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Clover Sewalong October – November, 2011

It’s officially October (how did that happen, by the way?), and that means it’s time for another sewalong! Are you guys ready to make some Clovers?

I know what the big holdup is when it comes to making trousers. One word: fit. Let’s face it, when it comes to pants, getting a great fit is not something that can be left to dumb luck.

So this sewalong will have a big fit focus. In fact, pretty much all of next week is devoted to pants fitting! And I’m going to walk you through what I’ve found to be a good method for fitting this particular pair of pants. In other words, take a deep breath… we’re going to work through it together.

The great news is that these pants are exceedingly simple to construct, so we can take our time with fit and fly through the construction pretty quickly. And once you get these fitted the way you want, imagine the possibilities and variations!

Read more about this sewalong →

The Clover Sewalong

  1. Welcome to the Clover Sewalong! (34 Comments)

    Intimidated by the idea of making pants? We’re here to help. Get tons of fitting information, including our handy pants fitting cheatsheet. You’ll also learn about different seam finishes, options for lining your pants, and an alternate way of finishing the waistband with bias tape.

  2. Making your muslin (14 Comments)

    Welcome to the first step in the Clover Seawalong, everyone. Now, I only have a few things to say about making the actual muslin. For some general tips about making muslins, you might want to review the muslin post for the Rooibos Sewalong. There are some handy suggestions there. But I did want to cover …

  3. Large or Small Waist Adjustment (10 Comments)

    This is the first in a series of posts I have planned for this week all on different fitting adjustments you can use for the Clover sewalong, or for nearly any other pair of pants you make!

  4. Full or Flat Belly Adjustment (19 Comments)

    Welcome to the second in a series of posts I have planned for this week all on different fitting adjustments you can use for the Clover sewalong, or for nearly any other pair of pants you make. This one is for those of us with either a prominent abdomen, or a more flat abdomen than …

  5. Lengthen or Shorten the torso (13 Comments)

    This is the third in a series of posts I have planned for this week all on different fitting adjustments you can use for the Clover sewalong, or for nearly any other pair of pants you make. This tutorial covers one of the most common adjustments, lengthening or shortening the lower torso area. This is …

  6. Wide or Narrow Hip Adjustments (6 Comments)

    We’re onto the fourth in a series of posts this week on different fitting adjustments you can use for the Clover sewalong, or for nearly any other pair of pants you make. This tutorial is for a very common adjustment, for those with either wide or narrow hips.

  7. Full or Flat Butt Adjustments (23 Comments)

    This is the fifth in a series of posts this week on different fitting adjustments you can use for the Clover sewalong, or for nearly any other pair of pants you make. This tutorial is for those with either a full butt (including those with a muscular butt, or just naturally round derriere), or for …

  8. Swayback adjustment (11 Comments)

    This is the sixth in a series of posts this week on different fitting adjustments you can use for the Clover sewalong, or for nearly any other pair of pants you make. This tutorial is for those with a swayback. Swaybacks can be the result of your build, or just your posture. The pelvis tilts …

  9. Large calf adjustments (2 Comments)

    This is the seventh in a series of posts this week on different fitting adjustments you can use for the Clover sewalong, or for nearly any other pair of pants you make. This tutorial is for those who have large calves. If you find your pants binding against your calves, check this out.

  10. Large or Thin Leg Adjustments (16 Comments)

    This is the eighth (and final!) post in a series this week on different fitting adjustments you can use for the Clover sewalong, or for nearly any other pair of pants you make. This tutorial is for those who have large legs, or thin legs.

  11. Seam Finishes (1 Comment)

    Flat Fell Finishes With the Clover pants you have several different ways to finish the seams. While you can easily finish seams with a serger or pinking sheers, here are three flat fell seams to reinforce your seams. In addition to making your pants sturdier, they’ll look professional on the inside as well as out! …

  12. Lining and underlining (14 Comments)

    Today, I was planning to post about darts and pockets for the Clovers. However, two things prevented this. One, I realized that it might be a good idea to talk briefly about lining for your Clovers. If, like me, you’re using a fabric that might be itchy (like wool), you might like a little discussion …

  13. Getting started with pockets and darts (1 Comment)

    Finally, it’s time to get started sewing our Clovers! As I mentioned before, the actual sewing is very fast and easy, but I’ll be splitting it up into several posts for you. I’m doing the version with pockets. If you decide not to do the pockets (which makes the pants even easier), you can just …

  14. Assembling the legs (2 Comments)

    This will be fast and easy, folks! Today we’re assembling the legs of our Clover pants together in just three easy steps. First, stitch each pants front to a pants back at the inner leg seam. Finish the seam and press. Now sew the two leg units together along the crotch seam, taking care to …

  15. Waistband and pocket (14 Comments)

    We’re onto the final installment in our Clover sewalong. I suppose that, aside from the fitting, this would be the trickiest part of construction. Follow along and you should have no problems at all. Plus, I’ll show you the alternate way of finishing the waistband on the inside with bias binding, which is what I …

  16. Your Completed Clover Projects (11 Comments)

    Hi there! How’s your Clover coming along? If you need a bit of motivation for to finish up your Clovers, just take a look at what some of the Colette readers have been up to! There are so many great ideas floating around in the Flickr group. And if you need any fitting help, take …