Ok, I give up, I can't go a whole month without a pair of jeans. Does this mean I'm giving up on MMM12? Not at all. I just need to make some jeans - like now. I have two possible fabrics in my stash. One is a classic blue denim and the other a white denim-weight cotton with blue and green flowers. Much as though I love the blue and green flowers:
There are several compelling reasons to use the denim
1. I need something casual and the print wouldn't be truly casual jeans
2. I really like the print and have never made jeans before so I'd rather perfect jeans before I cut into the print.
3. The print will make a very summery pair of jeans and it's definitely winter here now - I'm even using the electric blanket.
4. Jeans pocket seems like an ideal opportunity to play with the embroidery machine again, and the blue denim lends itself to that more than a print.
I've not bought many patterns lately, especially since I started the pattern drafting course at the local high school, but I decided that I needed a lot of guidance with this. I've had quite a bit of success with McCalls, so I bought McCall's 5894 which was described as "The Perfect Jean". It's higher waisted than most of my jeans, but was described as below the waist.
Of course, I couldn't resist a little bit of embellishment on the pockets:
The pattern has very large seam allowances to allow for fitting adjustments, but I still found it hard to get a good fit. I'm not incredibly happy with the fit, but I only pre-washed the denim once so I'll let them go through the wash a couple of times before I pull them apart and tweak the fitting.
I didn't do flat-felled seams, but I did double rows of top stitching on the outside leg as well as round the pockets.
I studied several pairs of RTW and it seems that most of the women's jeans I examined had the fancy topstitching down the outside leg, while the men's ones I found were topstitched on the inside leg seem.
Overall I liked the pattern, it went together easily and was true to RTW. I will use it again, but in future I will put the topstitching on the inside leg then adjust the fit on the outside leg. I will also make them a little tighter.
I now have the jeans and T shirt option available without giving up on MMM12 - this was my Monday outfit.
Oh my gwad that print denim is awseome. Can't wait to see how they turn out. Should fit well from the looks of it!
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Oh I wanna see the print one as well .... The blue look good from the picture too, so rock on summer hey?
ReplyDeleteI also wonder what you did with all your jackets? You do wear them right?
OMG...jeans - well done! I haven't even ever thought about attempting my own jeans, Thanks for the inspiration xx
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