Hello Everybody!! Can you believe it's October 1st already?!? Where has the time gone?! There is definitely a chill in the air, and the leaves are turning to dazzling shades of red and gold, and the air is starting to have that lovely fall smell. I'm trying to soak it all in as much as possible before it's all gone. Fall is just such a beautiful season, but it always ends way too soon.
Anyway, if you follow me on Instagram you will notice that I have become an obsessed jeans maker, well and an obsessed shirtmaker too but I'll blog about that later (my blog is a little behind my Instagram feed). For now, let's concentrate on the Quest for Perfect Jeans!
The only jeans pattern that I have successfully made, up until this point, is the Closet Case Files Ginger Jeans. It's a really great pattern and I have made both versions of it multiple times, but I thought it might be fun to try out some other ones too. So enter the Angela Wolf Angel Bootcut Jeans pattern.
A few months ago, during a Craftsy sale, I bought the Designer Jean class taught by Angela Wolf. It looked like a good class, and I figured I would pick up a few tips as I always seem to do from Craftsy classes (no affiliate links here peeps, no one wants to be affiliated with me. LOL). I was actually in Maui at the time and jonesing for some sewing, plus I'm kind of a sponge for sewing info so it seemed like a good idea. Anyway, Angela's jeans are a bit too blingy for me, but I really liked her class, and she seemed super sweet, not to mention incredibly knowledgable, so I decided to pick up her pattern anyway. I have yet to try any of the distressing techniques, but I really want to one of these days.
I made a ton of changes to this pattern right off the bat because I didn't want to make a bootcut jean, but then I got to wondering if maybe I should have made a pair as the pattern is designed, so that I can give a proper review. So I did end up making a second pair and I'll blog about those next. Anyway, to slim the legs down, I used a pair of RTW trousers from my cupboard and used this tutorial to copy the measurements to the pattern.
I chose my size based on my hip size and I think they might actually be too big to begin with, but after wearing them for an hour or so, they totally stretch out and start to look about 3 sizes to big, like falling down too big.
I wish I could tell you about the denim I used, but I really have no memory of where it's from. It was in my stash and I don't remember it at all. I'm thinking it's probably some left over Girl Charlee Denim, but who knows (you know your stash is too big when...). Anyway, I wouldn't really recommend it even if I could remember where it came from. The colour is really nice and it feels nice to wear, but it bags out way too fast. Oh well, I know I'll still wear these, and they'll be a pair that goes in the dryer - so maybe they'll shrink and fit perfectly someday. LOL. (I should also mention that I know about a new denim source opening very soon, and I'm super, over the moon excited to share it with you, but alas it's not open yet, so more on that later.) For the topstitching I used my favourite Sulky thread. It just works so well with my machine and it comes in so many great colours, even variegated.
Okay, now ready for the nitty gritty details? Here we go:
- started with a size 12
- had a bit of difficulty with the front fly construction, but I worked it out - I think I cut a little too much off the right side. Oops!
- shortened the legs at the lengthen/shorten line by 5 inches!!
- lengthened the back crotch curve by 1" using this awesome tutorial
- increased the front rise by 1.5" (and then totally forgot about the back which made for some interesting side seam matching up)
- slimmed the legs down as mentioned above
- interfaced the waistband even though the pattern didn't suggest it
So I made some mistakes, and I'm not sure this is the best representation of this pattern (or my jeans making for that matter). But the pattern is really well drafted and the instructions are great. The pattern comes with a little coil bound book with lots of tips mingled in with the instructions. I'll take a photo of it for my next post so you can all see. If you've never made any trousers, or jeans before, I probably wouldn't recommend this pattern for your first go as the fly construction is a bit tricky, but that might just me. This pattern is designed to have a wide waistband, which feels a bit weird at first, but once I got used to it, I actually really like it. It's comfortable, and something a little different.
So the quest continues....
PS: What do you think of my Archer pop-over? I made it back in May and haven't worn it a ton because it was just too warm this summer. It's in rotation now though. I'm not sure the fabric combo was the best - I love how it looks but the denim is just so stiff against the floaty rayon that it's a bit weird to wear. It might deserve it's own blog post, but that just didn't happen.