Does anyone have tips for sewing pants?
If you don’t intend to use a pattern, you probably either need to learn to drape pants on someone else (this is a fairly technically advanced draping skill) or stick to styles like palazzo or some of the ethnic pants like salwar that are pretty much one size fits most. Grainline and crotch shape are the two most important details that have to be right for the pants to hang right and feel right. Which is why I prefer to custom-draft pants. I use Connie Crawford’s draft, which is straightforward, but requires meticulous measurements. If you have a straight skirt pattern that fits you perfectly, you may be able to do the older style draft from the straight skirt block that’s given in most modern US patternmaking books like Armstrong. I find that method inferior to generating the straight skirt block from the pants draft, though. If you’re intending to make modern US/European style pants, make sure the grainline is straight down the center of each leg, both front and back, and the outseams
