Welcome back! Today we are putting all of our big pieces together!
Let’s get to it.
ALL VIEWS:
Side seams: Place front and back pant/skirt right sides together and sew side seams. Backstitch and stitch a few extra times over the bottom of the slash pocket to make it extra secure. Finish these edges and press toward back. Topstitch at 1/8” from seam, starting at waistband and ending at hem. Make sure you’ve caught the seam allowance in this topstitching.
Waistband facing: Before closing up the back, we will attach the waistband facings.
We will be attaching the raw (not folded) long side of the facings to the pants. “Left” waistband facing goes on the wearer’s left and “right” waistband facing goes on the wearer’s right. The 1/2″ you pressed under in section one will go in the front; when unfolded, there will be 1/2″ overhang. (Center back is indicated on the pattern pieces.)
Placing right sides together, pin and sew the waistband facings to the pants on their respective sides. Understitch, then grade seam allowance on each facing.
Center back seam: Align the center back seam from notches to waistband facings, right sides together. Pin along the final location you decided on during fitting. Pin carefully at the waistband, double-checking that both sides line up with each other (see bottom photo) and sew. Trim seam allowance down to 3/8” and finish the entire center back seam (not pictured because I want you to read the next sentence before finishing!). If you’d like to leave the back extension as-is for future alteration purposes, clip at the notches and finish below the notches, pressing the extension apart above the notches. Hold the extension out of the way so that it doesn’t get caught in the topstitching in the next step.
Center Back Topstitching: Press finished seam toward the right, flip over and topstitch 1/8” left from center seam, catching seam allowance underneath.
Waistband Topstitching: Roll waistband facing to the inside, making sure the folded ends at the fly roll to the inside. Press and pin in place.
Starting at the inside fly corner, topstitch 1/8” from top edge. Continue around to opposite side, turn at fly and stitch down 1-1/8” from top (1″ from the stitching you just placed across the top), sew back across the length of the waistband, making sure you are catching the bottom edge of the facing underneath. Turn again and end back at starting point. Backstitch at beginning and end to secure.
Starting out like this will feel awkward because the bulk of the garment will be to the right of the needle at the beginning, but it will place start/stop point on the lesser-seen inside fly. Be careful and go slow here—you’re working with a lot of layers and bulk.
Look at that beautiful topstitching! One thing that makes this pattern unique is that there’s no separate waistband piece on the outside. I love how seamless (uhh, literally… *symbol clang*) it looks once the facing is topstitched into place.
Inseams:
(1) Making sure center seams are aligned, pin front and back inseams, right sides together.
(2) Sew, finish seam, and press toward back.
That’s it for today! We only have one more section, but that’s just the minor finishing details. For all intensive purposes, you have constructed a pair of pants!!! I’m so extremely proud.
Below you will find the list of links to each blog post in the sewalong. If you have any questions, absolutely feel free to e-mail me.
- Introducing the Chi-Town Chinos Sewing Pattern
- Introducing the Chi-Town Chinos Expansion Packs
- Chi-Town Chinos Tester Round-Up
- Chi-Town Chinos Expansion Pack Tester Round-Up
- Part 1 : Inspiration
- Part 2 : Supplies
- Part 3 : Customizing the Pattern
- Part 4 : Fitting + Finishing
- Part 5 : Prepwork
- Part 6 : Front Pockets
- Part 7 : Fly Front
- Part 8 : Back Assembly + Final Fitting
- Part 8.5 : Welt Pockets
- Part 9 : Waistband, Center Back Seam, Inseam, Side Seams
- Part 10 : Belt Loops, Bar Tacks, Hemming, Front Closure
