Monday, April 9, 2012

Chocolate jeans

I have a love-hate relationship with jeans.  They are practical.  They have lots of pockets - not that I ever stash much in those pockets, but it's nice to know that they're there.  Problem is, when you're bony, all those converging seams and rivets all seem to end up sitting on my hip bones.  It's downright painful after a few hours of wear.  Finding a pair that fits is next to impossible.  My last attempt (a number of years ago) at store-bought jeans resulted in an hours-long alteration session to take in many inches at the waist.  I decided to expand my pants sewing horizons - it's boring to have umpteen pairs of pants all cut from the same pattern.  So - my attempt at comfortable jeans.
Vogue 7608
These are from Sandra Betzina's first jeans pattern, which is now OOP, but still available.  I used stretchy waleless corduroy.  Not quite a velveteen.  Quite a bit of altering needed to get a better fit, and - truth be told - they're not exactly what would be considered a "perfect" jeans fit.  (I'm not including the derriere shot.)  I don't care.  They're comfortable.  Any tighter and I probably wouldn't wear them.  May-be I'm just not a jeans person.
 Topstitching is in grey - upholstery thread, just because I had plenty of it.  I topstitched every single seam, and questioned my sanity while stitching on the inseam when the outer seams were already stitched up.  It was like sewing in a never-ending tunnel!

No, I didn't follow the lovely curvy line on the pockets for topstitching - just had to be different.  Notice, too, these don't have a waistband in the back - just a yoke.  I suppose that makes it easier for fitting.  Oh - I had to add a fair bit in length, as I found this pattern to be quite short for my legs, and I'm not tall.
 Last but not least - the gory details inside.  Used up the scraps from my animal print skirt from last summer for facings and pockets.
When I decide to venture into jeansland again, I think I might try another pattern.  Overall, though, I do have a comfortable, wearable pair of jeans, even if they're not quite what others would consider to be well-fitting.

9 comments:

  1. Wow, Irene...these are gorgeous! Enjoy wearing them.

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  2. What a great looking pair of jeans, and I love the chocolate color.

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  3. Wow Irene, I think these look great! I love the fabric you used and the top-stitching is gorgeous! Nice design on the back pockets too. Hope you find them to be perfectly comfortable!

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  4. Wowsers!! Irene, these look just terrific, and accentuate your lovely figure beautifully! Your topstitching looks brilliant, and I adore that colour :)
    With the inseam, I stitch this up and topstitch, THEN do the outer seam, which is not topstitched. Also, a dress zip is fine for stretch jeans, but for more heavy duty then a jeans zip is a good idea.
    I hope you enjoy wearing your gorgeous jeans!

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  5. You did a fabulous job and they look better than RTW.

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  6. Beautiful jeans and terrific topstitching!

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  7. Great looking corderoy jeans. Nice fit and fantastic top stitching.

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  8. I really like them-the color is very cool, and the fact that there is no waistband (at least in the back)is a plus in my book. I like these!

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  9. Oh how I wish I was a little leaner than what I am today. ;-) The jeans look great and fit you well.

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