Wovens and pregnancy, broken mirrors, and being easier on myself

It’s been wadder city around here (and crazy face making I guess–I blame my lack of sleep and very funny kids).  Well, not exactly wadder…more like really beautifully finished complete garments that biff it because my changing body changes faster than I can crank stuff out of my sewing room.

Exhibits A and B:  Burda 7198, theoretically a great top for maternity–built in A-line shape with sweet little godets in the side seams.  Problem: my cup size grew between my muslin and getting both versions sewn, so I need more width in my upper chest that I usually don’t.  The stress point being the placket, split on the stronger cotton chambray in the wash and shredded in the wearing (yay for having an undershirt on that day) on the poly-masquerading-as-silk-and-I’m-so-sad-that-it-did-because-it’s-such-a-pretty-print.  

Solution:  as dull as it is at times to stick to knit tops during pregnancy, that give inherent in the fabric prevents tragic breakdowns like these plackets that result in wasted time and energy.  If you really want a woven maternity top, just buy it; if it’s ultra boring (because you know it will be), buy a white one and dye it.

Exhibit C: The Saggy Bottom Girl and Burdastyle 6-2010-129 (Saints alive!  Have I learned nothing about fitting pants?!)

Problem: I only pinched out 1/2″ in the back crotch and didn’t do my usual part 2 alteration to fix the same issue (cut the inseam a size smaller).  This coupled with overestimating how big my hips really are (I cut a 40–should have gone for the 38, possibly a 36 with some added room for my hips–Burda maternity sizes are larger), and picking a thin but sturdy denim, I have cones off my back end.  Cones, people.  I have only 8 more weeks, and I was very conservative in fitting my flat backside because I was afraid that I’d overfit and then not have anything in the last couple weeks.  I also couldn’t see too well to really get an idea of what I needed to do because several weeks ago #1 broke my small full-length mirror I use for fitting (he was walking on it–thankfully, on the backside and it was covered with fabric on the wrong side because I used to use it as art in our apartment and took it down when I needed to fit–so no bleeding child, just a broken mirror).  He’s been paying me back a quarter at a time (thankfully, it was a $10 purchase–easily the cheapest thing he could have wrecked in my sewing room), and he finally finished yesterday.  Bright side: my topstitching is great on these jeans, and I really like the color of this denim, so saggy bottom or not, I’m going to enjoy these.  

Solution: Don’t fit pants without the aid of at least 2 mirrors that give you a proper view of your tushy.

It’s really hard for me not to take all of this personally.  I’m the type that likes to do everything excellently, and I generally stink at realizing that there are times that my ability to do just that is limited and that that in and of itself is not some sort of moral failing.  The thing is I can’t control everything that happens anywhere–I can let it get me down, or I can wear my saggy bottom but smashingly pink topstitched jeans with pride, knowing that someday–soon, likely, I’ll get back to where I want to be.  Failure is part of the creative process.  Failure is part of the creative process.  Blech…I could use less failure.

Frankenpatterning for better shorts

When I was pregnant with the boys, I didn’t have a choice not to wear maternity pants.  I started sewing when I was pregnant with Noah because of the lack of maternity clothes in non-soul-killing colors and prints, and I couldn’t fit pants yet when I was pregnant with Sam.  I remember wearing this particular pair of Old Navy maternity jeans and feeling, well, fat with all of the extra fabric hanging off of my legs in the back and I remember vowing to figure out how to fit pants Scarlett O’Hara as God is my witness style.

So after the first trimester sleepiness has gradually worn off and after we’ve all started to get better from the summer colds we’ve managed to get, I was going to figure out some shorts to get me through the remainder of this summer.

I initially muslined a pair of Kwik Sew 3324 shorts, but they didn’t pan out.  They were way way too big for where I’m at, and the panel had no shaping at the side seams where I really need it.  It occurred to me to pull out my Burda 3-2011-131 shorts that I outgrew in June and see how I could make them work for where I’m at now since the fit was good on those.  Already made garments count as muslins too!

According to what was going on, I needed to add at the side seams about 3/4″, and then I’d need a rib knit panel tall 3.5″ at CF and about 2.5″ at CB (I just measured in both places to where I wanted the top of the pants to hit).

I took out Burdastyle 6-2010-129 and grabbed the panel, just cutting it down to what I needed and gambling that I could just sew it to the top of the shorts without any need for alteration.  This panel has a little bit of shaping at the side seams, so I figured that it would work better for me over the straight-sided side seams of the Kwik Sew.  I sewed a quick muslin just in case and it worked like a charm.  On #1, the linen version, the panel + elastic enclosed inside for more support needed to be a little more snug between the loose weave factor of linen and the stretch-out factor that just happens in knits on your bottom half over the course of the day.  They’re still way crazy comfortable and cool, and the extra space in the waist will probably serve me well when I’m still trying to wear these next month.

I used a heavy linen chambray I picked up at Denver Fabrics a couple weeks ago on a trip with my good non-sewing friend.  Mentioning that I could no longer stand sitting around the house in workout shorts, she wasn’t letting me leave without some quality fabric for shorts, and this fits the bill nicely.  I added some denim-style topstitching because you all know I’m a sucker for contrasting thread.

I also grabbed a lightweight denim for another pair.  It has a similar cross dyed texture as the denim and it has more drape and flow than most denims, which was perfect not only for the shorts but for the season.  It definitely wrinkles more than most denims as you can see, but I care not.  I resisted the temptation to buy more yardage only because come fall this fabric will not work for actual jeans and I can’t stash denim.  It’s the first thing to go in the stash.  I become too obsessed with it.

Allow me to be smug about the back fit.  It feels simultaneously vain and triumphant to know that I won’t have to have yards of fabric flapping in the wind behind me this pregnancy.

I made the panel a little smaller at the side seams, and used a little less elastic, stretching to fit, making this pair much better fitting.  I also added side vents in this pair via one of the Power Sewing videos (thanks Lisa for the b-day gift of the subscription!).

Mostly, this was a great project to help my sewing mojo working.  I feel like the world is my oyster 9 months out of the year in the creativity department, but summer I’m a mondo pile of blah.  And being pregnant has not helped.  Heat fries my brain, but the promise of fall and jeans (can you tell I’m excited about them?) and shirts with actual sleeves and the hope of being able to sew knit dresses I won’t suffocate in keeps me going.

Do you have a season when you’re out to lunch creatively speaking?

Off to get caught up on t-shirts for the project!  I finished one and about to get started on another which will get me caught up and back on track.

Foot tray for jeans

I’ve been thinking about this for a while, but as it’s a little lengthy to put in my probably already lengthy posts about any given pair of jeans, I thought I’d let it be it’s own little thing.  When you’re making jeans, there’s a lot in play.  You have lots of different feet you need for different purposes plus at least 2 different kinds of thread and possibly 2 different kinds of needles if you use a denim double needle.

Here’s what I use:

1. all-purpose foot–for non-topstitched seams
2. applique foot–for topstitching the fly and for bartacking.  I prefer it over the ap foot because it is clear, so you can really see where you’re going
3. ditch quilting foot or blind hem foot–both of these feet have a guide that follows along a seam and allows you to stitch right at the edge of a seam (one sews closer than the other, but they do the same thing).  Either foot lets you do the first pass of topstitching on a seam
4. 1/4″ foot–this foot also has a guide like the ditch quilting or blind hem foot, but it stitches a little farther from the edge of the seam where the guide is riding.  This helps you make your second pass for topstitching seams.
5. zipper foot–for installing your fly
6. buttonholer–to make a buttonhole for your tack button
7. topstitching thread–heavier than regular thread and probably a constrasting color
8. normal thread–for seams

After this pair, I’ve figured out how to simply keep things organized so it’s readily accessible.  I don’t doubt that this pair was my fastest constructed jeans to date partly because of this.

My solution to keep everything in one spot so that it’s ready to go when I need it is to take all of the feet needed out of the foot box and store everything on the lid to my foot box.  It’s simple, and I was surprised how much time it saved me.

How do you keep yourself organized for big projects?

P.S.:  You can vote for my shibori zippered jeans here.

And lastly, some quick MMM shots.

Day 17: Vogue 1027 in mocha jersey.  I’ve lost a lot of weight since I first made this, but I still love how instantly polished I feel in it, despite it being a color that I wouldn’t normally choose on any planet.  It goes with every accessory I own and it has such a pretty silhouette.  I could even run after the kids at the park in it without worrying about a floor show.

Day 18:  Boden Twist top knockoff, Ottobre 5-2007-9 in bleach dyed twill.

Shibori dyed zippered jeans

I’ve been sitting on this gray denim since January when I picked it up at Denver Fabrics’ New Years’ sale for all of $4 for the whole 2 yards.  It has a touch of lurex in it, so there’s a little bit of silvery sparkle running through it and it’s a nice weight with good stretch.  But I couldn’t leave it alone.  When I saw a blue breasted kingfisher like this one at the Denver Zoo with the kids and my friend and Noah’s bestie, I knew what I had to do.                                                                               

Aquamarine + grey =happy spring.  My jaw actually dropped when I saw the bird and now struck flat by inspiration, I almost ran out of the aviary right then and there.  I needed dye asap, and wouldn’t you know that Rit makes the perfect aquamarine.

I looked around on Rit dye’s website (which is really cool btw–who knew dyeing could be so hip?) and came across a tutorial for hand stitched shibori dyeing.  I fell in love with the texture of this effect–it’s tie dye for sure but not so Grateful Dead.  Basically you make long gathered stitches with strong thread (I used leftover Gutermann topstitching thread from another pair of jeans–not sad to use it up as my machine hates the weight of it) and pull them up and knot them before you put the fabric in the dye bath.

This took a while, but it was a relaxing bit of reckless kind of hand sewing.  I sewed approximately parallel to the selvages in rows about 2″ apart.  It was really gratifying watching 2 yards of this crunchy denim get wadded up into perfect little gathered sections.  

I put the fabric in a foil roasting pan and applied a fairly strong solution of Rit Aquamarine in a squeeze bottle.  I applied a very weak solution of powdered Pearl Grey as well.  The grey didn’t show up very well, but I didn’t really want it to–it just adds little flecks here and there through the fabric.  I don’t have a microwave, so I baked the fabric at 200 for seriously 4 hours at which point it was dry enough and my patience was waning and dinner had to be made.  I rinsed it out in the washer and sent it through a warm cycle to finish it off.  Then I cut the threads and admired it for a while before I cut it up into a Jalie 2908 stretch jeans. I did a different design for the back pockets, just simply combining some curves from a heart template on my cutting mat.  I traced it onto some of the sewer cloth that I use to trace patterns.  I transferred it to each pocket by just tracing right on top of it with my red Frixion pen.  The ink bled right through and I had two pockets with no fuss.  I mirrored the image for good measure and after I topstitched in white C&C heavy thread, the iron took care of the marks. I’ve kicked around the idea of putting side zippers in jeans for decoration for a while, and I knew this pair would be a good match.

The white zippers go perfectly with this light denim both in vibe and color.  I pressed back the seam allowances and stitched them with topstitching thread into place.  The first side of the first zipper went in without a hitch.  The second side…not so much.  I couldn’t get it to align with the other side no matter what.  It was a case of the denim having too much give and the zipper not having any and having to sew with the zipper down, so that extra ease in the denim can’t be dealt with by the feed dogs. Why it took me 3 times of sewing the same zipper badly and picking it out again to bring out the Steam-a-Seam, I will never know, but I did get there in the end.  I marked where the bottom of my zipper hit on the tape and ran a line of SAS on the far edge of the zipper tape.  Fused into place on the denim, it no longer slipped about and my zippers were aligned without a hitch.  Zipper #2 was an easy install after that.

I put the zips in upside down because I figured if I wanted to make a little vent at the bottom I could.  I don’t think you’d want to vent your undies.  I did put thread stops right where I’d want the top of a vent to end.  The zips are for decoration, not function, but I didn’t want any possibility of a wardrobe malfunction.

This denim had just a little more stretch and just a little more body than my last denim, so after I basted the inseams, I had some under booty wrinkles to contend with.  I remember an alteration from the Threads Fitting DVD series where you unpick the back at the inseam to the knee, slide it forward so that the raw edges of the fronts and backs no longer meet.  You want to mark your seamline on the front and sew everything back together.  Essentially what this is doing is cutting your back inseam a size smaller from the crotch to the knee which is one way to contend with a flat posterior (I also folded out a 1/2″ wedge in the inseam tapered to zero at the side seam seam line–I’ve found I get a better fit combining alterations).  I really like this alteration because it’s the only one you can do after you’ve cut the cloth.  I couldn’t get rid of all of the wrinkles, but I got as close as I could without a back princess seam.

The upside of using zippers in the sides is that you can unzip the side seams and sew and topstitch the inseam in the flat!  Yay.  It’s not only a flattering detail, but the topstitching really helps keep the seams flat on the inside, which on a fitted jean makes for an even smoother appearance. I gathered my courage and gave Jalie’s bias waistband a chance.  I didn’t have much choice.  I cut a straight grain band and it was inches too short.  Now, I know that the bias is going to stretch, but 2.25″?  For the sake of science, I had to figure it out.  Just to be safe, I cut the edges of my bias band extra long.  Sure enough, even after I interfaced the band, it stretched that magic 2.25″ that I was short on the straight band.  Plus I wanted to see just how a bias band would behave on a real body. I basted the waistband and not unlike everyone else who has made these jeans with the bias band had to fix the gaposis at CB.  I sewed out a little 3/8″ dart and put everything back together.  I followed Velosewer‘s advice and centered my seam not at CB but where one of the belt loops would be placed.  It gives the illusion of a one-piece waistband which I liked.  The bias band does conform fairly well to my curves, but I can get a better fit the first time with a contoured waistband.  It makes sense right?  The extra seams allow for more fitting at each of those seams vs. one shot at perfect fit at CB with Jalie’s waistband.  Per the contest rules of PR’s Best Pattern contest, I had to stick to the pattern, but next time, I’m using my Burda waistbands–they just fit better even if they are more irritating to make because of the extra pieces.  I’m not going to lie; cutting 2 pieces for a waistband vs. 6-8 of very similar looking pieces is much much nicer.  But if you’re sacrificing better fit, I’ll go through the irritation next round.

The only other thing I did was to incorporate the selvage into the belt loops.  It had this pretty fluffy fringy white sprinkled with the lurex strands.  I folded the belt loops so that the raw edge of the selvage ran down the center of the strip and topstitched close to the fringe and on the sides as I usually do.  I’m glad I could use the selvage–it was too pretty to waste I thought.

Overall, I’m loving these jeans.  They are what I had in my mind, and I’m happy and proud that I figured out how to make that vision a reality.  One last shot for MMM, day 14 with my Cabi Gather Tee 1.0.

My full review is here, and I reckon I will be looking for your vote in the contest!

Loden and grey linen Shorts

Shorts have never been high on my love list in garments for the same reason that pants never have been either.  Trying to find RTW ones is an exercise in seeing just how bad you can feel about yourself in a dressing room.  Needless to say, since I started the pants fitting journey, shorts have been kind on my want to sew list.

I had planned to pick up McCall 5391 at the next pattern sale but only if I couldn’t find anything in my Burda mags.

JoAnn is not as close to me as it used to be, so I have to be more strategic when going there.  Add two kids in the mix and just avoiding going there usually works out better most of the time.  I’m sure that the McCall’s is a lovely pattern, but I really prefer working with Burda because they fit me better and I don’t have to guess at their sizing like I often do with big 4 patterns.  And if I’ve learned anything from working with Burda mags, you can almost always find basic patterns for things like shorts if you dig hard enough.

What I came up with was Burdastyle 3-2011-131, a classic Bermuda short with hip pockets.  I liked the slight flare of the line drawing.  One of the problems I have with shorts as a style is that many of them are more pegged at the knees which is not the best look on my 5’2.5″ self.  In real life, they are a little straighter, but at least they aren’t pegged.  I wasn’t so crazy about the hip pockets, which are poofing out here on the model (like hip pockets always do):

I substituted the totally awesome angled pockets from Burdastyle 5-2010-130.

I sewed it up in this great two-tone loden and grey linen from Denver Fabrics.  They have a surprising number of linens that I can attest are really nice quality for not a lot of money.  I found a heavier weight berry and cream herringbone linen that I’m saving for some more casual pants too.  This one is lightweight but not sheer with really beautiful drape and flow.

I used some lime Mettler Metrosene for contrast topstitching and added some back pockets from Jalie 2908, so I guess technically this is a Frankenpattern.

I’m totally going to sewing jail for this one, but I hate interfacing in waistbands.  I always save the selvages from lightweight fabrics and use them to stabilize waistbands by just basting them 1/8″ away from the seam but leaving enough to cover the seam so that it gets sewn into the seam when you add the other side of the waistband.  The selvage from this linen in particular was perfect–it added no bulk but kept the linen from distorting and stretching.

I thought about adding some hem details like tabs or vents to these, but I decided to keep them plain.  I have a nice bit of linen/cotton/wool/silk tweed that I picked up last year at Elliott Berman’s anniversary sale (which I didn’t shop this year since I stocked up elsewhere–boo) that will definitely be made up in these shorts, so perhaps I’ll add some details on that pair.

I’m really proud of the fit.  I think I’ve finally cracked the back fitting code for myself.  They’re wrinkly here only from wear–they are completely wrinkle free from fit.   Yay!

If you’ve never made pants before or are completely utterly intimidated by it, I can’t urge you more to try it anyway.  The end result of pain and tears and frustration is well-fitting pants every time, and we all know how rare it is to find 1 pair of pants in RTW that gets even close.  The pockets sit a little funny in front and in back, but it’s because of the linen.  I was asking it to be all crisp when it just wants to flow.  I’m okay with them looking a little slouchy though–it’s linen after all.  Ah, linen.  I’m going to be really glad I made these in linen when it’s 90+ outside.  I’ll enjoy them today when it’s 81.

Today for MMM ’12, day 9, I’m wearing them with my Ottobre 5-2007-2 shirt and some gold flip flops.

My review of the shorts is here.

Sewing without your right arm

It’s quite seldom that I do not use my serger for at least part of any given garment.  But when it started feeling “clunky” last week, I decided it was time to get it serviced (it’s been I think 3 years).  But I only had a pair of knit pants to make (ponte pants–my last item for the Wardrobe Basics Sew along, specifically), and theoretically, you don’t need a serger to make knits.  I say theoretically because I didn’t realize how crazy dependent I am on my serger.  Good sewing went out the window.

My inspiration pants were the City Knit Luxe pants from NY and Company that I tried on at the beginning of the challenge whilst on a little snoop shopping expedition with my sweet friend Lisa.

I started well enough with Burdastyle 12-2009-104–a skinny stretch woven pant with faux front pockets, and 2 piece front.  I took out a little more than usual in my flat seat adjustment and added a little more in scooping out the front crotch to account for the additional stretch in my fabric (a nicely draping rayon poly lycra doubleknit from Denver Fabrics).  I cut 1″ off the top to make it more low-rise, as low-rise is normal rise for me.  It decidedly being Spring, and it being far too warm to wear jeans tucked into boots, I also decided to add some flare from the knee down.  But this sewing trip was not all a trip through the roses.

Exhibit A:

Ack!  This is the ugliest waistband ever.  I think I thought that I’d serge it as one piece, except that I didn’t have my serger.  Ick.  It’s all wrinkled and such because I tried to do Lori’s tutorial for adding hidden elastic in the waistband.  Don’t go on my mistakes here–it really is a good tutorial.  I think a couple of things happened:

1.  My elastic should have been longer so that there wouldn’t be so much disparity in circumference in each part of the waistband.

2.  If I had thought about it, I might have tried to stitch the elastic to the seam allowance in the waistband.  I ran out of matching thread in my bobbin, so I’m not fond of the 3 part zigzag on the inside.

3.  My topstitching on the waistband went seriously awry.  I say mysteriously because it looks perfectly fine on the two part seam on the body of the fronts as well as the faux pockets.

I do really like that this method helps keeps the pants from doing the knit pant creep down towards the knees that happens over the course of the day.  Though, they still are a little saggy in back after a day’s wearing.

Exhibit B:

I put on the pants to do a final check of the fit, only to discover that they were mysteriously breezy.  Breezy because there was a big hole I slashed at the bottom of the fly.  A little extra bartacking fixed it, but it’s not exactly pretty.

Exhibit C:

Where are the pockets?  I feel a bit exposed in these pants, so I reckon I’ll be wearing them with longer tops.  A quick patch pocket could have fixed that.  I’d retrofit these with some patch pockets, but my layout was too tight and left me with very little extra, and certainly nothing wide enough for a pocket, and there’s the problem of topstitching on this fabric again…

From the fly down, I’m okay with these pants.  The great thing about messing up a waistband is that you can cover that.  They are extremely comfortable.  Actually, they are more comfortable than sweatpants because they fit my body while allowing the freedom of movement that make us all love knits in the first place.  As a bonus, they look more like slacks, which is what I wanted over a yoga type pant which I probably wouldn’t wear out of the house.  I also really like the 2 piece front…it’s a fun design element and it’s flattering.  All this said, the next time I attempt a pair of knit pants, I will wait until my serger is back in her proper place.

As for you readers, do you have any salvageable mess ups that you’ve made?

My full review is here.

Vote for my jeans! Plus a Flatlocked turtleneck

The Jeans contest has ended, but voting is up for Patternreview members.  Would you consider voting for me and my jeans?  The voting page is right here.  End shameless plug.

Moving on…

Since I’m now double covered on the jeans front, I thought I’d move on in the Wardrobe Basics Sew Along.

My next item to finish is a black turtleneck.  As I never do black unless work required (and by ‘required’ I actually really truly mean required), I chose a heathered oatmeal rayon knit–decidedly a better color for me.  Though I had to resize for this version of Burdastyle 9-2010-121, I knew it would come together very quickly.  Knowing this, and inspired by an article in Threads #155 (June/July 2011), I thought I’d make things more interesting by trying out some flatlocking on my serger.

I thought that I needed a fancy pantsy serger for flatlocked stitches.  According to the Threads article (entitled “Flatlock for Fashion”), not so!  After fiddling around a bit, I can honestly say I have not been getting my money’s worth out of my rather humble little Janome serger.  I really want to do a little video tutorial for a flatlocked hem in particular (crazy excited about this hem), but I’ll give a fast run down to give you an idea.

Kathleen Fasanella gives a thorough explanation of flatlocking here.  Basically, a flat lock stitch lies flat (crazy, right?), but how you achieve that makes for some interesting effects.

• You want your serger to be in a 3-thread configuration.  Take out your right needle if you want a wider stitch or take out the left needle if you want a narrower stitch.
• Set the tension on your chosen needle to the lowest setting (0 for me, perhaps different for you).
• Increase the tension on your lower looper to the highest setting (or higher than normal, but you know how playing with serger tension works…).
• Keep the tension on your upper looper where it usually is.
• Flatlocking can have two different looks:  ”loops” or “ladders”.  To see “loops” on your right side, serge with wrong sides together.  To see “ladders” on the right side, serge with wrong sides together.  For whichever you choose, once you’ve serged a seam, pull gently on the seam to expose the ladder stitches (this will flatten out the loops on the opposite side).  Press well.  Tada!

Besides having a decorative look (especially if you use some decorative threads like Wooly Nylon), the flat seams are really unexpectedly noticeably more comfortable than traditional serged seams.  You see these seams in a lot of athletic wear just for that reason–the flat stitches reduce chafing during exercise.  Who’d a thunk it?  And I just wanted to play around with my serger.

I updated my review of the turtleneck here.

Turtleneck with jeans.  Oops, there they are again.  Have you voted?

Designer Pastiche Jeans

I finished my jeans for the Jeans Contest!  I’m really pleased with how everything worked out.  They were a lot of hard work, but I rather enjoyed switching among 6 different presser feet and no less than 7 different colors of thread and my serger despite it being a bit of a three ring circus.

I started looking around for inspiration in December in planning for the contest and there were a lot of different details that I liked.

• Specifically, I love the little loop at the bottom of the belt loop on these Burberry jeans:

It’s a tiny detail, but I really like it.

• I also really liked the buttoned vent on these Balmain jeans:

Balmain is not my style–way too edgy for me, but the buttoned vents an interesting embellishment for the side seams.

• I also was drawn to the width between the topstitching rows on these jeans from True Religion.  I didn’t make my topstitching quite as wide (and I’d need an industrial machine to handle topstitching thread that is this heavy), but I did make the space wider than on previous jeans I’ve made.

As for my additions:

• I saw a girl at Denver Fabrics who was wearing jeans with two-tone topstitching.  The threads on her jeans were white and cream, and the contrast was really intriguing.  When I decided to add that to this pair, I wanted more contrast and went with pink and cream (unintentional Valentine’s overlap there).
• I added add extra belt loops per Ron Collins’ ideas on Sandra Betzina’s Jeans Couture DVD (such a valuable resource!).
• I had leftover voile leftover from these pajamas.  I lined the pockets with it entirely, but added a little strip of denim at the top of the pocket facing so that when I pressed the pockets, the voile would not peek through the top.  I used French seams on them because I dislike serging on something as delicate as voile (French seamed pockets are also on the Jeans Couture DVD).  I used more voile on the fly shield and the interior of the waistband to cut down on bulk and again, so I could feature this beautiful fabric.  If you haven’t faced a waistband with a lighter cotton, I would really advocate it.  It’s a lot more comfortable against your skin than a second layer of denim, and it makes buttonholes so much easier.
• The zipper is in the same color scheme as the voile.
• I used the contoured waistband from my pair of BWOF 8-2008-122 that I made recently.  It fits me well and a lot more comfortable on my body than straight waistbands.
• I looked at a lot of different back pocket embroideries.  Besides these MIH jeans (I don’t have an embroidery machine to pull of a little cute bird), none of the designs really appealed to me.  Instead, I freehanded a lowercase cursive letter e (for my name) and another one so that I could feature both colors of my thread.  I had previously tested making each e with both colors, but it looked like an outline.  I liked the single line better.  I did have to redo a pocket to get the topstitching thread to not pull out of the pocket when I removed the stabilizer.  I eventually used fusible interfacing on the wrong side of the pocket to keep the stretch in the denim to a minimum and Solvy on the top so that my design was consistent between pockets.

As for the pattern, I used Jalie 2908.  I’ve been thrilled with the fit of it.  I cut the inseam one size smaller, did a 1/2″ flat seat adjustment (per Sandra Betzina in Fast Fit p. 223-227) and scooped out the front crotch about 1/2″ to match the curve on my previous jeans.  I had to shorten them slightly, but not nearly as much as I thought I would given my height, (granted, I kept this pair super long).

To add the buttoned vents, I followed this tutorial from A Fashionable Stitch.   Because I topstitched my side seams, I had to mark where the side seam would fall (2″ plus the 3/8″ side seam) into the vent.  I basted the vent and pressed it open really well so that I could run the topstitching all the way to the bottom of my vent.   I decided to make the buttons be on the backs instead of the fronts (like spurs!) as they are in the Balmain jeans.  Because the topstitching is entirely to one side of the press line (which IS where the side seam falls), it was possible to remove the basting, press the untopstitched side back under the topstitched side to secure the vent in place with bartacking.  From there, I added buttonholes 2″ up from the hem and then every 2 1/4″ up from that 1/2″ from the side seam press line.  Whacking 10 tack buttons into place was a project, but I got them done, making for a really cool look.  

The rivets are from Cawaiiland on Etsy.  I like their rounded appearance.

I finished off the hems with hem tape that matches my voile (I used the same hem tape at the bottom of the voile in the waistband as well).  It makes the insides pretty and was a detail in my favorite Banana Republic jeans.

My full review is here on Patternreview.

I leave you with feathers in my hair and flats on my feet.

Wardrobe Sew Along #1 and quick planning

I’m cheating on the sewalong because it’s allowed!  My first item for the sew along is my skinny jeans.  I already wrote about them here.  I’m linking that post in the linky party at Girls in the Garden, but reposting the pictures on this post.

I will add that a wardrobe basic they certainly are.  I’ve been wearing them nearly non-stop since I finished them.  They work with boots, flats and every top in my closet.  And I love the little details of the flaps and the purple topstitching.

Where can you get purple topstitched RTW jeans?  Oh the reasons we sew!

Here’s the sewalong list and a quick list of how I’m adapting (some of the suggestions are not my taste) in italics:

1. Slim Black Pants (on the segment they called these ponte pants)–I have some gray RPL from Emma One Sock perfect for this because I have it and because I don’t do black.
2. Dark Skinny Jeans–check!
3. White button shirt–wrap shirt as I hate button-downs, and probably not white
4. Black turtleneck\–gray
5.Camel – khaki skirt–Boot wearer that I am, this would be a really useful piece.
6.Tie Waist Sweater–Yay!  A cozy sweater to replace my stolen-stolen back 70′s sweater from my Mom?  I’m so there!
7. Puffy Vest–I’m thinking about alternatives because I don’t understand adding bulk to one’s upper body
8. Faux Fur Vest\–I think I will make a jacket with a detachable fur collar for the same reason as the puffy vest reservations
9. Black Dress–in another segment of the Nate Show they had a knit print dress instead of an LBD, and I’ll probably go this route since I only do black dresses if I’m playing in an orchestra

I have bigger, more extensive ideas roughed out on one of my Pinterest boards.

Details

Whew.  I’m exhausted.  I’m working on making up my jeans for Patternreview’s Jeans Contest and it has been rather slow going.  I’m in the mood to work slowly and I also had to redo my back pockets.  One of the ladies from my fitting group graciously gave me some tear away stabilizer, but I didn’t practice with any scraps of it.  I ended up using too long of a stitch length and my tension was all whacked, so the topstitching thread was all loopy gross and the stabilizer was lost for good.  I tried zigzagging over the gross loopies because I’ve seen plenty of RTW jeans with satin stitched sorts of designs on the back pockets, but it wasn’t what I was looking for.  That was yesterday.

Today, with fresh eyes, I pulled out some Solvy that I keep around for stabilizing buttonholes.  I fused some interfacing to the back of my pockets to keep the denim stretch to a minimum.  Then I traced my design on the Solvy and pinned in place.  I shortened my stitch length to 3.0 vs the 3.5 that I was using yesterday.  The Solvy is really thin, so it pulls out very gently (I used tweezers close to the stitching) which kept the topstitching thread from pulling out.

I also French seamed the pockets.

 I wanted a pocket bag entirely out of the voile leftover from the HotPatterns pajamas of doom.  I love this fabric so much and a voile pocket would reduce bulk in the hips (who doesn’t want that?!).  If I had left it entirely out of voile, the voile would have been peeking out the top of the pocket no matter how well I pressed.  To save myself a fight with my iron, I added a little strip of denim at the top of the pocket facing.

No iron wars, and I still get the pretty pocket guts:

I’m going to keep on trucking with these.  I’m waiting on all of my hardware in the mail except rivets.  I probably won’t get around to posting more until closer to the contest’s end, but since I put in a good bit of work, I thought I’d do a quick post today.  Readers, what is taking over your sewing rooms today?