Little Black... Trousers

What I really love is uncommon and intriguing detail or two in common garment. Such as classic black pants. Of course they fit, of course fabric is nice, but that's not enough. I want them to make a style for me or my customer. Such as these free-form flowery inserts and leaf-shape beaded detail on the waistband. Flowery fabric goes well with the plain black, because they have the same slight shimmer, so they blend into one another a little. With dull black fabric it won't work. Cuffs are flowery too. They might be not very visible all the time there at the ground, but they when they come into sight, in brighter sunlight for instance, they finish my design beautifully.

Old Photo Pick - 1

One dress a month... One ritual a lifetime. Some people just don't like custom sewing. No, they wouldn't mind a new dress, but the process is killing them as they say. It is soooo much time!.. Fittings! To tell you the truth, average fitting session takes about 15 minutes. Well, there is measuring one, one fitting session, and voila! - on the third time you get your dress. Or trousers, or jacket. Sometimes there is the second fitting session required, but trust me - in this case you'll spend years more to find dress for you in-store. 

Blouse is always something special...

"She wore the pale blue summer blouse which he had brought her home as a present one Saturday.
When he brought the blouse home Annie kissed him and said it was very pretty and stylish; but when she heard the price she threw the blouse on the table and said it was a regular swindle to charge ten and elevenpence for it. At first she wanted to take it back but when she tried it on she was delighted with it, especially with the make of the sleeves, and kissed him and said he was very good to think of her."
                                                                                  A Little Cloud (The Dubliners) 
                                                                                          James Joyce

It doesn't have to be tied on the waist,
it is just big for the mannequin.

I finished this luxurious blouse recently, and it took me about 36 hours of work. In one of the articles about tutu skirts (Tutu Skirts. Part II) I wrote that real-ballet Chopin kind skirt takes about 35 hours from a skilled master. As regards this blouse it took me so much time mostly because of the tricky fabric.

Pants Balance

Do you know what balance of the pants is? This is the key concept  and the main reason why custom-made trousers suit you better than bought in the shop ones. 

Balance is normal, actually it is very good!

Every figure has its own individual waistline or the ideal level for pants to rest. Usually it is not horizontal, and not on the real waist as the narrowest point. It can be actually very different on the back, on the sides and on the front.

Each and every figure has its own pelvic tilt. Everybody who tried to draw the human body knows that men have more horizontal, and women have more tilted pelvic.

Clothes designers make all garments including pants for typical shapes, to fit the widest range of consumers. This works well for tops, sleeveless dresses, loose blouses, t-shirts etc. But not for fitted pants.

I remember I shopped for trousers last time, couple of years ago. I spent four hours in the shopping centre! Finally I found a good pair. Well, fabric was not perfect, a bit thinner than I wanted. They fit me well but I felt too tight in the hips and crotch area was too short. Since that time I have always sewn my pants myself. It takes the same time, and I get what I want at the end of the day. And I am much happier.

I'll tell you more abut the advantages of custom-made pants in the further posts, today I was going to write about balance. I've made some photos of my pants with incorrect balance - by pulling them down and pushing up  - so you can easily see what happens.