I - Love - These - Jeans !!!

The first thing I did yesterday was alter the McCall's 5592 jeans by taking in an additional 5/8" along each side - another 2 1/2" in total. They fit really snug and smooth with a few ripples across the front only they're made of stretch denim. A half hour of wear and those ripples will let off and the fit will be fine. MUCH better than the first time around. I'm glad I took the time to alter them. I've made a note on the pattern to narrow each piece by 1" and use standard seam allowances next time.

I - LOVE - THESE - JEANS. Trouser style, especially in dark denim, is the most flattering of any jean style on me. I'm changing my mind. What was I thinking? A girl with my figure can't have enough of these. They make me look good and feel fabulous. Sold. I can hardly wait to sew another pair and focus in on the details more now that I've worked out the seams and the sizing.




Here's a detail of the back. If you have any ideas for the wrinkles, I'd appreciate hearing them. They were less obvious before the picture. In fact, until my husband took the picture, I thought they were nonexistent - LOL. It almost looks as if I need more length at the side - a longer hip depth to bring that line downward? Like I said - they're not perfect but I love them.




Yesterday was a fabulous day. I spent it at home, alone, in the studio. Along with the McCall's jeans, I also finished the KwikSew 3625 ones. The side seam allowance was again 1 5/8" which makes me wonder if one inch narrower is a good approximation for stretch fabrics. Since stretch varies so much that might be my general rule while realizing that I'll still need to baste seams and fit each pair individually. I can live with that.




In the picture above, the jeans haven't stretched out at all so they're looking tight. I had just put them on before the picture. It seems as if the front crotch length is a bit too long. Below, the back has similar wrinkles to the McCall's jeans. Some of these are caused by my calves. When I bend them away from the fabric (which is really hard to do) the wrinkles disappear - or at least my husband says they do. You can see that the wrinkles point right to the calves.

Does anyone else have protruding calves? What adjustments do you make for them? The adjustment that I've read about so far is to make the back slightly wider than the front. Slightly doesn't seem to do it. Is there a way to measure how much extra width is necessary? Perhaps by slashing a muslin.




The cut of the KwinSew jeans is more tapered. While not a skinny cut, they're still not as flattering as the trouser style because of the the way the back cups in under the butt. My behind looks flatter and my protruding calves bigger - creating those wrinkles - but not as many wrinkles as RTW. Again, they're not perfect but I like them. I think the fabric is fun. And now I have two pairs of jeans to wear. Progress. Good thing. I was feeling pretty whiny yesterday.

When I compare them, the waist on the KwikSew jeans is 2" wider than the waist on the McCall's ones. While the McCall's are a bit snug, I know that's going to relax and it feels like the waistband is doing a better job of holding my pants up where they belong. I've been wondering about that - if with my figure a waistband is a better idea than a contoured top. My hips are significantly wider than my waist. Perhaps that's a factor. Does anyone else feel that way? Thoughts?

In her blog posting yesterday, Erica B. asked What Do You Wear Daily? She went on to say that she wears what she sews and that what we see on her blog is what she's wearing. That would be GORGEOUS garments that are a lot more dressy than anything I wear. Her question intrigued me. I thought about it a lot yesterday.

It's amazingly difficult to shift myself out of this jeans and black t-shirt rut that I've been in for so long. It's partly lack of wardrobe and partly my comfort zone. I'm working on taking it - with it being how I dress - up a notch and then shifting it over. Something along the lines of jeans and t-shirts, dressy jeans with dressy t-shirts and blouses, jean skirts with t-shirts, dressy t-shirts, and blouses, flirty summer skirts with t-shirts, dressy t-shirts, and blouses, and a few dresses. I'm not sure I'll ever get to what Erica's wearing but I'm certainly inspired.

One of the comments on the posting had to do with dressing differently when visiting Canada from Australia. That made me laugh. I'm sure it's not the entire country. Canada is a big place with stylish cities like Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal however, I get what the commenter meant. Where I live, pants are more common than skirts or dresses and jeans are more common than any other kind of pant. Dress pants are mostly worn in dress-up offices. That makes breaking out of my rut along the lines of walking to a completely different drummer. Dressed up for most of my friends is dressy jeans with a blouse and flats or heels. Skirts are more common in the summer but really dressed up rarely happens and causes a lot of comment.

This morning, I'm cleaning house. This afternoon, I'm going by the gallery to pick up my pieces. The exhibit is over. Two pieces sold. Seven are coming back home. I plan to wear one pair of jeans and take the other with me so that while I'm downtown I can drop into the sewing machine shop and get the owner's feedback on fit and future alterations. Charlene is amazingly talented and - unfortunately - too busy with her shop to get together regularly although I'm welcome to drop by any time. I appreciate that. I wonder what her advice on protruding calves will be. Saturday - more sewing.

Have a great weekend - Myrna

Grateful - TWO pairs of jeans, a great tax rebate, paying off a loan, a (pending) clean house and a free weekend to sew. Lucky me. YES YES!

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Personal Growth - What all these people have in common is that they have mastered the underlying skills of their creative domain, and built their creativity on the solid foundation of those skills. Skill gives you the wherewithal to execute whatever occurs to you. Without it, you are just a font of unfulfilled ideas. Skill is how you close the gap between what you can see in your mind's eye and what you can produce; the more skill you have, the more sophisticated and accomplished your ideas can be. Picasso once said, while admiring an exhibition of children's art, "When I was their age I could draw like Raphael, but it has taken me a whole lifetime to learn to draw like them. You're only kidding yourself if you put creativity before craft. Craft is where our best efforts begin. You should never worry that rote exercises aimed at developing skills will suffocate creativity. At the same time, it's important to recognize that demonstrating great technique is not the same as being creative. - page 163 of The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharpe

Which is why I'm okay with making making a garment over and over. Each time I learn, perfect, and smooth the path to creativity. Once my hands can move through the motions mindlessly, my mind will bubble with ideas. Already, it begins.