This pattern and some lovely heavy weight navy cord had been lingering in my stash for about 3 years waiting for me to shrink. Well, my showers are obviously not hot enough because minimal shrinkage has happened so I bit the bullet and just made them.
They should have been easy. The instructions were fairly clear and they looked pretty simple...
Famous last words. Luckily I made a muslin first because, after cutting out (in a size Large which my measurements were closest to) and sewing the leg seams, I realised that they were enormous. I decided to cut them the size smaller.
The medium waist was a good fit but the rest was awful.
Here is a run down of what was wrong:
- The legs were massive, I took an additional half inch off the hips and about 2 inches from each leg, in fact I ended up drawing round my favourite jeans and just sewing that leg shape.
- The zip specified was about an inch shorter than the fly... If I had actually sewn a bigger zip though it would have been far too long!
- The rise at the front is really high and I am high waisted so I dread to think how high it would be on a normal shaped person.
Somewhere in the many sewing and trimming episodes I twisted the left leg. I unpicked it again but could not get it to be straight. It is not too noticeable and the thought of unpicking the bleeping legs again might actually break me!
 |
| Grumpy face is covering my grumpy face, such a bad mood this morning! |
Unfortunately the fabric attracts fluff like crazy - this is what they looked like after a days wear...!
Can anyone recommend a good (non skinny) jeans pattern? This one has gone straight into the recycling!
Linking to some of these linky parties!
Yikes! I have never tried pants for myself. I've read a few recommendations of the Named brand PDF pattern - are you in the PDF pattern group on Facebook? There might be more suggestions there.
ReplyDeleteOh NO! Poor you! They do look good in your photos though, but you'll be the best judge of their usefulness. Sorry, I've never made trousers so can't really suggest anything useful. I am so impressed that you gave them a try though!! Sounds like a lot of work has gone into these trousers.
ReplyDeleteAh-ha!! I have this pattern but have never sewn it. I have actually not sewn a pair of jeans yet. I have a Kwik Sew jeans pattern for stretch wovens that I think I am going to try next. I think I may pass on this pattern as all the things you describe sound not so good. Esp. the high waist, I am short-waisted with very long legs, so the jeans may come up to my neck! But, I have to say, they do look really good on you!!
ReplyDeleteI would definitley avoid it, I reckon you would end up with knee high armpit huggers :)
DeleteHow frustrating to spend so much time on something and not have it fit well. :( I do a lot of sewing, but have not tried jeans, because I'm too picky and don't want to end up with the same frustrations you've had. A good pattern can be difficult to come by; I hope you find one you like soon!
ReplyDeleteAmber @ www.applestoapplique.com
It is now my mission, to find a decent pattern!
DeleteOh that is such a bummer! I hate when projects go badly! That's a pretty bad pattern! Oof I am always fighting with fluff!!! Well they look good on you anyways!
ReplyDeleteThanks, they have been getting a lot of wear so are not too bad in the end!
DeleteWhat a shame!! Your wee sad face sticker cracks me up, though! I've never made jeans so can't help with a pattern suggestion, sadly.
ReplyDeleteThe sad face is a vast improvement on the one I was pulling :)
Delete