See, I used a much thicker and stretchier fabric that my last pair. I could not locate any jeans needles anywhere locally, so I went ahead a used a regular size 16 needle. Worked fine for the regular thread, but my machine had a fit when I had to topstitch with the topstitch thread.
And the waistband totally stretched out when I sewed it. This wouldn't have mattered so much if I had sewn on the belt loops. But in my wisdom, I had left them off thinking my needle/machine would not be able to cope with so many layers at once. So the stretched out waistband was a total disaster. And I had no more fabric to recut the waistband.
Lucky for the jeans, my stubborn streak kicked in and I spent an evening unpicking, pressing, adding some interfacing at the top edge and re-attaching the annoying piece. I ended up topstitching the seam where it is attached at the waist with regular thread and the buttonhole is in the navy thread as well. The other three sides of the waistband is the the topstitch thread. I figure no one is really going to notice and anyway, who cares.
I tried to come up with a really cool picture for the back pockets, something like Mary Nanna's here or here or this amazing design from 21Wale, but I don't want to be a copycat and I can't draw, so I just went for some not so random lines. It took me a whole morning to come up with what I wanted, how sad is that.
Look Mum, these are not real jeans. I actually made them, check out the mistakes.
They are super comfortable and I think will be in high rotation this month. Although I am hoping to churn out a few more things before the Me Made Month is over. This is a long weekend without any out-of-home plans and there is only two more weeks of school before the holidays. I really want some more pants and maybe some more tees and jumpers.
Your jeans turned out great. Did you cut the waistband on the bias like the pattern says to? I found that I had to start cutting mine on the straight grain so they wouldn't stretch as much. Also, instead of using stretch denim as the waistband facing, I have used non-stretch cotton fabric. It's easier to sew through, since the waistband isn't as thick and helps control stretch. Now that I've said all this, perhaps I should dig that pattern out again!
ReplyDeleteReally, great job with these. The fit looks perfect!!
They look excellent! I'm sure they'll get a TON of wear, so that makes up for the annoyances (hopefully) (:
ReplyDeleteI've used regular thread sometimes instead of topstitching thread. Thinner thread definitely looks better than mangled nests of topstitching thread!
I think these look awesome. I still haven't tried the Jalie pattern, but your version sure does inspire me. Way to go!
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