My Jeans Journey

One muslin and one - sort of real but not really there yet - pair of jeans and already I have a list of do's and don'ts. What a shock hey! Learning is like that.

My jeans journey starts with these Vogue 2925 trouser pants sewn last fall. The trouser style is by far my favourite. I like the way that they make my waist look small, curve over my hips, and fall straight. I think it's a flattering style for my figure and now that I've discovered that I have a flat derriere, forward thrusting thighs, and protruding calves - all of which don't look as great in other styles - I feel even more that way.




Sal's posting on Already Pretty yesterday was called Wear What Suits You which is something I believe in and have been talking about/exploring a lot lately. Since many of us read the same blogs, it should come as no surprise that we have similar trains of thought. I like what Sal wrote...

Fashion may exist as an art form, but clothing exists to make you look your best. Any clothing that does not make you look your best is absolutely not worth your time. When you look amazing, you feel amazing, and clothing that works with your natural assets - not against them - will help you look and feel amazing more often.

Even though I feel amazing in trousers, the style of jeans I've been wearing has been limited by the RTW styles available in the stores. For a year or so, the style was a trouser but mostly, it's been a boot-cut or straight leg. The front of these styles looks not too bad on me. The back is horribly wrinkled under the butt. I thought that was entirely due to fitting issues and that once I sewed my own jeans all would be well. Apparently not.




Burda 7590 is a fitted style similar to the jeans I've bought. I started with this pattern because it's simple which - I hoped - would allow me to focus on fit. Below is the front straight out of the envelope with no changes. In the second version, I took 1 1/2" off the center front length, shortened the crotch extension, and narrowed the thigh.




Here's the back straight out of the envelope. In the second version, I lowered the back crotch curve, made a flat derriere adjustment, and narrowed the thigh. Narrowing the thighs felt strange since I've never thought of myself as having thin thighs however, that seemed to be moving in the right direction.




Here is the front sewn with the adjustments. See that wrinkle below the waistband and sitting on the hip? That's important to note. The front appears to be a bit tight however, this is stretch denim. I had just put them on in this picture and by the end of the day, they felt at least one size too big.




Here is the back sewn with adjustments. See how the waistband appears to be sitting way too high, well above the indent of my waist? That is more important information to note. Normally, I take out an inch across the top of the pattern because my hip depth is 8" and not 9" which is what patterns are drafted for. I didn't do that with this pair and, in fact, I added an inch to the back crotch length. As you can see, it wasn't needed and...




... when I sent these images to Pati Palmer for feedback (as a former student) she wrote to let out side seams in thigh area, lower back (crotch) more, and pull up at CB waist. May need to let inseams out. Do you see how her advice plays into what I'd already discovered? Letting out in the thigh area is moving toward a trouser style and the exact opposite of what I'd done by making the thin thigh adjustment. While I didn't need a thin thigh adjustment, by the end of the day the denim had stretched so much that I didn't need to let the thighs out either! However...




... when I used a tight elastic at the waist to pull up the center back as Pati suggested, and eliminated that extra inch, there was an improvement. Seeing this image, it appears that all I needed to do to correct the butt wrinkles on the "out of the envelope" muslin was to pull the center back up higher and lower the crotch even further. I over corrected. Ever done that? It's so easy to do.

The pictures is too dark to see well. There are the butt wrinkles as well as wrinkles where the fabric catches on my calves. You can see those more clearly in the earlier image. I hadn't realized that my calves protruded significantly more than my derriere. That is never going to change and since the adjustment for protruding calves is to add more width through the back, that again points toward the trouser style looking better on my figure.




I debated sewing the Burda pattern again to see if I could perfect the fit however, looking at these pictures where I look like a ball on a stick and comparing them to how I look in the Vogue 2925 pants, the trouser style is MUCH better. It seems that for way too many years, I've been walking around in an extremely unflattering style. Seeing that, I've decided to wear what I like - trouser style jeans - and hope they don't look like Mom jeans. Just in case, I Googled "trouser jeans" and above are some of the images I came up with. Not too bad especially in dark denim.


Vogue 7608 by Sandra Betzina has good reviews. I don't have this pattern. It's one to buy for the workshop with Sandra in April. I do own McCalls 5592 below. I'll compare the finished leg width and see if there's much difference. The McCalls one appears to be wider but drawings can be deceptive. I like both patterns. Perhaps the Vogue pattern could be made from denim and the McCalls one from a more fun "jean" fabric. I have an abstract turquoise print with gold glitter highlights that I'd like to try.


After I wrote that paragraph, I was curious so I pulled out the pattern to see just how wide the McCalls pants were and they're really wide - 3" wider than the Vogue 2925 ones above - WAY TOO WIDE. My other choice was Kwik Sew 3625 and after reading the reviews, I'm inspired with this picture of Christa's jeans. What a great job she did. Hopefully mine look as wonderful.




Today would normally be knitting however it's also spring break so Kyle is off school and I'm home with him this morning. He goes to work around noon. I'll sew after that. Sewing has so completely consumed my time over the last few weeks that I've made absolutely no progress on my green sweater. I need to design the front in order to go on. That requires some studio time. Designing in public is never easy. SO... I started a scarf just to have something to take to knitting with me. I guess I'll be working on that again tonight.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - The days are getting longer. Mornings have become brighter. I'm wake up to sunshine not dark. YES YES!

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Personal Growth - Pile your troubles on God's shoulders - he'll carry your load, he'll help you out. He'll never let good people topple into ruin. Psalm 55:22

Sounds good. I'll take that.

Boundaries: When to Say Yes, When to Say No to Take Control Of Your Life by Henry Cloud is an amazing book about the importance of established boundaries that define who we are and who we are not. Boundaries are important in a healthy lifestyle.

The book talks about our daily load, which is our responsibility to carry, and about boulders, which we require help carrying. I've found that a boulder can sometimes be a composite of way too many "daily load" items piled up together - the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. Because of that, when talking about them, it feels as if I'm complaining about minor issues when it's the combined weight that's dragging me down.

I'm learning to be careful who I talk to about what and that I can't talk about everything. Unless a person "gets it" they're not going to "get it" and thinks you're making a big to do out of nothing. Not talking is difficult. I'm a talking kind of person. It's how I process ideas. Even so, I am learning to be less transparent.

How wonderful to know that God will carry both my daily load and my burdens. Definitely, I'm counting on that. I just wish we didn't have such a difference of opinion on how much is too much for me to handle. I certainly feel we've reached the edge - in fact, a long time ago.