Welcome to the second day of the Flint Pants Sew Along! Today we are going to put needle to fabric and start sewing!!
Yesterday was all about printing and cutting out your pattern. If you haven’t done that yet, don’t worry, we’re taking this step by step so there is plenty of time to catch up or do this at your own pace.
If you still need the Flint sewing pattern, you can get it here! But first head over to my Sew Along Announcement post to get your discount code for 20% off!!
Also, if you haven’t heard yet, there is a giveaway at the end of the Sew Along. Yay!! I’ll fill you in on the details at the end!
Today we are easing in with the release tucks and darts. These little beauties are simple to execute but are the key reason for the incredibly flattering fit of these pants.
Follow along with the four steps below but remember I’ll be popping onto Instagram and Facebook live each day to talk through the steps and answer any questions you have. So catch me there with anything you’re not sure about, or just to chat all things sewing, pants and fabric – I’m ALWAYS up for a sewing chats!
These steps are straight forward but do it with care so that you don’t have wonky darts throwing off your final look!
STEP 1 – Mark the notches
If you didn’t do this when you cut out your pattern pieces, mark the corners and ends of your tucks and darts via your chosen method.
You can use any number of methods including, chalk, pencil or a fabric pen, tracing wheel, tailor’s tacks or a combination of these and also clipping the notches.
Marking the Tucks
For the tucks, I marked the corners with tailors tacks (I like this method as you can accurately mark two layers of fabric at once and the mark doesn’t rub off or fade) and clipped the ends with scissors. See details on how to do a tailor’s tack in my previous post.
Clipping notches is often a method I use as I always have at least one or two pairs of scissors nearby when sewing! I like to make sure my pattern piece is properly aligned and clip right through the pattern paper and the fabric all at once. Making sure to keep the snips well within the seam allowance!
Marking the Darts
For my Flint shorts, I used a FriXion pen to mark the point of the dart. First aligning the pattern piece and then by making a small hole with it right through the pattern paper onto the fabric. Next, shuffling the pattern piece down a little or just pulling the top edge back a bit to reveal the fabric below the end marks and marking with pen. I like to use a ruler to mark the legs of the dart on the fabric as a guide when I’m sewing.
For my Flint pants, I used chalk. I put a pin through a small hole made at the point of the dart. Without moving the pin, I pulled back the pattern paper just enough to use my chalk to mark the point. I then proceeded to mark the ends and rule two straight lines to form the legs as with the pen above.
STEP 2 – Sew the release tucks
Fold the Front pieces (pattern piece 1) with right sides together so that the tuck notches at the top and bottom corners line up.
Pin in place and sew from the top of the tuck, pivoting at the bottom corner and sewing horizontally towards the folded edge. Back stitch or tie off the stitches at the end.
Repeat for the other side. Press tucks towards the side seams.
STEP 3 – Sew the darts
Fold along the center of the darts on the Back pieces (pattern piece 2), with right sides together. Make sure the dart legs match up.
Pin and sew from the top of the dart to the point. Back stitch or tie off the stitches at point.
Megan shares a great tip if you’re manually tying off the threads.
- Push a pin right through the dart point
- Makes sure the last stitch butts right up against the pin
- Ties the threads into a knot tightly around the pin.
This prevents you from pulling the thread too tight and potentially puckering the fabric.
I did a comparison of both methods and didn’t see a difference. So I usually just use the backstitch function (actually a three stitch automatic fix on my machine) and it turns out smoothly. While the manual method will take slightly longer it can give you peace of mind if you are worried about the dart puckering.
Repeat for the other side. Press darts towards the center back.
STEP 4 – most important
Celebrate completing the first step in making your Flint pants or shorts!!
The other exciting thing?… a giveaway!! Megan is generously contributing one PDF pattern of the winner’s choice.
To enter all you have to do is:
1. Follow me @indybindyco
2. Follow Megan @megannielsenpatterns
3. Comment on any of my Instagram posts this week letting us know you’re taking part in the sew along.
4. Tag both of us in the caption of a post of your Flint pants (completed or in process!) The more posts you tag us in the more entries you get!
5. Be sure to include the hashtags #sewitwithindybindy and #mnflint so we can keep track of the entries and see your gorgeous makes!!
Happy sewing!!
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