Saturday 30 August 2014

Jeans


Pattern: Drafted based on existing jeans
Fabric: 1.5m dark blue stretch denim, 1.4 m wide; a little white cotton for the inside pockets
Haberdasheries: A metal button, an 8 cm metal zipper, 5 metal studs, normal yarn, topstitching yarn and serger yarn


Since my teens, I have only worn flared trousers, regardless of whether they’re in fashion or not, because I like them and find them the most flattering for my body. But the fact that they have been out of fashion for a while means that I find it very hard to find trousers that I like, and I generally wear them out before I’ve found a replacement. Two years ago I ran into a perfect pair of jeans that was on sale, too, and bought a second pair of the same jeans for when the first had become worn. I’m so glad I did, because that already happened after a little over one and a half years. Meanwhile, skinny jeans are still all I see in the shops (grumble… And most already look worn when you buy them, too! No thanks), so I made a pattern from my newest pair of jeans, and made my own!

It wasn’t always fun, and sometimes I definitely wished I could just buy jeans instead, but it was very interesting to have a closer look at this much-worn garment than I would have done otherwise, and to learn quite a bit about its construction! I always wondered why the outside leg seam on jeans isn’t topstitched, while the inside leg seam is usually an English seam. Well, that is because the inside leg seam is stitched first, and then, once the outside leg has been sewn closed as well, it is no longer possible to topstitch it because there’s too little space for the sewing machine! Except for a small distance at the top, which is English seamed to secure the pocket.

Besides this, I found that it is handy to sew the fabric into a cylinder before washing it for pre-shrinking, because otherwise it can get lighter spots from rubbing into the other laundry items. I always was jeans inside out to prevent this, but you can’t turn a piece of cloth inside out – unless you’ve sewn the sides together.