..and more jeans.

Burda 7738 with the bottom flare narrowed by 5/8 inch each piece, each side:



Front, make no mistake these are definitely your daughter's jeans - rise is an inch below belly button:



My sister calls me the fabric whisper after my habit of asking the fabric how it wants to be made up. I know this is a successful way of working with fabric for me, because what it necessitates is choosing the pattern on the basis of the qualities of the fabric.

When I made the last pair of jeans, it was because I liked the Ottobre pattern and wanted to try it, so I used some denim I had on hand. What I have since learned about denim, though, is that it varies tremendously both in look and feel. The thing about the denim I used is that it was slightly stretchy, thin, and a little shiny. That meant that every wrinkle was going to be very obvious. In short, this denim did not want to be made into mom-jeans. No ho ho. And let's face it - with its high waist and easy fit leg, that Ottobre jean is as mom-jean as they come.

I had enough to make another pair of jeans, and this time me and the demin had a good chat. Closer fitting, bootleg with a burnt orange top stitching detail. That is what is said. It also requested something cute for the pocket.

Burda 7738, fifth attempt, and good enough, but still not pants perfection. (if there is such a thing)





When I went to the Bernina shop to pick up the thread, I couldn't find anything even close to what I had imagined. Carol, the shop manager, told me to buy 2 spools of ordinary thread but thread the machine twice. You put the second spool on the back spool, thread as usual and because denim needles have a big eye, you can thread it with two threads. Amazingly it worked, with no tension issues, and suddenly a whole new world of top stitching has been opened to me.

I started off with two hearts but it was too strong a motif, so I made one a standard jean pocket and then curved off the second to form the heart. The top part was sewn first, before applying, so that the pocket is functional.




I would like to revisit the Ottobre jeans at some point. When I laid the Burda and Ottobre jeans patterns on top of each other, I found the backs were identical but there was a 3 cm variance in the front - Burda was a whole size smaller at the front. So there we go, what I suspected was true, but in rather a surprising way.

The Jalie jeans are not for me - they have negative ease and rely on your body filling out the fabric to eliminate wrinkles. This technique is refered to as "the sausage casing" effect. Whether you suit this looks depends on the nature and arrangement of your stuffing.

Righty ho, next up I'm going to belt out a couple of tee shirts and then I'll try and play catch up on the jacket sewalong.