Does it look like the illustration? If I were 6' tall, sure. But seriously, I do like the fit of these jeans. There is no way my pancake flat ass is going to be wrinkle free, but I can live with that. I finished these in January but never got around to photographing them until today. I've worn them a lot and made a second pair, but I tried to make the fit more 'perfect' and they don't fit as well as the first pair. I removed my alterations to return to the original pattern. Actually they fit better before the holidays but that's life. The knit top I made after Thanksgiving. Since it's basically my tnt t shirt, there is nothing to write about except the fabric, which is a gorgeous rayon lycra knit from Emmaonesock. I have found that the silkier the rayon knit the more it has a tendency to pill. This one has a dry hand that wears really well as well as feeling wonderful.
Back to my jeans. How many muslins did I make? Who knows, I've lost count. One thing I do recommend if you are about to embark on a jeans fitting odyssey is to make your muslins out of denim. When I found stretch denim on sale at Fabric.com I bought about 10 yards. Even that wasn't quite enough, but I persevered and finally got to a pair of jeans that I can live with. Several years ago I had attempted jeans but gave up because I had so much trouble using topstitching thread in my Viking Platinum 850. Since then I'd bought a vintage 6010 Viking which plows through topstitching with jeans topstitching thread like a champ. It was a pleasure. I do use a Schmetz denim size 100 needle, the largest I can find. It sews through layers beautifully.
Don't overfit; you'll get a pair of jeans you can't sit down in! Remember, we are used to seeing perfect, wrinkle free clothing in magazines. Not so easy in real life, especially if you are an older woman and gravity has hit or you have pancake butt like I do. I can get a pair of trousers to fit perfectly, but jeans can't because of the nature of the draft and the realities of my body. It's ok. I can't find a pair that fit better than this in rtw and certainly the price for jeans in high quality fabric is ridiculous.
In this pair I ended up taking two darts in the back yoke because it was too big. I could have recut it, but I'd already topstitched and besides, who's going to see it if I don't tuck in my tops? There is a seam in the center back waistband. Again, no one is going to see it, it uses quite a bit less fabric, and it provides a place to adjust the fit.
Brian Sews has a nice set of videos on applying a jeans tack button and installing rivets. But I found it hard to get them installed perfectly with a hammer. They kept falling out in the wash. Enter my husband's addiction to machinery auctions. He has two arbor presses, the smaller of the two,see below, now resides in my studio and applies both tack buttons and rivets perfectly. In the photos below you can see him installing rivets and a tack button on my jeans. You still can't apply nipple rivets without crushing them, but if I want to use them he says it's easy to drill a hole in a piece of steel that will fit the nipple and keep it from getting crushed.
Mood Fabrics periodically has email sales of 50% off selected fabrics. A couple of weeks ago it was Marc Jacobs denim for $5 a yard, which just happened to be among the samples I had ordered from Mood sometime last fall. It was also my favorite of maybe 20 samples, so of course I snapped up enough for 3 more pairs of jeans. I also have some Japanese denim that I bought for 3 times the price from emmaonesock, plus some colored denim, enough for 5 more pairs of jeans.
Hopefully the next post will be my finished blouse. Have a wonderful weekend.
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Those look great, Nancy! Do you know I have never even attempted to put a rivet in my jeans (I think I ordered some once so they must be around somewhere...)?
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear the Viking is working well!
I just saw a pair of high end jeans without rivets. I like them both ways.
DeleteThey look great! The fit is fantastic.
ReplyDeleteI knew I should have bought that denim!!!! These look awesome. Great job.
ReplyDeleteIt's the nicest denim I've seen in awhile, and certainly not at that price!
DeleteThat denim went like hotcakes! Glad you liked it and got some, Nancy. BTW, we now have those sale emails every week, usually on Wednesdays.
ReplyDeleteThose jeans look absolutely fabulous on you. Dark, pretty denim. Dressed up denim. So glad to see you posting again.
ReplyDeleteAs another pancake butt gravity victim :-) the jeans look great!
ReplyDeleteThe fit looks pretty good to me! Nice top too.
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ReplyDeleteYou've aced these and they look wonderful on you. Congratulations on this milestone.
ReplyDeleteYour jeans look fabulous! I'm on my fifth and final muslin for jeans tomorrow. I'm curious which weight of the Marc Jacobs denim did you get? I ordered samples of the mid weight (Marc Jacobs and Theory) and they all seemed a bit light even though they were marked at about 10oz. That's what I usually use so I was surprised.
ReplyDeleteThe MJ denim seems to be medium weight, which I am fine with. I don't like the really heavy weight denim, nor do I like it any lighter than this. Without giving oz weight it's impossible to compare denims online. One person's medium is another's light weight. I liked the smooth surface, that after I washed it is softer, but it's still got a smooth hand. Some of the denim I've gotten is kind of rough and it stays that way even after multiple trips through the washing machine.
DeleteNancy - these look fantastic on you. They certainly don't look store-bought and they look like they fit you beautifully. We all have a little "extra" in the rear and that is just the way it is. I think sometimes we live in a world with the idea that Lycra can solve all wrinkles or that all wrinkles are bad. For my money is how the pant rests or sits on you and that it doesn't tilt front or back, it doesn't splay or bow, so I think you've hit onto a great look here. But then that's just me.
ReplyDeleteMy dd gave me the highest complement when she said that they look like rtw. I will be making more of these.
DeleteGreat jeans and the topstitching looks perfect. It takes a lot of patience to make many muslins but now that hard work is done the next few pairs should be much easier.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you were able to get a pair of jeans that fit the way you want them too. They look great on you!
ReplyDeleteThe jeans look great. I'm glad you stated the difference between real life and the magazine photos of clothes. I think there is a misconception about how clothes really look and wear on the body of people who eat and have curves. Your approach to fitting jeans is perfect. I've had some failed attempts in fitting because I didn't use the appropriate fabric for the muslin.
ReplyDeleteThey look very good . The stitching looks excellent . I have had better results useing Guterman Upholstery thread rather than their top stitch thread . It seems a tighter twistand so less likely to shred and that used with a SCHMETZ top stitch needle is fantastic on my old Singer Slantomatic.
ReplyDeleteThe jeans look really good, the whole look is very stylish. I am impressed with the hubby who is so handy with rivets. You do really know how to sew well. Thanks for blogging.
ReplyDeleteDid these end up stretching out? I am the same measurements as you and am not sure which size to get. Click For Full Count
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