I don’t have any photos of me in my new jeans but I did finish a pair today. I really need a live-in photographer for finished projects. That is the plight of the one and only photographer in the family, I never get my photo taken by anyone who knows what they are doing. So I must get by with camera timer shots that are less than artful and far from flattering. The only other option is the dreaded “shot in the mirror” or the “end of the arm” shots. I’ve resorted to both at times with less than satisfactory results.

Back to my jeans…I (like everyone else on the planet) really like this pattern. I’m going to make the Kwik Sew 3315 at least one more time in a smaller size and the straight leg and see if I can also be happy with that one. But I really like the fit in the seat and thighs of the Jalie pattern. They are so comfortable that they may put an end to **No Pants Friday!

The only thing I don’t like is the waist band. It is cut on the bias and with already stretchy lycra/denim it is too loose after about 2 minute’s wear. So much so that I may even rip it off and do it again with some methods I’ve gleaned on the internet. Even if I take the waist band from the KS pattern and cut it along the selvage like I’ve done before I think I’d like it better. Or I could do a “gaposis” fix with a wedge out of the center back seam. I HATE ripping finished things apart to tweak them. Really I do. But the rest of these jeans are so nice that I’d hate to not wear them just because I was too lazy to put an hour of work into perfecting them.

As with any jeans, it’s all in the details. I decided to try out a machine embroidery design on the back pockets. I’m not much of a “bling” girl so I knew I didn’t want any embroidery elsewhere on these. But I thought it would be fun to try something on the pockets.

I’m teaching a jeans sewing class at work next month and I’m trying to try out all the things I’m going to be teaching. One big thing will be positioning machine embroidery on the pockets. It’s really very simple, embroider THEN cut.

I just cut large enough pieces for my embroidery, making sure they were on grain and hooped them with tear-away stabilizer. Then I drew a cross-hair on my pocket pattern piece and pinned it. Cutting the pockets to perfectly match.

The second “free” tip I’ll give here is how to get perfectly even spaced lines of top-stitching. On these I opted to use Gutterman top-stitching thread in a dark gold color. With this heavier thread you MUST use a topstitch needle in at least a size 90 so it doesn’t get shredded by the eye of the needle. On some machines you may also need to loosen your top tension a little. I just used regular all-purpose polyester thread in the bobbin. I also lengthen my stitch to about 3.5.

The first pass with the topstitching I use my Bernina #10 foot. This is the Edgestitch foot (aka “stitch-in-the-ditch foot”) with my needle position all the way to the left. By keeping the blade of the foot along the edge of my pocket (or seam) the needle will stitch exactly 1/8” from the edge.

This foot is a thing of beauty and there is a reason it is the best selling foot Bernina has in their line. It is rare that I can complete a sewing project without using this foot at least once.

Now it is time to put down that second line. Your first line should be perfectly parallel to  the edge of the pocket or seam because you used the center blade of your foot (other machine manufacturers make a similar foot I think) to guide your stitching.

Put on your zipper foot. Yes, you heard me, ZIPPER foot. (Again I’m using Bernina so if your zipper foot is different I’m so sorry.) My zipper foot is almost exactly 1/4” wide so by putting my needle to the left and using the right side of the foot as a guide I can sew a stitching line exactly 1/4” from the first line.

I always stitch my topstitching with my machine set with the stop with the needle down so that I don’t get any jumps in my stitches if I have to stop while sewing.

One other little detail I’d like to add to these jeans are rivets. Thanks to PatternReview I know of a few places online that I can order some. Just need to do it and give it a shot. That would be the final step in making completely RTW-looking jeans.

Hopefully later I can get someone in my household to take a few decent shots of me in my new jeans. In the meantime I’m going to debate ripping off the waist band vs. always having to wear a belt.

Next Up:

I had to stop at Joann Fabric the other day to get a jeans zipper and some swimsuit lining fabric. You know I didn’t stop there don’t you? Nope, I had to cruise the new fabrics. I was pleasantly surprised. There were some things that I need to go back with Emma and some other patterns in mind. I think there may be some fun summer garments waiting to be made there. But I didn’t come home empty handed, you know other than what I actually went in there for of course!

After the success of Vogue 8379 I knew when I saw this black and white print in a soft polyester knit that I had another winning combination.

I wore my green retro print V8379 yesterday and got lots of compliments and it was also super comfortable to wear.

I also got these two Kwik Sew patterns from work last week. More great classic styles that mimic a lot of what I’m seeing in the stores right now.

I’m still not sure what I think about the color-blocking trend. I lived through the 80s once, not sure I’m up for it again. But if I find the right fabric in the right combination of colors who knows, I may give it a go.

**I almost forgot to explain “No Pants Friday”! If you follow me on Twitter you may have noticed this hashtag last week. It seems that when I get home from work on Friday nights I sit down at the Shiny Island for a drink and some computer time and inevitably my pants are just too tight to stand. So I must immediately go take them off and put on PJ’s or sweats or something equally comfy. For whatever reason I felt the need to share that with the world via Facebook and Twitter and publicly declare NO PANTS FRIDAY!!! Five days and you can join me.

I accomplished yet another of the projects on my priority list today. The dogs now have some nice mats for their crates. They are even personalized! They were very quick and easy to make.

Materials:

One yard each heavy denim and polar fleece. This is enough to make two mats approx. 35”x28”. I just cut each yard in half down the middle to make two pieces 36” by 30”. My two fabrics were quite the same width so I did a little trimming to match everything up. If you want them to fit perfectly into the bottom of your crate just measure the bottom pan size and add an inch to get a 1/2” seam allowance all the way around.

How To:

If you want to personalize it, hoop your denim and stitch out the name. Because this denim was so stiff I didn’t put an stabilizer in the hoop with it. I did Maizey’s first and some of the stitches weren’t as nice as I’d like them to be so when I did Cas’ I slipped a piece of Heavy Cut-Away under the hoop before I started stitching and that worked great.

Lay the denim piece out flat right side up and place fleece right side down on top of it. Smooth everything out, matching edges, trim any edges that aren’t even.

Round off the corners. I marked them with a chalk wheel and used my magnetic pin cushion as a guide. I chose to round them off to make turning them right side out easier. Pin both fabrics together. Stitch around edge, leaving an opening for turning. I used my walking foot because the fleece likes to stretch under the foot while stitching. I also lengthened my stitch length and made sure I had a jeans needle in the machine.

Turn right side out and clip excess fabric from curved corners and notch seam allowance. (I forgot to take a picture of this step.)

Topstitch approximately 1/2” from edge. Be cure to tuck in the edges of the opening so they get caught in the topstitching.

All done in a couple hour’s work. I like that they are lightweight and easy to wash. No stuffing for the dogs to chew apart and get all over the house. The fleece gives a little cushioning and the denim is durable.

Miss Maizey looks a little less than thrilled with her new digs but that is partly because I moved her crate today from one corner to another and now Cas is in the same room. She doesn’t like change.

In reality the dogs don’t spend a lot of time in their crates. Just while we are out of the house. They are still spoiled and get to sleep on our bed at night. And with my part-time hours and how early the girls get home from school they are rarely crated for more than a few hours at a time. But Cas does like his crate and will just go hang out in their for periods of time. He is also a bit of a hoarder and we will find random things hidden in there. Like the time my friend stayed over to dog sit and after we got home I was cleaning it out and found her bank card still in the envelope from the mail in his crate.

Also, does anyone else think it is weird that two Michigan State Spartans have a dog named MAIZEy? I didn’t ever realize the awkwardness until I embroidered her name in bright yellow on a blue background.

Bernina USA website for #70/71 foot.

This is one of the feet Steve got me for Christmas. (I think I wrote down the wrong number when I gave him my list, I really wanted the #71 which is wider and for denim but I’m not complaining, I’ll buy that one myself and still get use out of this one.) This isn’t a foot I’ll use often but like so many Bernina feet, when you need it nothing else will do the job quite as well or as precisely.

I’ll show you step by step how to use this foot. Also the above link to the Bernina website has a great little video showing the foot in action.

Step 1: Align your fabric WRONG sides together with the bottom fabric 5mm beyond the edge of the top fabric.

Step 2:  Fold bottom fabric over edge of top fabric and place under the foot.

I use the point of my seam ripper to carefully poke the top corner of the folded fabric under the foot and needle. I then take a stitch or two and stop with my needle down to hold everything while I maneuver the folded edge of the fabric into the foot the way I want it.  

Sew down the seam keeping the bottom fabric folded over the raw edge of the top fabric.

The finished first seam. The raw edge of the top fabric is wrapped with the bottom fabric.

Step 3: Press seam and open it out, I don’t press it flat though. I find that it helps to get it under the needle and then take a few stitches and stop with the needle down so I can rearrange the fabric and get it placed in the foot properly. This also where having the Free Hand System (knee lift) comes in really handy!

Sew down the seam. The foot will fold the edge over and stitch exactly along the edge giving a perfectly top-stitched finish.

This sample was sewn with bright green in the needle and grey in the bobbin. This sample was sewn with bright green in both the needle and the bobbin. My bobbin stitching doesn’t look as perfect in this sample as the above one because I didn’t have it threaded perfectly. Usually the two rows of stitching will be exact and perfectly parallel like they are in the above sample.

The result is a perfectly finished seam with no raw edges. Where would you use this technique? This narrower one would be perfect for sewing side seams in lightweight blouses instead of a French seam. The advantage over a French seam is that this type lies flat. You see this seam finish in men’s dress shirts. This type of seam is very strong so it is good for seams that get a lot of stress. The most common use of a wider flat-fell seam is in denim jeans. I made a pair of stretch denim jeans for a store sample this fall and plan on making myself a pair soon so I will be going back and getting that #71 foot. I love the way this seam finish looks, so professional. I’m at the point in my sewing career that I want my home-sewn items to look as good if not better than store bought and this is just another way to achieve that goal.

At a later date I will share with you a couple short cuts you can use to achieve a flat-felled look in fewer steps and less time. Because we all know that I also like to get projects done fast!