Finally, my jeans are complete!
You might recall these jeans were originally intended to be a muslin, for a followup made with sangria (or “hot strawberry”) denim. Being made with stretch denim, and having never made the pattern before, I had no idea how well they would fit.
The answer: much better than I expected, and good enough that these jeans certainly earn the title “wearable muslin”. In fact, aside from one or two fit issues, they can be considered “finished product”. Continue reading
Goodness, the Jeans project (well, my “muslin” at least) is almost complete!
Today we’ll look at getting the buttons and rivets installed.
Early on while making the jeans, I decided to skip the pattern instructions to bartack the pocket openings, in favor of rivets – to try to look more like the “famous maker” jeans we’re all familiar with. Plus, installing the rivets is something new to learn.
I found some some excellent tutorials on the internet to help me install my rivets.
Based on the recommendation in the BrianSews video, I ordered a batch of copper rivets and matching tack buttons from Grommet Mart.
Before we get started: If you used the “Follow on Feedly” button (over there to the right) before today, please try it again. The earlier version of the button would subscribe you to the comments, rather than the actual articles. I caught that error and fixed it yesterday.
After finishing the waistband and hems, I threw the jeans in the washer. Trying them on afterwards, I discovered the pocketing developed a hole – I didn’t close the pocket bags carefully enough, even going over them with both serger and conventional machine.
This was easy to fix by re-stitching with some white thread on the conventional machine. Continue reading
Before I move on with my Jeans project, I just have to get one thing out of the way.
My boyfriend Jim says my jeans “look like Toughskins”.
Anybody who lived through the ’70s knows how truly terrifying Sears Toughskins jeans were. My mother dutifully ordered Toughskins from the Sears catalog every year for back-to-school. The styling was totally dumpy, even for the ’70s. The fabric was made of wood fiber and sandpaper. And my mother ordered them for me in the “Husky” size.
Childhood nightmares revisited
Jim told his mother flat-out he wouldn’t wear Toughskins. I wasn’t quite so smart. I just wore them and looked like biggest nerd in school.
Let’s just see what Jim gets the next time I sew him something. Continue reading
Happy 4th of July, everyone! (to my readers in the United States, anyway). I have all kinds of progress to report on the jeans project!
I pressed the crotch seam first, then double-topstitched the seam allowance in place. No problems here.
