Hi! Today I thought I would spend a little time on the gathering of materials to sew your own 1970's version of Dittos Jeans or Pants.
1. Fabric: There are various different types of fabrics you could use to make Dittos Jeans or Pants. Most Dittos that I saw at the time were made of a medium weight, soft, brushed, cotton twill fabric and they came in a plethora of colors - (so seldom can that word be used in a sentence). As a reminder, the colors I saw at the time for the Saddleback Dittos which were the most popular of the Dittos designs were: White, Light Lemon Yellow, Light Baby Blue, Light Baby Pink, Brown, Light Tan, Light Mist Green, Teal, Medium Blue, Forest Green, Red, Coral. I think black existed, but I personally never saw these pants in the black color.
eBay:
This might be a good fabric for Dittos pants here. At $4.95 per yard it's not a bad price. Unfortunately, they won't ship it outside of the USA.
This might be a good fabric in pink. This person ships outside of the USA and I think you would need to contact them for a shipping quote.
There are many colors to choose from, but they don't all come in stretch twill fabric. You could use regular twill fabric or bull denim too and then just keep in mind to add a little to the seams here and there for wearing ease.
Here's another seller on eBay who has the regular twill fabric and many of the colors used in the original Dittos pants.
Another fabric I saw now and again is a thin, crinkle gauze fabric. I guess the person could wear spanx or something as this fabric is pretty sheer or see through. I saw these type of Dittos in white or coral. There is an ad that shows a pink color too, but I did not see the pink color.
Here's a seller on eBay who has the white crinkle gauze. You can see from one of the photos that it is very sheer/see through. If you use this fabric you could sew it either in matching white thread or use a dark brown contrast thread. I did not see any other contrast thread color other than dark brown.
Here's a seller on eBay who has a fabric I am considering for the Dittos Side Saddle jeans. The Side Saddle jeans might look good on women who would like their hips to appear narrower or smaller. The fabric used for these jeans was unusual in my opinion both in texture and weight. These jeans only came in a light weight, thin, washed denim or a charcoal/black color.
Here's a seller who has a nice looking green corduroy. I really don't remember corduroy fabric being used for Dittos; however there is a person who is selling an actual pair of 1970's Dittos in a light tan corduroy so corduroy was used.
This is just a small selection of sellers on eBay who are selling fabrics similar to those used in the 1970's Dittos as I remember them. There are many other sellers online as well. Check them out as well as Etsy.com. The reason I didn't list Etsy is because many times they don't sell fabric by the yard, but rather by the piece or remnants until you get into the higher prices.
2. Zippers. The original 1970's Dittos pants zippers were in an aluminum or silver color rather than brass. Of course you could use brass or even polyester. This is up to you. Find zippers on clothing in thrift shops, eBay, online stores, Hobby Lobby and fabric stores such as JoAnn's. If you buy the zipper in a longer length than what you need, then they will be easier to sew in as you can zip them up to the top and have the hanging off of the top of the pants before the waistband is attached. Then once the zipper is sewn in, unzip it down and then just cut the top extra off.
3. Snaps/Poppers: Copper or Brass heavy snaps were used as the top button. You could also use a button of your choice or a jeans non-sew button. There are many colors to choose from. I got mine from eBay. I have to buy many things online as we live in an isolated area and we don't even have a Walmart in this town!
4. Waistband interfacing. It's a good practice to use interfacing in your waistband; however, I don't think, although I might be mistaken in this, that the original Dittos had waistband interfacing.
Please write and tell me what you think.
Thank you for reading and Happy Sewing!
Kathy
A look back at historical costumes, sewing, pattern drafting, pattern altering, jewelry and everything to go with dresses and clothing from the past.
Thursday, April 6, 2017
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
DIY HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN DITTOS PANTS
Hi there! Today I'll talk about how you might go about sewing your own Dittos Pants. The first step is to decide what type of Dittos Pants you want to make. Most people are interested in making the saddleback version, but there are other types of Dittos Pants and Jeans. See my previous post on this subject of April 3, 2017 here.
Okay if you would like to make the Saddleback Dittos Pants you will need cotton stretch twill fabric in a pastel or even a regular color. You could also use denim either lightweight or the normal heavy weight. Stretch denim would work better. Other fabrics they used to use were corduroy and a light weight crinkle gauze. Note that if you use black or some of the darker colors other people may not be able to see the saddleback seaming which is the whole point of the Dittos pants don't you think? I call them Dittos pants because only a few of them were actual jeans and most were pants.
This pattern, as I mentioned before, is the closest pattern I've ever seen to the Dittos style: The 1970's McCall's 5182 "Carefree Patterns". Hint to search for this pattern just search for McCalls 5182 no apostrophe. The pattern number has been reused several times so look for the picture shown.
Patterns from the 1970's were much smaller in size. You may have to grade up the pattern to fit. It is best to go by your hip measurement plus 2 inches or so for ease. On this pattern you will need to do several changes which I have outlined on my earlier post.
1. Take out the point in the saddleback shape at the back.
2. Put the seams going down the legs to the back not the sides as the envelope and pattern show.
3. You may decide whether or not to include front pockets on your pants or not; however, the original Dittos saddleback pants had no pockets whatsoever.
4. It may be necessary for you to raise the waistline.
5. You will need to add belt loops to the waist band.
6. Saddleback Dittos had more of a flare type of hem rather than an actual large bell bottom. I once talked to someone that was selling her Dittos pants and she said that the bottom hem was a total circumference of 23 inches.
7. All Dittos had the normal jeans zipper fly front. The color of the zipper was the aluminum or silver color jeans zipper rather than the old brass or bright brass color. You may choose to use the color zipper you like or even a matching color polyester zipper.
8. The original top button was a snap, (British term: Popper), rather than a jeans button. You could use a jeans button with button hole or sew on a button if you like.
9. What if you can't find the McCall's 5182? Then you'll need to draft your own pattern from a jeans pattern. In that case you would not do the yoke at the back of most jeans, not have any pleats and not add any pockets unless you wanted to add pockets in the front. Cut the back of the pants pattern in half in a way that will form the saddleback seam. This is not to scale or anything- just a quick drawing- and I couldn't show the seam going down the back of the leg like it should.
Suppose you want to make the more simple version of Dittos - Bareback Dittos?
You need to do all the changes listed above, but not make the saddleback at all, just have the seam going up the rear.
How would you make those Side Saddle jeans I mentioned in the earlier post? Ahh this gets much much more complicated, but still do able. If you can't find Simplicity 7093 then you could modify a trouser style jeans pattern and place the saddle on the sides rather than the back. Somewhat like shown above. It's hard to show the seams on the front and back of the legs however. I'm having trouble remembering where the front pockets were located and how they were sewn in. They may have been more like the regular jean pockets with no coin pocket. These jeans are the trouser style so they have about 3 pleats near the front. You need to incorporate this into the pattern or draft your own. Of course since they will be your pants you can do away with the pleats as well. Rather than flares these were skinny jeans or stove pipe jeans that were fitted around the ankle with ankle zippers.
If you would like to make the high rise Dittos which may look better for larger women's sizes you can follow the McCall's 5182 pattern only have the saddleback go closer to the waistband and then have the seams on the side of the legs as shown in that pattern. In this case you would keep the point in the center back of the saddleback design. See above.
Chevron and double chevron. These type of Dittos are a favorite for the Frankie B's company only they add pockets to theirs. As you can see, in the original versions there are no pockets and for the single Chevron there is "no" waistband and two snaps or buttons. These would be somewhat similar to bareback Dittos only with the Chevron seams added.
I'll address one more style of jeans here simply because I saw these worn on an episode of Charlie's Angels from the 1970's. These would be the Y back pocket jeans. This pair might actually be from Frankie B's collection - I'm not sure. Make a Chevron and use a slighter darker wash of denim in about the yoke area or closer to the waistband of a normal pair of jeans and then using that same slighter darker wash of denim, make the Y shapes for the back pockets and belt loops. You can see the back pockets are rounded on the bottom part. The leather patch is not necessary. I believe the front pockets were patch pockets with a rounded or tulip shaped bottom to them. On the right side in the illustration above on the top is the waistband and underneath it the Chevron shape. On the left side at the top is the back pocket and below that is the Y shape. Sometimes it's easier if you break down shapes and other items into individual parts.
I hope this post will be helpful to you and make you see that you can sew various patterns of jeans by re-arranging seam lines and other design characteristics.
Thank you for reading and Happy Sewing!
Kathy
Okay if you would like to make the Saddleback Dittos Pants you will need cotton stretch twill fabric in a pastel or even a regular color. You could also use denim either lightweight or the normal heavy weight. Stretch denim would work better. Other fabrics they used to use were corduroy and a light weight crinkle gauze. Note that if you use black or some of the darker colors other people may not be able to see the saddleback seaming which is the whole point of the Dittos pants don't you think? I call them Dittos pants because only a few of them were actual jeans and most were pants.
This pattern, as I mentioned before, is the closest pattern I've ever seen to the Dittos style: The 1970's McCall's 5182 "Carefree Patterns". Hint to search for this pattern just search for McCalls 5182 no apostrophe. The pattern number has been reused several times so look for the picture shown.
Patterns from the 1970's were much smaller in size. You may have to grade up the pattern to fit. It is best to go by your hip measurement plus 2 inches or so for ease. On this pattern you will need to do several changes which I have outlined on my earlier post.
1. Take out the point in the saddleback shape at the back.
2. Put the seams going down the legs to the back not the sides as the envelope and pattern show.
3. You may decide whether or not to include front pockets on your pants or not; however, the original Dittos saddleback pants had no pockets whatsoever.
4. It may be necessary for you to raise the waistline.
5. You will need to add belt loops to the waist band.
6. Saddleback Dittos had more of a flare type of hem rather than an actual large bell bottom. I once talked to someone that was selling her Dittos pants and she said that the bottom hem was a total circumference of 23 inches.
7. All Dittos had the normal jeans zipper fly front. The color of the zipper was the aluminum or silver color jeans zipper rather than the old brass or bright brass color. You may choose to use the color zipper you like or even a matching color polyester zipper.
8. The original top button was a snap, (British term: Popper), rather than a jeans button. You could use a jeans button with button hole or sew on a button if you like.
9. What if you can't find the McCall's 5182? Then you'll need to draft your own pattern from a jeans pattern. In that case you would not do the yoke at the back of most jeans, not have any pleats and not add any pockets unless you wanted to add pockets in the front. Cut the back of the pants pattern in half in a way that will form the saddleback seam. This is not to scale or anything- just a quick drawing- and I couldn't show the seam going down the back of the leg like it should.
Suppose you want to make the more simple version of Dittos - Bareback Dittos?
You need to do all the changes listed above, but not make the saddleback at all, just have the seam going up the rear.
How would you make those Side Saddle jeans I mentioned in the earlier post? Ahh this gets much much more complicated, but still do able. If you can't find Simplicity 7093 then you could modify a trouser style jeans pattern and place the saddle on the sides rather than the back. Somewhat like shown above. It's hard to show the seams on the front and back of the legs however. I'm having trouble remembering where the front pockets were located and how they were sewn in. They may have been more like the regular jean pockets with no coin pocket. These jeans are the trouser style so they have about 3 pleats near the front. You need to incorporate this into the pattern or draft your own. Of course since they will be your pants you can do away with the pleats as well. Rather than flares these were skinny jeans or stove pipe jeans that were fitted around the ankle with ankle zippers.
Chevron and double chevron. These type of Dittos are a favorite for the Frankie B's company only they add pockets to theirs. As you can see, in the original versions there are no pockets and for the single Chevron there is "no" waistband and two snaps or buttons. These would be somewhat similar to bareback Dittos only with the Chevron seams added.
I'll address one more style of jeans here simply because I saw these worn on an episode of Charlie's Angels from the 1970's. These would be the Y back pocket jeans. This pair might actually be from Frankie B's collection - I'm not sure. Make a Chevron and use a slighter darker wash of denim in about the yoke area or closer to the waistband of a normal pair of jeans and then using that same slighter darker wash of denim, make the Y shapes for the back pockets and belt loops. You can see the back pockets are rounded on the bottom part. The leather patch is not necessary. I believe the front pockets were patch pockets with a rounded or tulip shaped bottom to them. On the right side in the illustration above on the top is the waistband and underneath it the Chevron shape. On the left side at the top is the back pocket and below that is the Y shape. Sometimes it's easier if you break down shapes and other items into individual parts.
I hope this post will be helpful to you and make you see that you can sew various patterns of jeans by re-arranging seam lines and other design characteristics.
Thank you for reading and Happy Sewing!
Kathy
Monday, April 3, 2017
DITTOS JEANS, THE 1970'S ICONIC WOMEN'S PANTS
Hi Everyone, Today I'd like to talk about Dittos Jeans. Not the modern, Frankie B version with the below the waist treatment and weird pockets, but the original, high-waisted, twill fabric Saddleback pants with flare or bell bottoms from 1974.
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[Disclaimer: I found these images on the world wide web and I am using them just for informational and educational purposes here. If you are the owner of the images and would like me to take them down, then contact me at kathiego88 at gmail dot com.]
*******************************************************************************
Online I've witnessed that many Baby Boomers out there remember these pants from their high school or junior high school days. The ads said "feel the fit" and were quite suggestive. There was one ad you can still find online that has a woman taking off an outer pair of jeans to reveal a pair of Pink Dittos underneath. You had to wear these pants as tight as possible for the best effect. There were a number of different styles as well.
The most popular Dittos Pants were made of a medium weight, brushed cotton twill that just got softer and smoother with every wash. They had a snap, (British term: Popper), instead of the top button. They all had a fly front with metal zipper. They all had a high waistline.
Fabrics used: Medium weight, brushed cotton twill, corduroy, light weight or thin cotton denim, thin gauze.
A possible sewing pattern for the Saddleback Dittos Jeans, the only one I've found that comes fairly close, is the McCalls 5182 Carefree Patterns below. With small adjustments here and there, such as removing the point from the back of the saddle and not doing the rainbow side seam treatment and pocket this pattern is essential a pair of Dittos Jeans. Also rather than having the saddle seaming going down the outside seam you would need to move it to the center back instead, while you should be careful to follow a kind of curved shape as seen in the original pair above. You can see this is a unisex pattern right from the front of the envelope so it is fine for women as well.
Saddleback colors: Light lemon yellow, White, Baby Pink, Baby Blue, Light Mist Green, Light Gray, Black, Brown, Tan, Medium Red, Burgundy, Forest Green, Coral, Teal, Medium Blue
Bareback pants: These had no saddle just the seam in the back. Colors: Light Lemon Yellow, White, Baby Blue as in the photo, Baby Pink, Tan
Highrise pants: These were similar to the Saddleback, but the saddle part came higher nearer the waist line, wider towards the hips and had a point in the back for this design.
Highrise pants colors: Red, White, Light Lemon Yellow, Baby Blue, Mist Green, Brown, Burgundy, Forest Green - there may be others that I don't recall right now.
Side Saddle jeans: I never saw this type that was not made of a thin, washed cotton blue denim. The only picture I have for these is the Simplicity Pattern 7093 which is not quite an accurate idea, but it does have the side saddle seaming. The side saddle seaming part went higher on the hips. The front was interesting. It had the side-slit or hidden, in-seam pockets, like on a coat, and several European pleats for a trouser look along with a 1 1/2 inch wide waistband with the jeans type of non-sewn copper or brass button and the heavy brass zipper fly front. There were also heavy brass zippers at the ankles and these jeans were not flared at all, they were tight fitting skinny jeans! The idea behind the Side Saddle Dittos Jeans was to make the person's hips look narrower. At about the same time as the Side Saddle Dittos Jeans came out was the invention of the Earth Shoe. The Earth Shoe quickly died as it was impractical to wear. These were mostly in a rust suede leather and were lace up shoes. They had a higher ball of the foot part and a lower heel part. The sole was a light cream colored rubber.
Colors for Side Saddle Jeans: A medium to light wash, thin, light-weight cotton denim and black/charcoal.
Chevron: I saw this type of Dittos very rarely and I believe they came in near the end of the run in the later 1970's. They had essentially no waistband and a Chevron like design at the back. There were two buttons on the front.
Double Chevron: I never saw this type in person, maybe this type was worn in Europe?
I'm hoping to make a pair of the saddle back jeans when I can - health allowing.
Hope you like my post and let me hear from you!
Email me here
Kathy
*******************************************************************************
[Disclaimer: I found these images on the world wide web and I am using them just for informational and educational purposes here. If you are the owner of the images and would like me to take them down, then contact me at kathiego88 at gmail dot com.]
*******************************************************************************
Online I've witnessed that many Baby Boomers out there remember these pants from their high school or junior high school days. The ads said "feel the fit" and were quite suggestive. There was one ad you can still find online that has a woman taking off an outer pair of jeans to reveal a pair of Pink Dittos underneath. You had to wear these pants as tight as possible for the best effect. There were a number of different styles as well.
The most popular Dittos Pants were made of a medium weight, brushed cotton twill that just got softer and smoother with every wash. They had a snap, (British term: Popper), instead of the top button. They all had a fly front with metal zipper. They all had a high waistline.
Fabrics used: Medium weight, brushed cotton twill, corduroy, light weight or thin cotton denim, thin gauze.
A possible sewing pattern for the Saddleback Dittos Jeans, the only one I've found that comes fairly close, is the McCalls 5182 Carefree Patterns below. With small adjustments here and there, such as removing the point from the back of the saddle and not doing the rainbow side seam treatment and pocket this pattern is essential a pair of Dittos Jeans. Also rather than having the saddle seaming going down the outside seam you would need to move it to the center back instead, while you should be careful to follow a kind of curved shape as seen in the original pair above. You can see this is a unisex pattern right from the front of the envelope so it is fine for women as well.
Saddleback colors: Light lemon yellow, White, Baby Pink, Baby Blue, Light Mist Green, Light Gray, Black, Brown, Tan, Medium Red, Burgundy, Forest Green, Coral, Teal, Medium Blue
Bareback pants: These had no saddle just the seam in the back. Colors: Light Lemon Yellow, White, Baby Blue as in the photo, Baby Pink, Tan
Highrise pants: These were similar to the Saddleback, but the saddle part came higher nearer the waist line, wider towards the hips and had a point in the back for this design.
Highrise pants colors: Red, White, Light Lemon Yellow, Baby Blue, Mist Green, Brown, Burgundy, Forest Green - there may be others that I don't recall right now.
Side Saddle jeans: I never saw this type that was not made of a thin, washed cotton blue denim. The only picture I have for these is the Simplicity Pattern 7093 which is not quite an accurate idea, but it does have the side saddle seaming. The side saddle seaming part went higher on the hips. The front was interesting. It had the side-slit or hidden, in-seam pockets, like on a coat, and several European pleats for a trouser look along with a 1 1/2 inch wide waistband with the jeans type of non-sewn copper or brass button and the heavy brass zipper fly front. There were also heavy brass zippers at the ankles and these jeans were not flared at all, they were tight fitting skinny jeans! The idea behind the Side Saddle Dittos Jeans was to make the person's hips look narrower. At about the same time as the Side Saddle Dittos Jeans came out was the invention of the Earth Shoe. The Earth Shoe quickly died as it was impractical to wear. These were mostly in a rust suede leather and were lace up shoes. They had a higher ball of the foot part and a lower heel part. The sole was a light cream colored rubber.
Colors for Side Saddle Jeans: A medium to light wash, thin, light-weight cotton denim and black/charcoal.
Chevron: I saw this type of Dittos very rarely and I believe they came in near the end of the run in the later 1970's. They had essentially no waistband and a Chevron like design at the back. There were two buttons on the front.
Double Chevron: I never saw this type in person, maybe this type was worn in Europe?
I'm hoping to make a pair of the saddle back jeans when I can - health allowing.
Hope you like my post and let me hear from you!
Email me here
Kathy
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