Understanding a Pants Pattern

I am really trying to wrap my brain around the pant draft. I design three dimensional objects in flat layers for a living, so the ability to see two dimensional objects take shape in three-D is something that I have practiced and developed over the course of the last - well let's just say - large number of years. With all that experience, one would think this would be a cinch. I *will* figure this out! And I will share :)

This is what I have done so far: I traced my RTW pieces onto tissue and cut them out. Next, I used my flexible ruler to get my crotch curve. My waist is level, so I positioned the flexicurve with the waist level. The waistband is two inches long and I will wear these two inches below my natural waist, so the pattern pieces come up to four inches below where the waist is marked on the curve. I widened the legs by adding a half inch to both sides of each piece, giving a total of two more inches in circumference. (After the pants are finished, I will put them on inside out, pin out any extra fullness and then transfer back to the pattern.

  • FRONT piece:
    • marked the grainline with a fold
    • positioned the grainline perpendicular to the waist level line
    • taped the pattern to the flexicurve
    • scooped out an inch from the front crotch curve
    • added the inch back to the hip by slashing and spreading the pattern piece
    • added an inch to the extension
    • measured from my crotch down to my knee on my body
    • marked the knee with a fold the corresponding distance down from the crotch
    • marked the crotch depth with a fold
  • BACK piece:
    • marked the grainline with a fold.
    • positioned the grainline perpendicular to the waist level line
    • taped the pattern to the flexicurve
    • I had to do some folding and some spreading to get the pattern to follow the flexicurve. You can see where I made several abandoned attempts where there are crease lines.
    • marked the knee with a fold.(There are two folds at the knee. It's the fold on the bottom. The top one was an abandoned attempt to make the leg go straight after adding to the extension. I am going to remove that addition to the extension. You can still see it in the picture. It is where the crotch extensions overlap.)
    • marked the crotch depth with a fold. It's the one on the top. It lines up with the crotch depth of the front piece. The bottom fold is how far below the crotch line the back piece dips. (Actually now that I think about it, the bottom line is the real crotch depth. When I sit down, the inseam of my pant legs is above the level of the chair by about the distance between the two folds. this makes sense to me now as I am processing and typing. I will go and raise the fold on the front piece.)
    • folded and trued the dart
    • checked the inseam lengths to make sure they are equal
    • checked the outseam lengths to make sure they are equal
    • checked the total circumferences against my personal measurements at the knee
    • checked the total circumferences against my personal measurements at the thigh
    • checked the total circumferences against my personal measurements at the bottom edge of the waistband - 4 inches below natural waist
    • checked the total circumferences against my personal measurements at the crotch depth

This is what my pattern looks like. You can click it to make it bigger or see it full-sized here. There is a two inch wide contoured waistband not shown. There are no seam allowances. The back crotch scoops down below the height of the inseam. See that angle to the back? And the center front is off grain. Does this look right? Does anyone else have a back pattern piece that looks like this?

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