Sewing Jeans (Pattern Review of Ginger, Angel & Birkin)

Back in late January/February, I went on a jeans-making spree and made four pairs in one month. I had a lot of fun trying out different techniques and hacking patterns to create my perfect pair. You know I love to get out the heavy-duty tools while sewing (hammer! pliers! nails! - oh my!), and top stitching is enormously satisfying, so once I got started making jeans, it was hard to stop.

I made a couple pairs using the Angela Wolf Angel Bootcut prior to this jeans-tornado, and while I was really happy with the fit, I wanted to see what I thought of the high-waisted style. I started with Ginger Jeans by Closet Case Patterns, because I've been happy with her patterns in the past, and her instructions generally seem very intuitive to me. I also wanted to give Baste & Gather's Birkin Flares a go.

Angela Wolf Angel Bootcut jeans
StyleArc Jett Jacket and Jalie Twist top

Closet Case Ginger jeans
Jalie tie top

Closet Case Ginger jeans

Baste & Gather Birkin Flares

Ginger + Angel (Ginger waist/butt, Angel legs)
StyleArt Jett Jacket, color block Jalie Twist top

What I learned
1) You gotta get the correct crotch curve. The Angela Wolf Angel Bootcut is more of a J-shaped curve (gentle slope), and the Ginger Jean is more of a L-shaped cover (like a piece has been scooped out). The first pattern I tried was AW, and luckily that really worked for me. StyleArc uses a curve similar to Closet Case, and I was never happy with the way these pants looked from behind (a view I don't see much, but others, like my DH, have told me). I have a high butt, narrow hips, and the distance from my waist to hip is on the short side. If that describes your body shape, you might need a similar crotch curve. On the Ginger pattern, this means I have to add a patch before I cut - I imagine this would be difficult to fix once the fabric is cut.

The green line is the original on the Ginger. I traced the magenta line off
the AW pattern, which is what works for me. Big difference!

Oh! And pocket placement matters! The Angels were pretty good out of the box but I had to move the Gingers up and in about an inch.

2) Check your crotch length (wow, that sounds personal). I needed to shorten the crotch length in front. I didn't notice this with my first few pairs of jeans because it wasn't too far off, but I have certainly noticed this with RTW pants. This adjustment is super easy. I made this adjustment after the gray Gingers, and I think you can see the different on the dark blue and black Gingers.

Green line is original, magenta is adjustment.

Green line is original, magenta is adjustment.

3) I like tight but not too-tight. I knew that the Birkin Flares would be tighter than what I had made before but I wanted to see what I thought of something with negative ease. I've only worn this pair of jeans two-tree times since I made them, and only as "going-out-with-heels" jeans, never during the day. I feel a little self-conscious about the tightness, but my husband loves them, so they will likely stay in my closet.

4) Find the fly front technique that works for you. Sewing a fly front is not as difficult as you might expect - it's just a series of steps. I've now tried three basic methods: Angela Wolf (Baste & Gather uses the same or very similar method), Closet Case Patterns, and Silhouette Patterns (one of my students sewed a pair in class). Silhouette patterns' method is definitely the easiest, but I found I preferred the method that Closet Case teaches. It just clicked with my way of thinking and I got the most consistent results using her method.

5) Get the good fabric. I made my first pair from some random denim in my stash, and it didn't hold up well. I got about a year out of those jeans, and after putting in the effort to make them, I want them to last longer than that. I bought some Cone Denim in a Closet Case kit and it is fabulous - great weight, recovers well (I can wear a pair for more days than I care to admit without bagging), and it distresses well if you are into that. Cone Mills I also available at Threadbare. and I just bought some beautiful denim in the Gorgeous Fabrics sale. I made my black pair out of high quality denim from Marcy Tilton - a birthday present from DH - how did he know? ;). You can't see it in the photos, but it has a slight giraffe print to it.

6) Find the leg shape/leg length that works for you. I first cut my Gingers full length, but somehow they never looked right to me and I thought I just wasn't a skinny-leg-jean person. Then I rolled them up and it changed the looked completely, so I went back and hemmed them at ankle length. I'm sure that there is some visual trick that explains this (I suspect that full length skinny jeans are off balance on someone whose widest point is her shoulders), but it was helpful to see that something simple like hem length completely saved these jeans for me. I gravitate towards boot cuts & flares, but it's good to know that I can make skinny work.

7) Have fun with your pocket linings! I have a lot of quilting cotton scraps and I love having fun with these on the pocketses.

You'll see that I don't use traditional jean buttons for the jeans. I have done, and I like those, but I also like playing around with other metal buttons. And I don't like having traditional jean buttons on my back pockets - too pokey! I purchased these from Angela Wolf's shop (I don't think she sells them anymore) and Wawak.com. And I found some cool metal buttons on eBay that I'm excited to use.

If you haven't tried making your own jeans, I highly recommend giving it a go. It's enormously satisfying work, and getting that perfect fit is worth it. It takes me 6-8 hours to sew a pair now that I have the fit worked out, depending on how much distressing I do along the way. I followed Angela Wolf's Craftsy course the first time I made a pair, and it was very helpful. Closet Case also has a great sewalong, and I bet her class is fantastic. Sew on!




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My Latest

Hey! How are you all? It's been awhile since I posted here (not apologizing, just observing). I post a little more frequently over on Instagram, but I'm a bit downpour or drought when it comes to social media.

I've been working on some fun projects this year and I'll do my best to post about them at some point. Or not. We'll see! My latest is a partnership of two of my favorite Indie pattern companies: Jalie and StyleArc.

I found the inspiration for the trousers in a Sundance catalog that made it to the pile of reading material in the bathroom. When I saw them they reminded me of the Style Arc Lola pants, if you could imagine a few tweaks (which I could and did). I should show you a picture of the inspiration pants now, but they are no longer on the Sundance website and if I get up to go take a picture of the ripped out page, I'll likely get distracted and then this post will join the rest of the imagined posts in my mind. So instead, I'll just ask you to trust me. They looked like Lola pants with front patch pockets and a center seam down each leg.

Style Arc Lola Pants

So I made a muslin of the Lola pants. The only alteration I had to do was to add a 1/4 to each side seam from about hip level down. Now that I've made up the pants in a linen-rayon blend, I kinda want to take that 1/4" back out, but I'll see what happens after I wash them. Oh, and I also added about an inch to the length.

Design changes were to add the center front seam to each leg using the grainline as a reference point, changing out the pockets for patch pockets, widening the front flat waistband so that it lined up with the new center seams. I also ditched the elastic in the back hem, but I might try that if I make a version of these with a heavier weight fabric.

And it looks about like what I wanted.

I bought some of the same linen-rayon fabric (from Fabric.com) in a dark teal and I might make a few more tweaks before I sew up a second pair in my more favorite fabric.

The top is the Jalie Haut Twist top without the front ruffle. I love this pattern and the red version is the fifth one I've made since March. And I have an idea for a sixth using two different fabrics. You can see the whole parade of them in my Instagram feed. The fabric for this one plus all but one of the other four came from GorgeousFabrics.com. My changes to the pattern were to add an inch in length, omit the back tie, and finish the neck the arms with clear elastic (I didn't like how the fold under method in the instructions turned out).

So there you go, another two items off my summer list. Because I am trying to follow a list this summer so that I can stay focused. So far I've crossed eight items off my personal list so it just might be working!

What about you? What are you sewing and how do you stay focused?

Wedding Dress to Biker Jacket Refashion

Whew. Now this was a Project, capital P and all. This was one of those projects that feels a bit like climbing a mountain or running a marathon. For a long time, you can't quite see where the finish line is and you have to stop thinking about it or you'll get too frustrated. One foot in front of another is the way to go. And even when you can start to see the finish line, it takes a long while longer to actually cross it - like the peak of a mountain can seem much closer than it actually is. But when you arrive? When the last stitch is sewn? Ahh, you are rewarded with such a sense of accomplishment. I need the quickie-jersey-top-done-in-two-hour projects as much as the next sewist, but I glow for days when I finish one of these challenges (and because I'm a little bit crazy, this one was a twofer).

If you have been reading my blog for a couple of years you know that back in 2013 I sewed a wedding dress for client K. And if you don't know than you can back track and read about it here. And since I love to show off pictures of it, here it is it all it's glory:

A year after the wedding, K brought the dress back so it could be shortened to cocktail length. 

A year later after that, K had me use the remaining bits and pieces along with leather to create the jacket using Style Arc's Jett Biker pattern. I think this will be the end of the line, since there are very few pieces left (I had to piece together the front panels as I didn't have anything big enough - the lace pretty well hides the seam). The leftover scraps from the dress and three lamb skins (from GorgeousFabrics.com - still in stock) fit in a quart size ziploc bag.

What made this such a challenge? Let me tell you!

It started with a muslin so that I could check fit and practice some of the steps. The fit was perfect out of the box and I'm close enough in size to my client that it fit me, too (bonus!). This is where easy ended.

The sheer number of pattern pieces was part of the challenge here. Each sleeve alone was comprised of five pieces (although the lining only had three). If I'm counting correctly, the outer layer was made up of 19 pieces while the lining involved another 15. Then I decided that everything needed to be underlined (I used twill for K's jacket because it needed a lot more body and cotton batiste for mine) so for each jacket I had to cut out 53 pieces of fabric. I just added that up right now (106 total!) and I'm no longer surprised that it took me two full days just to cut and mark all those pieces!

Trying to cram as many pieces as possible onto one of the skins.

I decided to go full couture so I hand-basted the underlining to the main fabric. I have no idea how long this took me, except that I watched a season of Broadchurch and a few Miss Fisher's Mysteries while I worked my way through the 27 pieces that needed be be underlined (the leather pieces I basted with glue, so they went quickly). My eyes and fingers were sore by the end.

At this point the meticulous side of my personality was in full reign so I decided that every seam needed to be top stitched with a double strand of thread, so each seam was sewn three times.

You can't even see the second set of top stitching but I know it's there.

The construction process was tricky, but luckily The Clothing Engineer has sewn this pattern and provided guidance through her own blog and on Style Arc's website (see links). If you ever get stuck on a StyleArc pattern, check to see if TCE has help for you. The lovely thing about Style Arc patterns is that once you know what to do, everything comes together neatly because the patterns are so well drafted.  The only change I made was to add a hidden pocket in the inside, since the jacket has no pockets and I was afraid that adding them on the outside would mess with the very fitted design.

I'm such a bad blogger that I didn't take very many pictures of my client's jacket - my giddiness fogged my mind. But I have some of the one I made myself. The are almost the same in terms of main/contrast fabric. 

I used a stretch cotton matellasse for the black parts and a wool suiting for the black/light pink parts, both from GorgeousFabrics.com (sorry, both out-of-stock). I have worn my jacket almost every day since I finished and my client seemed equally pleased with hers. Oh, and those jeans I'm wearing? They are the Angela Woolf Angel Boot Cut jeans I made last spring - they've gotten tons of wear this fall, too!

Next up I've got some Christmas sewing to finish before I tackle my next big project, a winter coat. And I have another wedding dress order, so I have more mountains to climb in the new year! What about you? I'd love to hear about your latest sewing accomplishment (and feel free to post links to said accomplishment in the comments).

Pattern Review: StyleArc Antoinette Pant

I hate to start anything with an apology, but I must say that these photos are not my best work. But if I wait until I can find another 15 minutes to re-take the photos (you know, when light/weather/time all join together to create opportunity), this won't get posted for another month. So you all will just have to live with sub par details and chopped off heads (my expression in a few of these was borderline insane, as in, you all would be sending emails to my husband asking if I'm okay),

So the Style Arc Antoinette is the second pair of trousers I've made for myself but the first I've blogged about. I made jeans back in the spring that I absolutely love and one of these days I'll get around to taking photos that do them justice. The jeans were a breeze to fit (I love you, Angela Wolf Angel Bootcut pattern!), but these required some work. After sewing up the first muslin I almost stopped as I wasn't sure they could be made to look good on me. The best way to describe the look is if you imagine a combination of clown + jockey. Unfortunately, these pictures don't quite capture how ridiculous I looked (go figure, the photos that were supposed to look bad don't look as bad as I felt wearing them).

 Muslin #1 was too big in the waist, hips, and thighs, but too tight around the calves (I couldn't squat without straining stitches).

When I sewed these up I suddenly realized just how impossible it would be to fit them without the help of a friend, so my sewing buddy Nancy and I found a way to trade fitting (knit top for her and these pants for me). Nancy pinned out the side seams, inseams, and center front seam. I then cut a second pair where I also added width to the calf (no tapering at the knee) and about 1" in length. Muslin #2 made me think that I just might like these enough to sew with real fabric:

At this stage, I couldn't tell if the bits I didn't like were due to the fabric (this muslin seemed to grow every time I put it on) or due to the style, but I felt confident enough to cut into this spring-weight Japanese twill I had purchased in a Gorgeous Fabrics' sale.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think I like them!

Please excuse those wrinkles you see across the top of my butt.
Those were caused by a too-long cami. I will hem that cami now
that I have seen how the excess fabric pools across my butt.

I did end up taking the side seams in a bit more from waist to knee. I added another 1.5" to the length, and then used a hem facing to keep almost all of it. If I make these again, I may also slash and overlap under the butt (my husband has requested that I made them more "fitted" next time, but since Style Arc describes these trousers as slouchy, I'm not sure that's a good idea.) I really enjoyed making the pleated pockets and the Style Arc diagram was quite good in explaining how they worked.

For those into sewing geekery, here are the changes I made to the pattern pieces:

I serged the seams, bound the facing edge with Rayon bias tape that I acquired from somewhere (periodically I get handed a bunch of sewing supplies from someone's grandmother's stash), and used wide black quilt binding to face the hems.

The only construction problem I encountered was with attaching and turning the waist facing. There is so much bulk where the pleat and pocket fold overlap that the waist does not want to lay flat in that area, and the facing wants to peek out. For the moment, I tried tacking down the facing in a few places under the pocket fold, but it's not a great fix. I have some red wool crepe I've been hoarding, waiting for the right pattern to come along. I might make another pair with the wool, but I want to figure out the bulk problem first. I also might save the red crepe for Style Arc's Sammi Pants.

So that's the story of this make. I searched high and low for other reviews of this pattern before I started and the only review I found was from Sophie at AdaSpragg.com. She made her version up with a silk charmeuse, so the look is different. I hope this review helps anyone else out there who is considering this pattern!

More cami wrinkles . . .

PHOTO SHOOT OUTTAKE
Here's a terrible photo that makes me think of The Blair Witch Project. After watching that movie, I slept with a bottle of Tilex next to my bed for a week (so that I could squirt bad guys in the eyes from a safe distance), mainly because of the person-in-a-corner scene.

Vogue 8756: The Finished Jacket

Whew, busy week between finishing the jacket before Elaine's conference, teaching classes, and other odds and ends. At one point my sewing room looked like this:

I think I've got it together again for the most part (or at least my sewing room is in much better shape!), and now I get to show off Elaine's finished jacket and the bracelet that I got in return.

Some details before I get into construction. Elaine is 5'2", so I knew from the get go that I would need to do some alterations to make this work for her frame. I'm actually surprised at how little I had to do ultimately. The fabric she chose was a magenta wool crepe that we found at The Textile Discount Outlet in Chicago.

Vogue 8756 is a generally simple pattern. It's a good pattern if you want to showcase some lovely fabric, as the main feature is the draped front pieces. The recommended fabrics are synthetic suede, lightweight denim, linen or lightweight wool flannel. The pattern also comes with a simple pair of pants.

When I started working with the wool, I decided it was too thin/drapey for this project. So I underlined all of the pieces with cotton batiste in order to give them more body and to stop the fabric from wrinkling too easily. The jacket is lined with a stretch charmeuse I picked up at a thrift store a couple of years ago for $2/yard.

You can read about the first fitting here. The biggest problem area was the shoulder/armscye area and I referred to Palmer & Pletsch's Fit for Real People for most of my adjustments here. Ultimately, I made the following changes:

• Cut one size smaller than Elaine's measurements based on the pattern v. finished garment measurements
• Turned the back darts into princess seams as I needed to get a better fit in back.
• Adjusted for narrow shoulders (about 1/2")
• Took up entire shoulder seam about 1/2"
• Raised underarm 1/2" (and adjusted sleeve to match)
• Shortened sleeves by 2.5 inches
• Shortened jacket length by 1 inch
• Shortened draped pieces by 2.5 inches.

I'm not sure how well you can see these, but here are the changes on the pattern pieces. I've laid the altered version on top of the original. The red lines correspond to the original lines and the green lines correspond to the changes I made for Elaine:

This took us from A to B: in terms of fit:

First fitting

Second fitting

For the jacket construction I deviated slightly from the instructions based on Fran S's review on PatternReview.com (thank you, Fran!!). If you follow the pattern instructions, your lining will be the exact same length as the sleeves and jacket and would very likely peek out of the hem. So I made the lining 1 inch shorter than the correct length and made the jacket 1 inch longer than the correct length in order so that the main fabric would turn under like this:

I also used tie interfacing to ease the sleeve head before inserting it into the jacket. I attached the main sleeves before attaching the lining, so I turned the jacket the right way out through a hole I left in the jacket facing (I closed this later with a fell stitch).

And then Elaine wore the jacket when she spoke at a conference and rocked the audience with all her magenta, art business knowledge!

And then look what I got in return!

I must say that I feel pretty elegant when I wear this bracelet. It's the nicest piece of jewelry I own next to my wedding ring. As I mentioned in my last post, you can check out Elaine's art and jewelry on her website ElaineLutherArt.com. And since Elaine would like another jacket down the road, I might be able to pick up some matching earrings.

I'm almost finished with my Darla dress so you'll get to see which fabric combo I decided on later this week!