My Sewing Space

More spring kids' clothes! It sure has been nice having these clothes done and ready for the warm weather. Beautiful new clothes that are ready to go make warm, sunny days all that much nicer. These two pieces are for my older daughter. I modified Jalie 2908 slightly for these cuffed capris - straightened and shortened the legs and curved the waistband. Sadly, I don't have a picture of them on my daughter, but they fit great. The fabric is pretty lightweight and stretchy. It looks like denim, but my daughter finds these more comfortable than regular denim would be. These were actually a pretty quick project. The fabric was easy to work with and I just used regular thread and a standard straight stitch for the topstitching. I'm happy with how all the details came out. The insides are PINK! Pink fly guard, pocket bags, and waistband binding. I really like the flower print on the fabric also - a little abstract and stylized, but still feminine and fun. It...

My younger daughter had her sixth birthday in January. I purchased some clothes for her as a gift. One of the items was a pair of jeans and they were a terrible fit. We took them back and tried a different size, but they were all bad. She was bummed about that, so I told her I would make a new pair for her. Awhile ago someone gave me a few cuts of denim. They're all too short to be used for me and I don't really care for the finish of most of them, but they're great for kids' clothes. The fabric I used for these jeans does have a bit of stretch and a very soft feel, making these actually quite comfortable. I used Jalie 2908 and am really happy with the result. The only modifications I made were for length (adding some), leg shape (straight vs. boot cut) and the waistband. I wasn't impressed with the waistband the last time I used this pattern , so this time I did my own thing. I made a pattern piece to match the circumference of the top of the assembled jea...

My daughter has a pair of skinny jeans that she really likes. I bought them from Old Navy. They are both the tall and slim version of her size. The adjustable waistband elastic is pulled as tight as it can go and then they stay up. She hasn't really liked jeans up until this pair, so I'd been surprised by how much she wears them. When I asked her about it, she told me that she really likes them because they make her feel tall. She said something like this: "You know how if you have a square and a rectangle that are the same height, the rectangle will look taller? I think it's kind of like that. I know I'm not actually taller, but it kind of seems like it more with these than my other jeans." Very insightful, kiddo. I was very unimpressed with the quality of those Old Navy jeans. The denim looked very worn after just a few washes and they had a hole in the knee after a couple of months so I wasn't eager to go buy another pair. I had flagged an Ottobre ...

They're finished.  I just looked back to see when I started these.  November 17 .  That's a long time ago (in sewing time).  I knew it would be a longer term project, but it felt a little to close to a epic project.  Not that the sewing took so long, but because they were just sitting on my sewing desk all through the other projects and Christmas sewing.  I'd see them and think about them, but not get to work on them.  Now they're done and I wish I could say that I love them, but I don't. Let's start with the things I do like... The Pattern This is the J Stern Designs Misses' Jeans pattern.  It is intended to be used with regular (non-stretch) denim.  The jeans are fitted with a low rise and a boot-cut leg.  Optional back flap pockets are included.  Overall, I thought the fit was pretty good.  Of course, I did have to make some adjustments, but they weren't drastic changes.  I think this is a great draft for j...

I worked on my jeans a little more today.  Yesterday I got the fit to a place where I think I can be happy with it.  Then I took apart the "muslin" and decided to sew it for real to practice all the other parts of making jeans: topstitching, rivets, placement and design of back pockets, etc.  Ideally, I'll be able to wear them a bit, re-evaluate the fit, and then make another pair out of another cut of denim that I like better than this one. Muslin pictures: I'm happy with the fit in the front.  The rise is a little higher than most of my jeans, but I'm going to leave it as it is with this pair. I'm not as pleased about the back.  After looking at these pictures, I went back and worked at getting rid of the wrinkles pointing to my high hip.  I will put pockets on the back, but wanted to work on the fit without them in the way.  I tried pinning out the wrinkles under my seat, but when I did, I couldn't si...