HER! Miss E. is very tall and slim so buying a pair of pants for her is like trying to get JubeJube down for a nap...It just doesn't happen.

I've tested patterns a few times for Pee-a-Boo Patter Shop ( affiliate link), here and here, and was never disappointed with the pattern tutorials or fit of the garment, so when I saw the pattern for thier skinny jeans how could I go wrong.

First things first, take good measurements: waist, hips, inseam, and natural waist line (right at the belly button) to the ground. Just because your child wears a size 6 in stores doesn't always mean they're a size 6 when it comes to patterns.

This is the actual size chart from the tutorial and these are the measurements I had to work with.


Its not as simple as just taking a size 5 and adding length for the legs, you need to account for some of the length of the body, after all you wouldn't want to have your child wearing really low rise pair of jeans. This is where the magic of adjusting a pattern begins.



I started off with the back of the pants, the easiest piece to adjust. Notice how the rise of the back gets longer as the size gets bigger, and its important to maintain the rise to the respcetive height that you need or you end up with a plumber's crack.



I traced out the pattern for the rise that I needed and then...


Went to the width I needed and traced out the rest of the pattern piece. I worked the front pattern piece the same way making sure to use the same sizes as I did for the back piece. Once all my pattern pieces were traced out I just sewed them up as explained in the tutorial.

This is what my back pattern piece looks like. Notice the rise and the leg length is the size 8, and the width for the hips and waist is the size 5.


For your first time making such adjustments to a pattern I would strongly recommend that you test it out on fabric that you're not in love with so if you mess up you end up learning from your mistake and you still have the fabric you love!

Little things that you need to remember: if you making a size 5 for the size of the hips and waist and an 8 for the height your back pocket needs to be a size 5 or your pocket will be too big! The front pocket opening needs to remain the same so that it can be useful as a pocket. 

Who's ready to see the end result!










See the rest of this shoot on my sister's blog, Tanya Zaleski Photocreations, the photographer behind these beautiful images.

Until next time, xx.

14 comments:

  1. So cute!!! where are those boys cargo pants ;)

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  2. You did an amazing job!! Those pants are adorable and the tutorial is perfect!

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  3. Genius! You have loads of talent! I am to chicken to do jeans. Way to go!

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    1. These jeans are fun and easy! Peek-a-Boo patterns are so well explained, and these don't have a zipper, its so worth it to give it a try!

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  4. This is SOOOOOOOO HELPFUL, Thank You!!!! My son is 7 1/2 and is a size 4 in the waist and hips but an 8 in length, I can never find pants that are long enough that will stay on his almost non existent butt. I can't wait to make him pants that will actually fit him well.

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    1. So glad you enjoyed the read, and you found it helpful! If you need extra adivse I can help you out :)

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  5. Oh, Thank you. I have a skinny 7 years old with a 4/5 waist and a 6 lenght.
    This is absolutely helpful.

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  6. I was just pondering what to do as my daughter has the EXACT measurements!! Thanks so much for your clear process.

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  7. Thank you, thank you, thank you! My little girl has the same build as yours, and I was just trying to decide if I should bite the bullet and start making her jeans. Your instructions on pattern modification are perfect. Thanks.

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    1. So glad that I was able to help you out! If you have any other questions please let me know and I'll be more than happy to lend a hand :)

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  8. Thanks so much for this! One of my main reasons for starting to sew clothes is so I can have pants that fit my daughter. She is a 3 around the waist and a 5 or 6 in length. I have been looking for a pants pattern for her. I will defintitely check this one out!

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  9. I hope you don't mind but I linked this tutorial in my blog. I use it all the time to adjust my daughter's jeans! Thank you for doing such a great job!

    www.projectdestash.com

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