How to fix a camel toe
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella on Oct 20, 2006 at 2:23 pm / Patterns / Trackback
I suppose I should open with a lecture to do what I say and not as I do but I think I’ll pass. Rather, the lesson for today boys and girls is to never consider your fitting sample ready for fitting analysis until you’ve finished sewing it. Sounds obvious huh? Consider me spanked. By the way, the alternative title for this post is Pattern String Codes part 4 so this comes on the tail of parts two and three.
Anyway, being in a hurry as I was and happy to report the pant block was pretty good (I still say it wasn’t bad for my figure type), I hadn’t actually finished the waist off with the elastic waistband and this proved to be my undoing. Once I finished the band and put them on, darn it all, there was that little booger in my crotch. I suppose I can take solace in the fact that I’d said it was there when I first looked at the pattern, well before I ever cut it out. ~sigh~ on to the matter at hand.
As I mentioned in Anatomy of a Camel Toe part two, the CT is usually formed because the center front of the pant has too much fabric in it (I’d suggest you revisit that post before this one). I’ll start by walking you through this. Below is a photo of the pant crotch. The front is to the left (in case you don’t sew and don’t know what you’re looking at).
To correct the CT, you have to scoop out the front. Below I’ve marked off about half an inch, tapering it to nothing where it hits the deepest portion of the crotch curve.
Below you can see the effect once the excess is trimmed away. Already the crotch curve is looking nicer.
If you find that you don’t have enough fabric to go around after having trimmed out the front, you’ll need to add that at the side seam, correct? But you already knew that because you went back to read Anatomy pt. 2, didn’t you? Of course you did.
Now, at the same time that the front is trimmed away, the front waistline -particularly at CF - must be lowered because the CF line is too long. By the way, that is exactly how I missed the CT; I fit it the first time without the waistband and elastic. I had it tied into place and as we’ve all seen, that was definitely an inappropriate solution. If the waistband had been formed, I would have seen the too long front line with the pool of CT in the bottom of the crotch. To correct the waist line, I’ve marked off another half inch, tapering it to nothing at the side seam.
Thus corrected, below is a finished view of the pants crotch shaping. Please note that the height of the pant at the front is considerably lower now than the height of the pant at center back. This is a good thing. Previously, there hadn’t been much difference between the two (front and back).
As a point of comparison regarding front to back waist height of the drafts, I pulled a pattern I had gotten (a plot, not a hard copy) from a friend of mine way back when. This is a jeans pattern; the back pant is on the left now. The front piece has a cut out at the side seam because that’s where the pocket goes (in case you wonder why it doesn’t look like the other pants pattern). Also, the back looks different because it’s been pieced with a yoke. This is an example of your basic 5 pocket.
As you can see, the shaping of the crotch curve varies considerably and the height difference of the waists front and back are more extreme. This is to be expected considering the styling differences. The jeans were made to fit “big bootie girls” as the designer called them (she being one herself) cut with full curves to the seat. And in case you ask, yes, I think my friend’s pattern needed better shaping itself in the crotch line -which is why she gave it to me- but she closed her doors before we got around to this particular job. I just showed it here to illustrate height differences of the waist, front to back.
13 Responses to “How to fix a camel toe”
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October 20th, 2006
6:39 pm
Kathleen, you have me rolling with laughter… only you would think to give a tutorial on camel toe.
I only want to add one thing… there is another type of camel toe… this is when the crotch it too high and tight and you see (on women) an odd little two — well, go look at a camel’s toes and you will see the two little bumps…. LOL
Okay, of course in this case you need to make different changes (for example, start wearing only skirts!!)
No, seriously, the crotch depth and length may need to be tweaked.
Thanks for the wonderful site.
October 20th, 2006
6:48 pm
I have this weird pet theory about the shaping of crotch lines that I want to share with you guys. I mean, it could be totally bogus but I think it’d be fun to do “what if”. It’s along the lines of the primary range of motion thing I’ve written about with regards to armholes, except as it applies to crotches and I’m leaving this comment here as a placeholder, a reminder for me to write about it on monday. Assuming anybody’s interested.
October 22nd, 2006
12:02 am
Trish you make me laugh. The sad truth is when I go to buy a pair of jeans and I try on 12 paris and nothing fits. I buy another skirt or dress. I do have a closet full of skirts and dresses. I have just a few pairs of jeans. I have done this shopping method for years. I just get frustrated tho and fall into the same ole trap.
October 25th, 2006
9:16 pm
Please. no!!!! not the end of the camel toe. we love the camel toe. the camel toe burn into our minds and gives us food for thought. to engineer apparel so as to reduce or eliminate the camel toe, well… is like serving apple pie without whipped cream. we all love whipped cream, dont we. please, say it isnt so!
October 28th, 2006
10:44 am
Clothing, especially underclothing, should be formed to fit the human body, not to suppress it.
Nothing done to wearable trousers will eliminate every instance of “camel toe.” If the crotch is loose enough to obscure the pudenda while standing, it will reappear when sitting, squatting, or bending over.
The only sure cure is the skirted garment.
Also, trousers on women invariably cause the buttocks to be emphasized. Again, the cure is the skirt. To prevent “swallowing” of the rear of the skirt by the buttocks, a snug underskirt or slip will pull a straight panel across the rear. For comfort, it can be made of a stretch fabric, but preferably a stretch fabric that is knitted to stretch, not of a stretch thread like Lycra or other elastomer (rubber- or latex-like), which has chemical health-damaging issues.
May 23rd, 2007
11:13 pm
Can camel toe also be caused by sewing the pants legs first (outseam and inseam) and then assembling both completed legs at the crotch seam? I was taught to do it this way from every class and pattern instruction sheet, but when I look at most of my pants, they have been sewn 1) front rise to front rise/back rise to back rise 2) outseams, 3)inseams from one hem to the other. It seems to me (although I do have a mighty imagination) that this particular order of operations especially helps with the camel toe created when you sit down.
August 21st, 2007
7:54 am
Trish - I was thinking the same thing today!
Jane & I (we have a lovely Graduate with us at the mo who, sadly for us - joyous for her, is off to the Royal College of Art to do her MA in Oct) have been trying to solve this problem; the fault being the one that ‘looks-like-a-man’ rather than the ‘crease-in-the-ditch’.
Kathleen - thanks for the piece, it has helped shorten our problem-solving…we hope!
April 30th, 2008
6:08 pm
I love the internet!! I teach patternmaking and a student asked about dealing with camel toe. I said “lets do some research” and here you are. I teach my students that if the pants are to be close-fitting to sew the crotches separately then the inseam, but for looser, tailored pants the inseam first. What do you advise?
October 23rd, 2008
8:48 am
I didn’t even know that there was so much info. out there on this subject. I just made a pair of pants, wool blend, from a pattern that my teacher had hanging on a sample rack. These pants are the best fitting pants I’ve ever tried on. We had to do some alterations, but the fits makes me look better than anything else… although I have never tried on $200+ pants. I would love to send in a pic. once I have the lining done. We are women, not barbies! I don’t know a fix for the camel toe, but surely wouldn’t get one that fit like that!
October 27th, 2008
6:36 am
I would LOVE to hear your theories on crotch lines (you mentioned writing about this on October 20)….I am a part of the Technical Design team for an action-sports outerwear design company– range of motion is key with our styles. As a junior tech designer, I am learning an incredible amount. However, the more experienced Technical Designers and I seem to have a difference in opinion about a proper rise shape for a well-cut, functional snowboard pant. I would love to hear your thoughts on rise shape and mobility. *Overall kudos to you, I love reading your insights and sharing them with my coworkers.
November 3rd, 2008
6:30 am
I just posted a link to this tutorial on Pattern Review. Someone had asked me about front crotch fit, and your tutorial is excellent, and pretty much how I managed to finally get rid of all that extra at the base of my crotch. But, almost no one tells you that if you make this adjustment you need to lower the cf waist! I finally figured this out on my own. Thanks for sharing all this great info.
November 3rd, 2008
3:36 pm
I’m wrapping my head around body space and the CF seam. I thought I would take a 1/2” wedge from CF just above the curve area, tapering it to 0 at the side seam, to remove excess yuck but luckily followed Nancy’s recommendation to check this link. Ditching that idea. Still, there must be something about the shape or the angle of that curve which makes the fit so “wong” and challenging myself to work the remaining puzzle out. Many thanks, as always, for sharing your expertise.
December 11th, 2008
12:26 am
Is the 1/2 adjustment a standard adjustment for correcting this issue? Or do you have to figure it out on your own? I can see why the correction made the crotch look better, but can you explain what makes a good crotch line on a pattern?