Shadowing Practice: Fix your Trousers Fitting Issues | Body Specific Adjustments (Part 1) - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Hi everyone, my name is Nuria and this is Mastering Journey.
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Hi everyone, my name is Nuria and this is Mastering Journey.
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And for today's video, I'm bringing you something I've been working on for a long time and it's trouser fitting issues.
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There's a lot to cover,
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so I've decided to split the content into two different videos.
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One for body-specific issues, things that you can change before you make the first prototype.
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And a second video that is going to be once you have the first prototype
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and the second and the third and the etc. Things you can fix once you're in the prototyping phase.
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And if you want to know more about it,
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I have a cheat sheet with everything for both videos on my website.
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You can go and check it out.
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And if you're interested in learning everything you need to know to design trouser patterns,
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I'm writing an ebook and you can join the waitlist now to get notified when it comes out.
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But without further ado, let's get into the content of this video.
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First things first, we're going to look into the initial checks.
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These are things that you always have to check before doing your prototype or after you've made any change to your pattern.
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The first one is truing the side seams.
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You will have to check if the front and back side seams are the same length.
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If that's not the case,
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add a little bit to the shorter part
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and remove the same amount from the longer part and then you will have to make them equal.
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The second issue is the crotch length.
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Measure the crotch length of your body and compare it to the length of the pattern.
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The pattern should be at least equal or longer than your measurement.
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If that's not the case you will have to extend it.
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Depending on how much you have to extend you can cut through the hip line
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and add the length there or even add it to the waist
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but if it's too much then we'll get into the next video
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and I'll show you how to do it in the next video for the prototyping.
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The next issue is checking all the circumferences.
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To do that measure the upper thigh,
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the knee and the ankle circumferences of your body and compare them to the pattern.
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The measurements on the pattern should be a little bit bigger to account for movement ease.
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The ease will depend on the type of foundation you choose
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and the leg line of your design
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but they should always be at least two centimeters wider and if that's not the case just make them bigger.
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The next issue is going to be the grainline.
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The grainline is the middle division of the pants pattern and some modifications will require you to shift it.
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Always make sure that it's halfway along the crotch line.
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And the last issue is truing the curves.
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All the curved transitions should be smooth
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and to make sure that's the case align all the pieces
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and close the darts and redraw them and this stands for the waist and the crotch lines.
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And now that this is clear let's get into body specific issues.
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We're going to start at the waist.
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Different people have different postures and this can be accounted for in your pattern.
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The standard position is considered to be a perpendicular line from the floor with no back arch.
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From that posture we have the forward tilt and the backward tilt.
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The forward tilt is the most common one and the back is arched towards your tummy.
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This means your front pattern will need to be shorter than the standard.
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And to fix this issue do the following.
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First line up the pattern pieces.
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Second draw a horizontal line perpendicular to the grain line at hip level.
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Then check your side view to decide how much to remove.
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I would advise you not to remove the whole thing.
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It's always better to have more fabric than less when you are prototyping.
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And then finally remove the amount from the front and add it to the back.
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We do this because we want the crotch length to stay the same
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because if you did it at the beginning you check that the crotch length was the right amount.
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Now let's look into the backward tilt.
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You have a backward tilt if your back and shoulders are rounded towards the back.
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If this is the case,
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the back pattern will need to be shorter than the standard.
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To fix it, we'll follow exactly the same procedure
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but this time you'll reduce the amount from the back and add it to the front.
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This adjustment will probably cause the center front
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and the center back to be at a bigger angle than before which will cause issues somewhere else.
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If you want to fix this issue,
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go to the waist definition chapter for the front and to the bus shape chapter for the back.
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The next waist related issue is going to be your waist shaping
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and this is important to understand what the center front and the center back lines are going to be used for.
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If you have no waist definition,
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also called rectangular body shape,
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the center front line should be parallel to the grain line.
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If on the other hand you have a defined waist like an hourglass figure or prominent hips for example,
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the center front line should be at an angle.
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And in this chapter I also want to talk to you about the full belly adjustment.
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This adjustment is for people with prominent bellies or for ladies that are pregnant.
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And there's two ways of fixing this issue
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and it will depend on how much ease you have to add to the pattern.
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The first option is if you need up to one centimeter or three-eighths of an inch.
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If that's the case you can add the length vertically
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and horizontally to the center front and
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if on the other hand you need more than that you'll have to do the following.
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First draw a parallel line to the crotch line above the hip line and it doesn't really matter where.
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Second, connect this line to the side edge of the waistline.
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Then you'll have to draw another line that is perpendicular to the first one from the waist to the line.
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You can also use the darts but it's going to get confusing if you do that.
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Then cut through both lines up to the waist but not through the waist.
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Add as much ease as you need to the pattern
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and this will angle your center front line which we don't want because if you remember that's for the hourglass figure.
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So So to fix it,
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you'll have to use the second line to make it straight.
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And once you're done you can redraw all the lines and you're ready.
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As always it's easier to have more fabric than less.
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And what you can do is also combine option one and option two.
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Now let's move into the butt adjustments.
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Here we also have two different adjustments.
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The first one is how to fix the pattern for a low butt.
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You have a low butt if your widest part around the hips sits below the crotch line.
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The standard pattern looks like this.
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The crotch length doesn't cross your crotch line,
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but for a low butt your curve should cross that crotch line.
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To fix it just redraw the curve and lower it a bit at a time during the prototyping phase.
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When you do this adjustment it is very possible that the horizontal space gets reduced.
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This means we have to correct that issue.
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To do that draw a line where the curve starts and measure the difference between both lines.
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Then add that width to the crotch extension and the pattern is ready.
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It is very important to understand that this fitting issue will fix the position of your butt but not the shape.
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Let's look at how to modify the pattern to accommodate for the shape.
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To make it simple we're going to define three different shapes.
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The flat butt, the standard and the prominent.
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If we look at how the pattern would look like you can see
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that what changes here is the space in between the patterns.
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So let's see how to move from one to another one.
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For a flat butt we'll have to reduce the space.
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To do it, add the needed length to the center back and reduce the same length from the side back.
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We do it this way because the horizontal length of the pattern is already correct and you don't want to modify it.
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I advise you to reduce one centimeter at a time also.
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And for a prominent butt we'll do the opposite, we will add space.
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To do that there's two options.
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Option number one is to add the extra length to the crotch extension.
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This will change the horizontal length of the pattern around your thighs
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and if you have small thighs there might be too much extra fabric for you.
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If you have small thighs what you can do is the opposite we did for the flat butt
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so you move the center back line towards the side seam and add that same length to the side seam.
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We're almost done let's move to the last two body specific adjustments.
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These two adjustments have to do with your leg line.
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The first that we're going to look into is if you have a prominent inner thigh or a knee.
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A good way of knowing if you have a prominent thigh is
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if when you walk your thighs touch each other and the trousers that are slim fitting are uncomfortable in that area.
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Most of the times the length of the pattern is correct
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but it's not in the right place
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so what we're going to do for this adjustment is move it so it actually is in the right place.
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This adjustment is done both at the front and at the back
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but more at the back because you have more space to work with
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so in this example I'm going to be showing the back
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and also for this adjustment you should be adding one to two centimeters no more because then the pattern loses its shape.
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Let's see how to do it.
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First draw a horizontal line below the crotch line.
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Then mark the grain line.
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Next step is going to be cut through the line
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and move the bottom piece of the pattern the amount you want to fix.
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I wouldn't do more than one centimeter at a time.
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Use the grain line to know how much you moved it
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and finally redraw the leg lines to fit the pattern by adding to the center and removing from the side seam.
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And now let's look into prominent cuffs.
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You probably have a prominent calf
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if the fabric is always tight around your calf with a little bit of extra fabric below your knee.
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There's two ways of fixing this issue
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but one of them I will leave it for the prototyping phase
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because it has more to do with how you see the fabric behaving
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but let's look at how to fix it before the prototype.
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In this option will basically add a little bit of length to the pattern at calf level.
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To do it, first draw the grain line,
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then connect the grain line to the knee line,
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cut through the lines but not through the knee points,
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and add the amount you need.
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You can leave the fix here,
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but this will add flare to the bottom of your hem,
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and if you don't want to change the leg line at all,
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then I would advise you to do the following.
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Draw two perpendicular lines to the grain line and cut through them
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but not through the grainline
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and use these lines to correct the hem back to being straight
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and with that we're done with the body specific issues don't forget
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that fixing one thing will potentially create another issue
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and always always always it's better to have more fabric than less fabric
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when prototyping
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and also always remember to do all the checks we talked
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about at the beginning after doing all these modifications you might think there's other issues like having a slayback
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or an asymmetrical body, all these things,
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I'm going to add them in the next video because as I said,
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they have more to do of how the fabric behaves once you've done your prototype.
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But if you think that I'm missing any specific body issue,
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then also please let me know in the comments.
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And as I said, if you don't want to wait for the next video,
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you have the cheat sheet on my website and I'll link it down below.
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But that's everything for today.
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I hope this was useful.
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This video was long time in the making and I'm really,
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really, really excited that I finally got it out.
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Trust me I know how frustrating it can be drafting your
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own trouser patterns I think I've done like 2 000 prototypes
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but I promise you it's all worth it because
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if you look at me at the moment I'm only wearing trousers
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that I made myself and I cannot tell you enough how proud I am
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and how happy I am every day
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that I get to wear my own mix so hang in there and I'll see you in the next one bye
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About This Lesson
In this lesson, you will engage in English speaking practice focused on trouser fitting issues and body-specific adjustments. You will learn how to communicate intricately about tailoring techniques, measurements, and adjustments necessary for creating well-fitted trousers. This topic not only enhances your vocabulary and speaking fluency but also provides a practical context for using English in fashion design and garment fitting. By practicing this specific language, you will find opportunities to refine your ability to articulate detailed explanations and procedures in English. This lesson will also help prepare you for the IELTS speaking practice, as it emphasizes clear and structured communication.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Crotch Length: The measurement from the waist to the point where the legs meet.
- Truing: The process of ensuring that seams are aligned and measurements are correct.
- Ease: The additional space allowed in a garment for movement.
- Grainline: The direction of the fabric threads, crucial for cutting patterns.
- Posture: The position in which someone holds their body when standing or sitting.
- Curves: The rounded edges of a pattern that must be smooth for a good fit.
- Prototype: The first example of a design that is tested and modified later.
Practice Tips
To maximize your English speaking practice, particularly with content related to tailoring, consider using the shadowspeak technique. This involves closely mimicking the tone and pace of the speaker in the video. Take note of how Nuria articulates the key terms and concepts, and try to repeat them at the same speed. Start by replaying segments of the video that cover the basics of trouser fitting adjustments. Focus on capturing each phrase and its pronunciation, aiming for clarity and accuracy.
Additionally, practice in front of a mirror or record yourself to evaluate your intonation and clarity. This will help create greater comfort as you move toward more complex discussions. Whether you are preparing for the IELTS speaking test or simply looking to enhance your general speaking abilities, engage in regular sessions to build your proficiency with this specialized vocabulary. Remember, consistency in practice is critical; aim for short, focused sessions rather than lengthy ones to maintain retention and improvement.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.
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