Who likes short shorts? Not me!

The end result of my sewing weekend away - stretch denim "shorts":

These end at the knee and are a hacked off version of Burda 7863. I actually (first time ever) made a muslin for these from a firm woven so was pretty eager to see how they turned out in a stretch fabric.

Mostly I think they turned out good. There are a few small things I would change -I took a bit too much off the waistband when making the centre back alteration and the leg hems flare out slightly ( top stitching on stretch fabric without a stabiliser)- but surprisingly these are rather comfy to wear even with these issues.

Please note: I normally don't show midriff, I'm waaay past being able to do that- it's just so you can see the waistband!

How my tops normally sit!

 Oh and I forgot to prewash my fabric- NOT recommended! Not only did I run the risk of some crazy shrinkage happening (it didn't luckily), but the dye came off the fabric onto my hands while sewing! 
I'm planning to make up another pair of these before summer is over - maybe with a cuff? Hopefully I'll have that centre back seam alteration nutted out by then!

Happy Sewing!

Kate x

Grappling with a gappy back seam

  Have decided to try a jeans pattern again, this time Burda 7863 (purchased during Spotlights $5 sale). 

As it's summer weather here I'm going to make shorts rather than jeans. 

I figure by making shorts I'll be able to tweak the fit in the tummy/waist/butt area without forking out too much for fabric (and maybe use up a bit of my stash!).

Also given that our summers hit 30 to 40 degrees Celsius here, I'm way more likely to be wearing shorts than jeans in the next few months.

 

Currently this is what's taking up most of my time on the muslin (yes I'm making a muslin, am finally learning!!) test pair- getting the centre back waistband seam right:

While the seam's not perfect it is getting there and slowly I'm pulling in the gaposis that always happens when I wear jeans. 

I also hate wearing belts with jeans (weird huh?) so a good fitting waistband will help me to avoid that.

  Hopefully I'll end up with a much better fit than any of my current RTW jeans.

Fingers crossed ;)

 Kate x

The jeans ON

My newly made jeans remind me somewhat of the old Golden Book story "Saggy Baggy Elephant" .
Yes I can get them on, but are they flattering? No, not really :(
While I do love me a bit of "comfort factor" built into my pants (hey a girls gotta be able to bend over without flashing to all and sundry ), drag lines/wrinkles are just not flattering and pretty much an insult to any woman's wardrobe.
That this was an insult of my own making, well......one day I will learn (to make a test muslin first)!
Anyway here 'tis in all its "roomy" glory....

I'm actually wondering - looking at these pictures- if this pattern wasn't originally designed for non-stretch wovens? Something to think about for the next pair I make!

Happy [jeans] sewing!

Kate :)

Burda Plus WOF jean's are done- finally!

Posting this pic up as I haven't had a chance to take one of these jeans on. I know that really, seeing these on a hanger, tells you not much about how the fit/style of the pattern is in real life,or how well they are made.
 Please be assured that I WILL try to remedy that soon!

Sooo what can I say? These are MUCH looser than anticipated- honestly I can say the requirement for stretch fabric was completely unwarranted in this instance as I have taken so much off centre back and side seams.

Multiple stitching lines as I tried to take in the side seams.

And below is the centre back seam which i had to take in nearly an inch at the top:

All I can think is that the measurement I'm working off have changed since I had them taken a fair while ago after surgery to my abdomen (yeah I know lazy- this has proven to me that you need to check your measurements before you sew!). I *think* I may have gone down a little in my abdomen measurement due to post-surgery swelling subsiding and organs maybe going where they are supposed to be (I'm not going to say that too loud just in case I'm totally wrong)!

OK so next on my list -after pics of jeans on - is remeasuring my hips/waist area. Let's hope the tape measure has some good news for me ;)

Kate :)

Topstitching

My first attempt at topstitching jeans pockets - as you can see I am rather crap at it:

 

Why oh why did I attempt to do the design that Burda WOF suggested? Why couldn't I just do a straight line or something? And why did I think acid yellow would be a fab choice for topstitching thread (I doesn't look that bright in the picture but thats just my "photography skills" and bad lighting). Topstitching in contrasting colour makes it bleeding obvious when you sew a wonky line.

The fabric I chose is a stretch denim, so to make matters worse the pockets have "grown" slightly after stitching- grrrr.

Right now I can't be bothered redoing them but I imagine they will annoy me no end if I use them. Luckily I am right at the beginning of the jeans construction so I think I'll see how the actual fit shapes up before deciding to use them or not. If the garment looks like its going to be hideous "gardening/housecleaning only" clothes- or even worse a wadder- then there's no point in redoing the pockets.

On the suggestion of Sandra from my Burdastyle sewing group I use upholstery thread instead of topstitching thread- much cheaper and I think -ability to sew straight aside- it works. I just used regular Guterman thread in the bobbin, the same colour as the main fabric.

Here's to the learning curve! ;P

Kate x