I'm Back.....and with more Jeans too! (I know you're shocked)

December 20, 2015 Heather Gibson

Do you ever get so far behind with blogging that you want to just forget you even have a blog, and pretend like nothing ever happened? You can't be behind on a blog you don't even have, right? I mean, I only document via Instagram, everyone knows that right? If I go long enough, people will forget I had a blog, right? Right? Right? LOL. Ugh! I really want to be someone who regularly updates their blog, but sometimes I would just rather sew, or knit, or watch Fargo (have your watched it yet, the series is awesome and the first season is filmed all around Calgary!!) or reorganize the pantry, or snuggle the pugs, you know how it is, don't you?

Anyway, I'm sorry for the unintended break (I'm also super behind in my blog reading, so if you haven't noticed me in the comments, don't worry, I'm getting there. LOL). We are now back in Calgary, enjoying the snow (and by enjoying I mean staying inside as much as possible but looking at it through the window), our cabin is closed up for the winter and we even had a trip to Iceland in there too. So lots of stuff has happened in the last month, but not a lot of it was sewing related.

I have however done a whole ton of Christmas sewing over the last 2 weeks, and I really want to share it with you, but as it's all gifts you'll have to wait until after Christmas day. So in the meantime I'll entertain you with some old photos (we took them back in October, I think) of more jeans and a linden. An outfit that was unapologetically copied from Katie (imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?). When she first posted her fall Linden and jeans, I knew I wanted an outfit just like it!

So this is yet another Linden sweatshirt; I have a whole closet full of tops made from this pattern. It's so quick and easy and can be made in a variety of knit fabrics. I've even seen a few woven ones pop up on the internets too, but I haven't tried that yet. In the interest of copying Katie and for something a little different, I went with the split hem variation, and I really like it.

The fabric I used for this sweatshirt is a french terry that came from Girl Charlee many moons ago (I'm not exactly sure what I bought it for, but it's been in my stash for a while). It's really warm, and soft, but the stripes were terribly off grain, so I did the best I could. It does look slightly off when you look closely. The ribbing came from my local Fabricland.

The jeans are another pair of Angel-Ginger Hybrids, exactly like this pair, and this pair. This time they are made from a lovely charcoal "black" Cone Mill's denim. This denim is definitely not a true black, it's more of a grey, especially after a few washes, but I really like the colour. It goes with pretty much everything in my closet, and it's a little more casual than true black which suits me just fine.

So even though these and my other Angel-Ginger Hybrids, fit really well, and they are mid-rise just like I intended them to be, I'm finding that they still aren't perfect. I really thought I was happy with a "mid-rise" but I've noticed that during and after sitting the waistband tends to roll. So I'm starting to think that I either need to go back to a "low-rise" or try a full "high-rise" jean. I've only ever made the high-rise version of the Ginger jeans once, and I don't think I gave them a fair chance. At the time, I wasn't really used to a higher rise, and I didn't make the now standard adjustments I usually make to jeans. I'm much more experienced at jeans now.

I've also recently purchased Lauren's new Birkin jeans pattern, so I'm excited to try that out too. I'm not 100% convinced that it's going to be perfect on me, but I am excited to try it out (especially after seeing Meg's smokin' pair). I'm also really looking forward to the skinny version Lauren intends to release soon too. So expect to see some more jeans sewing from me in 2016! Woo hoo! I've also forayed into sewing jeans for John as well, so I'll do a post about those one of these days as well.

Anyway, I'm glad to be back on the blogging wagon, and I'm hoping you are all doing well too. Are you doing any Christmas sewing? Gifts or maybe fancy Christmas outfits? I wore the same Anna I made last year to John's company shin dig. No one noticed and I got lots of compliments! Lazy seamstress for the win!

More Jeans & Other Makes too!

November 13, 2015 Heather Gibson

Hola peeps! How are you all doing on this fine Friday the 13th? Things were going pretty well for me until I had almost completely finished this blog post and Safari crashed and I lost it all. UGH!! (It actually happened twice, so I switched over to Google Chrome and that seems to be better.) And I don't remember everything that I wrote! I guess it's a sign to start over. Anyway, I'm back with surprise, surprise: another pair of jeans, but not to worry, there are some other new me-mades in this post too. Woo hoo!

So this ensemble consists of another pair of Ginger-Angel Hybrid jeans (Angers? Gangels? Ginangels?), a sleeveless Granville, and a Hemlock Tee. All worn shamelessly with my slippers! What can I say, I love my fuzzy slippers!

So let's start with the jeans. I don't really have anything new to say about the pattern, as this pair is pretty much exactly the same as my last pair. What does make this pair special is that they are made from a gorgeous 9oz Cone Mill's Denim from Threadbare Fabrics. There is just nothing like a good quality denim. It's so much nicer to work with, it presses nicely, and the best part, it's recovery is amazing. I can wear these baby's for days and they totally maintain their shape. (And by days I mean, I can comfortably wear them four or five times before I need to wash them, unless I spill something on them, ahem coffee, which is pretty common for me 😝). The 9oz denim might actually be a little light for a regular pair of jeans, but I just couldn't resist the colour. It's a slightly lighter shade than the regular indigo you usually see in denim. It's not showing up very well in these photos, but it really is a bit lighter. While the weight of this denim might be a little lighter than what I'm used to, it makes these jeans extremely comfortable, and stretchy (they almost feel like leggings)! I do miss the (ahem) support that a slightly heavier denim would provide though. Plus because I used a quilting cotton for the pockets, you can sort of see the pocket outline through the denim, but that is mostly my fault as I should have went with some lighter scraps, but who can resist surfin' cats?

When I got my hands on this denim, I debated making something else out of it due to it's lighter weight. I thought it might make a lovely Chardon or Brumby skirt, a shirtdress or a jean jacket, or even quilted with flannel for a cool Tamarack jacket, but in the end I decided a pair of jeans would probably get the most wear. I almost tried out this pull on version (which I think would be perfect in this weight), but I was too lazy to try a new pattern this time, and I really wanted to make another pair of Ginger-Angels as I wear my first pair a ton!

For something a little different I decided to go with some red topstitching. I remembered Amy's pair and I loved how the red looked against the dark blue. I'm not sure my red pops quite as well as it did on her pair, but I still really like it. I think one of the really cool parts of making your own jeans (and your own clothes for that matter) is that you can change up those little details. I'm also planning to add rivets, but I haven't decided on the colour yet. Any thoughts? (I have brass, gunmetal, silver and copper.)

Anyway, enough about the jeans, let's talk about the tops. The lovely striped number is a Grainline Hemlock. I made a Hemlock months ago, and decided that the boxy, one-size fits all pattern just wasn't for me. It seemed too shapeless and long for me, but then I kept seeing cool ones pop up in my Instagram feed, so I decided to give it another go. I mean, the pattern's free, so why not? This time I decided to forgo colour-blocking, shortened the body by 2.5", and made it out of a stripey fabric. I mean you can't go wrong with stripes, right? I am so happy that I gave it another shot. I have been wearing the two that I made pretty much non-stop. It's amazing how something changes when you get the length right. The other one I made is striped too, but I haven't blogged about it. I think this fabric came from my February Knitfix pack from Girl Charlee. It's a french terry, but it is on the thin side; you can easily see the pockets of my Granville coming right though it, so it might not be the best for layering over tops.

All summer, I really wanted to make a pale pink Granville top. I even found the perfect fabric at Blackbird Fabrics (it's a beautiful Italian Linen just like this one), but for some reason, I never got around to making one . So in my recent fit of cutting out 5 Granvilles, I decided to include the pink linen. It's a little seasonally inappropriate, but I figured it would work well under sweaters, and worst case scenario: it just hangs in my closet for a few months and then I know it will get a ton of wear when it warms up in the Spring and Summer. I had planned to use some cute little buttons, but when I spotted these cool marble snaps in my stash, I knew it was meant to be. I know they came from Snap Source because they were still in the package, but I couldn't find them on their website.

It still looks a little stiff, as I have't washed it since I made it and I starched it like crazy so it would be easier to work with. Linen always seems to stretch out and go wonky on me, and I found that spray starch really helped.

Anyway, I hope that you all are having a lovely night, and please hug your loved ones tight and wish or say a prayer (or whatever you do/believe) for peace and the people in Paris. I don't really "pray" myself, but after crying while watching the news, I am trying hard to hold a space of love instead of fear (which I know is really hard), because a big point of these attacks is to evoke fear.

The Quest for the Perfect Jeans: Angel - Ginger Hybrid

October 24, 2015 Heather Gibson

Hey Dudes! How's the weekend going? I think you can tell by this dorky smug pose that I'm pretty happy with this pair of jeans - actually, if I'm completely honest, I am totally in love with this whole outfit, and I don't think I ever need to sew anything ever again because I'm just going to wear this outfit everyday for the rest of my life. Ha!! I kid - well only about that last part, I mean really? Me give up sewing? I don't think so!

Anyway, after my success with both the Ginger (which hasn't really been mentioned much during this Quest, but I've sewn it up numerous times, see here, here, here, here, here and here, plus a couple of unblogged pairs - oh my gosh have I really sewn that many?!?!) and Angel patterns I decided it might be fun to mash them up.

I really like the back pockets of the Angel jeans so I stuck with those. I also used Lisa's awesome flat-felled seam tutorial and finally got that centre back seam to look like it's actually centred. It's a bit of a nit-picky thing, but it always bothered me. If you just sew the back legs together, serge, then topstitch, then the actual seam is in the centre, but when you sew the topstitching it looks a bit off. Using Lisa's method, it ends up looking perfectly centred. I plan on using it from now on, and I expect the more I practice it, the better I'll get (just like anything right?).

While I do appreciate having a good bootcut in my jean arsenal, I am pretty addicted to skinny jeans. Especially in the winter, as they are super easy to tuck into boots, so I decided to go with Ginger for the legs. I used my modified front and back leg pieces (by modified I mean that I increased the rise of view A by 1" and skinnied the legs to match view B) and the back yoke from the Gingers too. I really love the pocket shape from the Angels, so that's what I ended up using for this pair, and by doing that I also had to reshape the coin pocket a little bit - but I just eyeballed that.

Then I used the super curvy waistband of the Angels. I really like how it hugs my body and doesn't gape at the back. For this pair, I made it slightly narrower so that I wouldn't need two buttons.

I also decided to do something a little different with my topstitching. Somewhere either on the internets or maybe in really life, I saw a pair of jeans with red bar tacks and I loved the contrast, so that's what I decided to try on this pair. Lucky for me, my machine was in really good spirits and it totally cooperated with me. I love how it turned out! I used my favourite Sulky thread again, do I sound like a broken record? I love that stuff!

I should also mention that this denim was sent to me free of charge by Caroline from Blackbird fabrics to test out. She had it in her shop, but she didn't have time to sew up a pair of jeans and she really wanted to make sure it was up to snuff. So of course, I happily agreed to try it out; a bit of fabric testing if you will. It has since sold out, but I'll tell you about it anyway. I really like the colour of this denim, but I don't think it's *perfect* for skinny jeans. It's got a nice hand but it felt slightly plastic-y on the wrong side when I was working with it. It does feel comfy to wear though, the right side is quite soft. It's a cotton/spandex/poly blend, and for my preference, I think the poly content is just slightly too high. I think they add poly to denim for it's recovery and I've noticed it in the labels of lots of designer denim lately (I'm always researching!), but I think the key is finding the right amount. I will admit that the recovery is pretty good though, I can get about 2 days wear out of these before having to throw them in the wash, which is more than I can say for some of the other denims I've tried out. Anyway, I passed on my review to Caroline and she has decided to look for something else, so keep an eye on her shop if you're interested.

While we're on the fabric subject, I have to say that I am so delighted to have so many amazing sewing friends with fabric shops that I get to support. It makes me feel so happy to be able to support small, independent businesses, and ecstatic to support ones owned by my friends. I think that between Caroline, Katie, and now Sonja - I'm pretty much set. Hooray for sewing friends!

Anyway, lets get to the list of gory details:

started with a size 10 low-rise view of the Ginger Jeans, and a size 6 of the Angel bootcut jeans
slimmed the legs down to match the high-rise skinny Ginger jeans, and shortened them by 2" at the lengthen/shorten line
used back pockets and front pocket shape form the Angel pattern
used the curved waistband from Angel but narrowed it down about 3/4" and interfaced one waistband piece with fusible knit interfacing
lengthened the back crotch curve by 1"
used pocket stays as described in the Ginger Jeans Sewalong

So there you have it - I think this pair is pretty much close to perfect. There are a couple of tweaks to make, but they are very, very minor. I had a bit of a hard time writing this post, because with this pair, you might think my quest should be over, and I really don't want it to end. I still have a few patterns in my stash I want to try out, in particular: the Jalie Jeans pattern, and the Hot Patterns Boyfriend jean, but I do have a couple others in the stash too (I'm a collector). So I guess I'll leave it to you, dear reader, should the quest stop here? Do you want me to keep going? Is there a particular pattern you'd like me to try, and review for you? Or are you totally sick of reading about jeans? I have acquired quite a large stash of denim, and jeans have become one of my favourite things to sew, so please let me know if you have any requests.

Also, I should mention my shirt! This is the first of 5 Granvilles I recently cut out, and I absolutely love it! I worked really hard on the plaid matching across the front (a first for me, as I usually don't), and the fabric I made it out of is so luxurious. It's a japanese cotton shirting I bought from Blackbird a few months ago. It's so soft and the perfect shirt weight. I also used some liberty fabric for the inside yoke and collar stand which coincidentally matches the pockets in these jeans. Sewing outfit win! If you want to know about what fit changes I made to this shirt, see this post.

Also, I think this picture pretty much captures the essence that is me. LOL. Hope you are having a lovely weekend!

The Quest for the Perfect Jeans: Named Jamie Jeans

October 17, 2015 Heather Gibson

Hey everybody! I'm back with yet another jeans post! Yay! I was really hoping to get this one up sooner, as my blog is really starting to drag behind my reality, but what can you do. Sometimes life gets in the way of blogging. Anyway, on to the task at hand, let's talk about Named Patterns' Jamie Jeans.

When I first started seeing this pattern pop up around the blogosphere, I wasn't entirely smitten. I liked the skinny jean aspect, but I wasn't completely sure if I was down with the centre leg seam. But after seeing lots of versions (I really loved this one, and this one), it grew on me, and I decided to give it a try.

Before I jumped in to making these bad boys, I had a quick read through the sew-a-long on the Indiesew website. Allie had mentioned that she found these jeans to fit a little on the bigger size, so she recommended going down a size. The size chart has me in between a 42 and 44 in the waist, and between a 40 and 42 in the hip. Because I am a bit bigger in the waist, I decided to go with a straight size 42. I now think, I would have been better off with a size 40, but it also can depend on the stretchiness of your denim too.

The denim I used for this pair, is a black mystery stretch denim that I picked up at JoAnn when we were in Palm Springs last year. It's really nice and soft, but not the highest quality, so it does bag out with wear, and I do expect that it will shrink every time it goes in the dryer (that happened with one of my Gingers made from similar denim). The more jeans I make, the pickier I am becoming about the denim I use, and how I take care of it. These are technically a wearable muslin though, so I'm not too worried about it.

As you can see the fit isn't perfect, but it's pretty close. I love the rise; I think the waistband hits me in a good spot, and the really like the width of the leg. It's a great skinny jean. I think next time, if I were to go down a size, the fit would be even better. Can you see how the legs look a little baggy? My advice? Go down a size, and then baste them together to check the fit. There isn't a ton of room to go bigger as the seam allowances are only 3/8" (although there are lots of seams to let out if you need a bit more room), but I'm thinking that as long as your denim has stretch, you'll be okay as these are meant to be quite skinny.

I'm still not 100% sold on the centre leg seam. It feels a bit strange when you wear the jeans, and as my husband put it, it makes the jeans fancy. Side note: John hates them. He was quite passionate about it too. He doesn't usually use the word hate about my sewing unless he really means it. When I put this pair on to show him, he was quite adamant about how he hates the centre seam, the weird pockets, and pretty much everything about them. Isn't that strange? I thought he might change his mind after I wore them a few times, but no, he hasn't. He did agree that I managed to get a good fit though, so there's that.

And now for for the nitty gritty fit details:

started with a size 42
shortened the legs by 2"
removed 1" from the front crotch depth and graded out to zero at the side seams (to see what I mean check out this post by Lauren, she does a similar alteration to her Thurlows)
scooped out (lengthened) the back crotch curve by 1" (using my favourite BHL tutorial)
after I basted my jeans together to check the fit (which I now do with every pair I make), I straightened out the front crotch curve seam a little bit, I eye-balled it, so I can't give you the exact measurement

Would I make this pattern again? I'm not 100% sure. I kind of want to try it in a different denim, and see if I can achieve a better fit, but I know that because John doesn't like the pattern, I probably won't wear them as often as my other pairs. That being said, it was really fun to sew, and the instructions were pretty good too. I had heard that they were originally quite sparse, but the girls at Named have updated them since the initial release. Plus the Indiesew sewalong is there for additional help too. The pdf was easy to put together and not very many pages. I did trace some of the pattern pieces as some of them over lap, but I just cut out the bigger pieces (like the legs).

I should also mention, I've paired these jeans with another Grail Top from Vesta Patterns. This one is made out of a stripey knit I bought at Fabricville in Montreal. Definitely not as nice as my other bamboo one, but still comfy!

Hope you all are having a nice weekend and that you aren't getting too sick of the jeans posts yet. ;)

The Quest for the Perfect Jeans: Angel Bootcut Jeans Part 2

October 6, 2015 Heather Gibson

And we're back.....

Hey Everybody! What's chippin' your potato? How's the week going so far? I guess it's only Tuesday so it might be too soon to tell. As promised I am back with yet another jeans post. I mentioned in my first Angel Jeans post, I felt like I couldn't really give the pattern a proper review as I had done all this crazy slimming down to the legs, and I messed up my lengthening only the front rise. So I decided I would make it up again, but this time make it as close to the original as possible no messing with the leg width or the rise, or anything like that (I did make a few changes to make them fit me better, but that's about it). Alright, grab your coffee or tea, and let's get down to business

After wearing my first pair a few times, I decided that not only did the denim bag out quite a bit, they were just too big. I had chosen my size based on the size chart, but after contemplating it for a bit, I decided that this pattern must not be drafted with negative ease. It calls for stretch denim, but I think I must like my jeans much snugger than what Angela Wolf has drafted for. So I consulted my trusty Ginger Jeans pattern, and used the finished garment measurements to help me figure out what size to make. I ended up going down to a size 6. A size 6, can you believe it? I went down 3 sizes. Whoa!

The denim I used for this pair is an Italian stretch denim I picked up at Ditto Fabrics in the UK (and by picked up, I mean I bought it online). It's actually really quite stretchy, so if I were to make these again in a stiffer denim, I might need to go up a size. I have been on the hunt for the perfect denim for quite some time, and this was one of the many denims I have acquired (for research purposes of course). Anyway, I was bummed to find that it is no longer listed on their website because it's really quite nice. It's stretchy and comfy and the recovery is quite good. These pictures were taken on my second day of wear. They get pretty stretched out and need a good wash after a full second day though. And looking at these photos now, I think the fit looks better when they first come out of the wash.

When I first tried these on, I was like, "I can't go back to wearing a flared/bootcut jean!", but after wearing them a couple times, the style has really grown on me. I think they are going to look really good with some little wedge booties I have in the back of my closet (I still don't want to admit that it's boot weather). They make me feel reminiscent to when I was about 17-18 years old and this was the style. I had traded in my beloved men's Levi's 501s, for a flared Silver Jeans pair. It was a radical change for me at the time, but I I remember feeling very ahead of the trend.

I will get into the fit details at the end, but I have to say I'm pretty tickled with how these turned out. I think the fit is pretty close to perfect, and the only thing that I really want to change is to move the back pockets closer together. They are a little farther apart than I would like them, but not enough that I feel compelled to unpick and reposition them. And looking at these photos, I might need to scoop out the back crotch curve just a little more too. It's difficult to fit the back on your own. I usually get John to take a few iPhone photos when I'm in the process, but it's hard to see fit issues in dark denim in photos.

I used two buttons this time for my wide waistband, and unfortunately, I think I put the buttons a little too close together which seems to cause the top of the fly to gape open a little. It's not really that big of a deal as most of my shirts cover it (speaking of which do you like my new longsleeve tee? It the Grail tee by Vesta Patterns), and really it's not that bad.

It's a bit hard to see it in the photos, but this time around I used a yellow variegated topstitching thread. It's a subtle change from the gold, but I really like it. And I'm happy to say that I get a little bit better at topstitching every time I do it. Hurrah!

Okay so here are the changes I made this time:

started with a size 6 (my last pair was a size 12)
lengthened the front crotch curve by 1" and the back by 2" using this tutorial again
shortened the legs at the lengthen/shorten line by 4 inches, but cut another inch off the hem at the end too
decided when I basted them together to check the fit that I might need a full or rounded thigh adjustment, so to compensate, I sewed the side seams from the bottom of the back yoke to the knee with a 1/2" seam allowance and the rest at 5/8" - next time I'll just add a little extra to the side seam when I cut them out
cut 1/2" of width off the belt loops piece to make the belt loops slightly narrower
did not interface the waistband, except for right at the button hole
sewed 1/4" elastic into the waistband (at the top) in the hopes that it would work as sort of a stretchy stay tape and help keep my jeans from falling down - I think it's helped a little but I may have needed to stretch the elastic more when I was sewing it in

I thought I would include a photo of my traced pattern pieces so you can see what the curve looks like. And check out the cute little spiral bound book for the instructions.

So there you have it. I'm really happy with this pair of jeans, and I have been wearing them way more than I thought I would. I have been a pretty die-hard skinny jeans girl for quite some time, so it's nice to add something different into the mix. I am hoping to make another pair just like this, but leave them a little longer to wear with heeled boots (and maybe fix the back pocket position too).

And as if this post isn't long enough already, I feel like I should include a few details about my t-shirt too. As mentioned, it's the Vesta Pattern's Grail tee. I just couldn't resist the cute drawings, and I really liked the idea of the different body shapes offered, plus it has two neckline options (a scoop and a crew), 3 sleeve lengths, and the option of making a tank top. You can buy the pattern in either the S Shape (for an hourglass shape), the E Shape (for a more straight body type) and the A Shape (for a more pair shape). I went with the S Shape, and made my first Grail tee a Large according to my full bust measurement. While the shape was really nice, it was really tight across the back, shoulders and boobs. [Super honest side note: Before I bought this pattern, I was humming and hawing between it and the Lark from Grainline, but the cute drawings and the idea of supporting someone brand new sucked me in! And hey, maybe it would be great! But after I made my first version, I was kicking myself, wishing I had bought the Lark. Lesson learned! (And who are we kidding, I'll probably end up buying the Lark anyway - I need that boatneck! I'm such a pattern junkie!)]

For this version in the photos, I made a straight XL (which is the biggest size) with the crew neck, and the fit is much, much better. I am happy with it, but beware that it runs small, and/or you may need an FBA if you have big boobs. This lovely long-sleeved number is made out of some amazing bamboo striped knit from Blackbird Fabrics, and it's soooooo soft and cozy! It's sold out now, but I'd keep an eye on Caroline's shop because I'm sure she'll restock it. She does have this glorious tie-dye bamboo that I bet is just as soft (well actually I know it is, because I have some of it too but in navy).

And with that, let's wrap this post up! If you've made it down to the bottom, thanks for hanging in there, and if you just looked at the photos and scrolled down, you missed all the details!! Go back!! Kidding! Kidding, I'm kidding. I hope you guys are having a lovely Tuesday, or whatever day it is when you catch up with your blog feed! And not to worry, there are still more jeans posts to come!

The Quest for the Perfect Jeans: Angel Bootcut by Angela Wolf Part 1

October 1, 2015 Heather Gibson

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.

Heather's Tips for Sewing Jeans

May 26, 2015 Heather Gibson

Hello my friends! I have been trying to write this post for quite awhile now, but I just haven't been feelin' it. I just can't seem to get into writing mode lately. My sewing mojo is alive and well, I have been sewing up a storm, but I just can't get my head into writing gear. Anyway, I have loads of projects to share with you, but I haven't really photographed any of them. The weather has been either way too sunshine-y for good photos or it's been raining. Plus I tried a new face cream and cleanser about a week ago, and I had a really bad reaction so I haven't feeling very photogenic especially not in front of my DSLR. Anyway, my skin is finally starting to settle down, so I'll try to get some posts in this week. Note to self, change is bad. Anyway, that's what's up with me, now let's get down to business. I know that there are already a number of posts out there with tips for sewing jeans, but I felt like after making a number of pairs I should add my two cents. For myself, sometimes I can read the same tip written by a few different people, but it doesn't click until the writing makes sense to me, and I find that everyone has a different perspective, so I like having a few different articles out there to refer to. So here we go with mine:

Topstitching Thread - try different weights and colours, and don't be afraid to try different brands. I love the Gutterman denim topstitching thread that you can find at JoAnn's or Fabricland, but there aren't a ton of colours available. I ended up chatting with the lady who sold me my Pfaff about it, and she suggested a heavyweight cotton quilting thread (Sulky 12wt.). It comes it tons of different colours and my machine loves it. It sews really well and I don't struggle to make bar tacks or button holes with it, plus it comes in variegated rainbow so you gotta love that! I have also tried the Coats & Clark denim thread and had lots of luck with it too. I should also mention that I use navy thread in my bobbin, or sometimes I use the Gutterman denim thread that is a little bit lighter weight than the topstitching thread and it works really well too. Also, bear in mind that you may have to play with your machine's tension, so it's a good idea to have your machine's manual handy and try some test stitches before you start.

Needles - I have found that a dedicated topstitching needle works the best. And I try to use a new one for each pair of jeans I make. I have tried sewing jeans with a denim needle, and a larger universal needle, but neither seem to work as well as a proper topstitching needle. So if you are finding that you are having troubles, changing your needle is an easy thing to try.

For beautiful looking topstitching, lengthen your stitch - at first I really didn't want to do that. I don't know why, but I just thought a 3.5-4mm stitch looked way too long. But after making a of couple pairs now, I know it's not. It might look weird at first when you are sewing, but once you have your jeans constructed, and you put those bad boys on, a longer stitch length looks better. Check out a pair of RTW jeans, and compare. Once you have your machine set to where you want it for topstitching and your stitches look the way you want them too, take a quick cellphone pic of your settings. It's an easy and quick way to refer back to your settings. When you are going back and forth with changing thread, or maybe you are sewing over a few days or weeks, you know exactly where everything was set. Maybe it's just me, but I've forgotten exactly what length I've set my machine to, and then I've had to waste time figuring it out. It's also nice to do for your bar tack stitch setting too.

Slow down - This is something I am constantly working on with pretty much everything I sew. Sometimes I just get into "must finish this right now" mode, and I put the pedal to the metal, and zoom away. With topstitching, you really need to take your time to be accurate and straight. My sewing machine has an option to slow the speed down, so when I'm making jeans, I always turn the speed down.

I think one of the trickiest parts of sewing jeans, is topstitching the fly front. I have found that if I mark my lines with chalk (or whatever removable marking tool you would normally use), and then start from the centre front at the bottom, things go more smoothly for me. I don't know if it's because I get the curve out of the way, right away, or if it allows me to see better. But starting from the bottom seems to garner the best result for me. Don't be afraid to play around with the direction of things and find what works best for you. Oh and really try to make sure you catch that fly facing underneath too, that helps things to stay in place better when you wear the jeans.

Bar Tacks - I am lucky enough to have a machine that actually has a bar tack stitch (although it doesn't always work as smoothly as I would like), but if you don't, a tight zig zag stitch is usually what's recommended. Recently I have discovered that a really narrow satin stitch works really well too. I really like how it looks and it's really strong. I used it for all the bar tacks on my last pair of jeans, and it worked really well.

Interfacing - do you really need it? There is a bit of a debate about whether or not you really need interfacing for denim. I have tried it both ways, and my finding: use it! I like to use a lightweight interfacing so things don't get too bulky, but you should probably judge it by the weight of your denim. For my Cone Mills denim pair I used a really lightweight interfacing, but for my Girl Charlee denim pair, I used a medium weight interfacing. It helps everything maintain structure and it keeps your waistband from stretching out too much.

I always sew my back legs together, do the middle lines of topstitching and then attach my pockets. This allows me to use the topstitching lines to place my pockets evenly and then things look a bit more centred. If you attach your pockets first, I find one always looks slightly off, or too close to the centre.

I also use my tailor's ham to pin the pockets in place before I stitch them on. I find that because they will be against a curve when you wear the jeans, positioning them on a curve before you sew them helps them to lay better when the jeans are finished.

And while we are on the subject of pockets, when I am pressing the edges in, I usually eyeball it (Gasp!), but I always line the two pockets up to make sure they are exactly the same. So I fold and press one pocket and then put it underneath the other one as a guide. Does that make sense? Here are some photos so you can see what I mean:

Another thing I like to do is I lengthen the belt loops a little (about 1/2" to 3/4" each) and attach them before attaching the waistband. I feel like it just gives them a little more strength, especially if you are someone like me who habitually uses them to pull up her jeans. I'm not entirely sure if it really does add strength, but it makes me feel better so that's how I do it. Here's what it looks like:

So you sew them to the pants, then you attach the waistband, and finish off the belt loops.

If you find that your belt loops are too long, you can always trim them off at this point.

And finally, one more thing: sometimes when you are topstitching especially at the corner of the waistband, your machine can kind of "eat" your fabric or the feed dogs don't quite feed it properly, and normally you might pull your threads to get things moving (like at the beginning of stitching a seam), but in this case you won't have those threads to pull. So what can you do? Take a separate needle and thread, and thread it through your fabric near the corner, and use that to pull things along. Then you can just remove it, when you are done. You can totally get away with this with denim, but I wouldn't try it with delicate fabrics. Here are some pictures that I hope make this a bit clearer for you - I'm just using a scrap of fabric with some test stitches on it, but I think you can see what I'm doing:

Does that make sense? You are just using that thread to pull or guide the fabric so it doesn't get eaten by your machine.

So there you have it, my tips for sewing jeans. I hope you take away at least one thing that might be helpful to you. I really want my blog to be helpful, as well as a place for me to share my projects and communicate with all of you lovelies. Anyway, if I come up with anything else that might be helpful when I make my next pair, I will be sure to let you know.

I hope your week is going well, and that you having lots of fun with the final days of Me Made May!

Have you made jeans yet? Do you have any tips to share? I would love to hear/read them if you do!

Ginger A vs. Ginger B: What's the difference?

May 7, 2015 Heather Gibson

And no, I'm not talking about my adorable red-headed friends, I am talking about JEANS!So recently, I have been having some jean trouble. I made 3 pairs of Ginger Jeans, view A (the lower rise - stove pipe version), and they all fit pretty well. My first pair ended up being a bit too big, my second pair is pretty much perfect although a little on the low side, and my third pair is great (I raised the rise by 1"). I had heard/read lots of amazing things about view B, so I decided to give it a go. As you might imagine, they were a little too high for my petite and round figure, but still the fit was pretty good. So by this point, I thought I was good to go to cut into my beautiful Cone Mills denim, and this is where the trouble began. I shortened the rise of view B by 1 inch and off I went. Unfortunately (and surprisingly), the fit was not so good. Who knew lowering the rise would make such a difference in fit? Not me, obviously. ;) Luckily, I was able to salvage them. I'm not 100% happy with the way they fit, but they are definitely wearable. They won't be my garment of choice for road trips or large meals though. Anyway, I decided that I must have made some type of cutting error, or a seam allowance error, or that it might be the difference in denim and decided to try again. I cut out two more pairs (why cut out two pair, I don't know) and once again ran into similar issues. One pair I was able to save and one I couldn't (I haven't decide whether or not they deserve a blog post). Yes, I like to learn my lessons the hard way. Anyway, this sent me on a mission to figure out what went on. The first thing I decided to do, was to compare the pattern pieces of view A and B. For some reason, I never really thought that there would be much difference between the two views. I though the rise would be different, the yokes might be a little different, but I didn't really think that the crotch curve would be different. I don't know why I thought that? Anyway, there are definitely some differences, and although subtle, they can change the fit. So I thought I would share this info with you, in case you are having any issues with fit and in case you are curious as to what went wrong. You should also know when looking at these photos, that both my patterns are altered, view A by a 1 inch increase in the rise, and view B by a 1 inch decrease in the rise. So here we go, view A:

And view B:Can you a see a difference? I didn't actually measure them, but from looking at the photos, you can see that view A has a little bit shorter crotch curve, and there seems to be a bit more space in view B. The difference is especially noticeable in the front - it's a bit straighter too, if that makes sense.

You can also see that View A is bit straighter in shape, view B is curvy and the pocket shapes are slightly different. Here are the patterns overlapped with view B on top.

So only slightly different, but it's enough to really affect how the jean fits. Now lets take a look at the back:

So again, only slightly different, but enough to make a the jeans fit differently depending on your body shape. View B is on top again, and you can see how view A is much straighter than view A.

Okay, so how does this translate into fit on my body (I say my body, because that's what I'm working with here). Well briefly, if the crotch length is too long, then you'll know it because you'll have that drop-crotch, penguin kind of thing going on. If the crotch length is too short (like view B was on me), you'll wind up with smile lines, possible camel toe, and maybe even a bit of wedgie at the back (all technical terms I might add). The other thing to take note of, is where the waistband sits on your body. I think this has caused a lot of my fit issues. Where the waistband sits with my modified view B, is right across my chubby tummy. This causes the the fabric to pull and strain causing some crotch issues. Anyway, let's have a look at the two views made up, view B is on the left, and my latest view A is on the right (I am in love with how my rainbow topstitching turned out - so glad I tried it).

So it might be a little bit hard to tell, but see how there are less lines in the pair on the right? Remember that I did do some make-shift crotch alterations during the sewing view B so my fit issues aren't nearly as obvious as they were during my initial try-on, where as I did nothing of the sort for view A. Also notice that the waistband sits just slightly lower, which I think it more flattering on my figure, not to mention more comfortable. Also, notice how much flatter the fly is sitting in the view A pair on the right, and no pulling. I would say on the view B pair, the waistband is right on my belly button, and with view A it sits just under my belly button. You can see that the fabric is straining a little over my belly with view B too.

Oh I should also mention that I made the legs the same on each pair. I love skinny jeans, so I used the view B leg for both pairs (although I made the view A pair slightly shorter), and keep in mind the denim is different. The pair on the left is Cone Mills denim, and the pair on the right is Girl Charlee denim. I also don't get too worried about those back leg wrinkles. They don't really bother me, and you will always have some wrinkles because you need space to move.

In looking at these butt pictures now, I could probably scoop out the back crotch curve a tiny bit which might get rid of some of those drag lines right under my butt, but again, I'm not overly concerned about it as it's not affecting my comfort.

So my flaws are a bit on display here, but in looking closely at these I think the shorter yoke is more flattering for my shape (which is probably because I am petite, I'm only just 5'2" folks). I feel the wider yoke is squeezing my chub just a little bit more than in view A, this is probably because of my tummy pulling the fabric at the front, which is making it tight across the back. I do, however like the curviness of view B. You can see that view A doesn't curve quite as much at the back which is causing a teensy bit of gaping at the waistline. Plus there's something wonky going on with that one belt loop, but that was probably just a sewing mistake made in my excitement to get them finished. I'm impatient!

Okay, so what now. For me, I think that if I make view B again, I will keep the rise the same as in these pictures, but I'm going to do a bit of an alteration to give me just a touch more room across my belly. How would I do this? Well, I think I only need about a 1/2" or so total so I have a couple of choices. I could add a little bit of extra to the seam allowances on my front pattern pieces, 1/4" would probably do it (if you plan on doing this, don't forget to add to your pocket pieces and waistband too). Remember that whatever you add, will be doubled because you will have 2 front pieces, so if you add a 1/4" to your front pattern piece, you will end up with 1/2" total. The choice would be to do a bit of a slash and spread method. On the front pattern piece near the middle, I would cut a slit about 2 inches long (the length would be dependent on where my belly curves back into my body), spread it by about 1/4" and then tape some paper behind it. Kind of like a dart you don't sew. This would give me extra room over my belly without changing much anywhere else. You could also do this, right where the fly extension meet the front piece, you just have to be careful not to let your fly extension get too far off grain. I think the key to pattern alterations is that you have to think about how it will look in 3D. You are wrapping these flat pieces, around a round body. So that's what you are making space for. Does that make sense?

I will definitely be making view A again, and I think that I will use my view B pattern pieces to add a bit more curve to the yoke and outside seams without touching the rise or the crotch curve itself. I also might try curving the waistband just a little bit more and that might be enough. We'll see how that works out. There are defiantly more Gingers in my future. I love this pattern and while it is work, I am really enjoying the process of fitting, and with each pair, I get just that much closer to the Holy Grail of perfect fitting jeans. Plus I find sewing jeans quite satisfying. So please, if you haven't tried Ginger, don't let any of this scare you off. Fitting is not scary, it's just work, and in the end, it's totally worth it to have a TNT pattern, that you can just cut out anytime and know that it will fit perfectly.

Anyway, in no way, am I an expert, and if you are and you think I am totally nuts, please feel free to let me know. I was lucky enough to get some great help from Lisa (who is quickly becoming my fitting guru) and @maxitonia on Instagram, and I have read tons of articles and watched a great video or two. I also have Pants for Real People on order (I have Fit for Real People already and it's my go to book) and I look forward to learning more. I am hoping that by sharing my experiences you might learn something, but also that it might spark some ideas for you and your fit problems.

While I don't have any tutorials that I have written myself to share with you, I do have some great links for you:

http://www.afashionablestitch.com/2011/sewalongs/in-which-i-finally-talk-about-the-word/

http://www.afashionablestitch.com/2011/sewalongs/discussing-at-length-crotch-length/

I love this video by Professor Pincushion for lengthening and shortening crotch, it involves a fair bit of tracing, but I think it would be totally worth it (also she has the coolest fingernails):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jnVVhuoh7Y

So there you go. I hope this post helps you, and as always if you have any questions or if I can help you in anyway on your journey, email me, or leave a comment. I am pretty much sewing obsessed so I love talking about it, and I love to help.

And of course no post of mine would be complete without some gratuitous pug butts:

Happy Sewing Everyone!

PS: One more thing (seriously, can this post get any longer?), would anyone be interested in a Tips for Sewing Jeans post from me? I know there are a number of those out there already, but I have sewn 8 pairs now, which means I have learned some things about construction a long the way, and sometimes its good to hear things from different points of view. Anyway, let me know what you think, I'm happy either way.

Hello! I'm Heather and welcome to my blog. I love pugs, fabric, travelling, and I'm obsessed with sewing. Please have a look around, make yourself at home, and let me know if you need anything. If you'd like to know more about me click here.

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