Thursday 16 March 2017

Triumph Over Sewing Fear: Deer and Doe Safran Jeans!


"Hey, look! Pants!"
 "What about them?"
 "Nothing... Just (I made) Pants!"

Is anybody else in love with the film Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium? I decided Edward Magorium, toy aficionado and avid shoe wearer pretty much summed up how excited I am about actually making a pair of wearable pants! (ok trousers, jeans or whatever you call 'em but still!)
This has been my sewing nemesis for a long ol' while. I've been stalking the blogosphere, cooing over perfect pockets and terrific topstitching! These my friends, are none of those things. Nevertheless I'm proud of myself for throwing down the gauntlet and giving it a go.
My main beef with trousers in general, are my laughably short, hobbitlike legs. Elfen lilithness, I have none. 
I didn't make any attempt to shorten Safran. This means the shaping at the knee and downwards are off... Way off... as in I had to cut them off because I'm so damned short! This is not a mistake I will make again as I have adjusted my pattern and I shortened at the correct place 14cm... 14cm!!! No wonder they look weird! Still excited I made them though!
I'm pretty pleased with the rest of these jeans. I used a remnant piece of denim I still had knocking about from an old Minerva project. (Denim skirt here if your interested, yeesh it needed a press!)
I would've used something with a bit more stretch, but I wanted to invest little in my first go as I anticipated the results to be far worse than they are. The fit is tight, but with the right stretch percentage, these would be comfy enough for daily wear. I also haven't washed these yet, so they have the potential to soften over time. I did wear them to a recent Fabric Godmother Open Day, helping out with the fabric cutting and I managed to bend and stretch without feeling uber restricted.
The fly was a bit of a baptism of fire on this one. I have done them in the past on a Moss skirt. But god knows how I managed to get the result I did. I used the Safran instructions initially, then Katie suggested a Sandra Betzina Threads video which I watched. I just couldn't get the fly flat enough to not gape open. I then invested in Heather of Closet Case Patterns Jeans Class. It all just clicked. I unpicked my threadknotted mess and tried it her way and huzzah it worked! I have to admit, the Sandra Betzina video was great, I just didn't offset the zipper as you would in jeans, but its worth a look to help with the process. Basting the front together was inspired!
This picture really shows my knee issues. I have what I affectionately call, carrot legs. They are wide at the top and narrow pretty quickly. When I make another pair i'm hoping I won't have to do too much adjustment. I pegged these down a little from the knee but I will make sure I adjust the pattern next time. 
A few whiskers, but I'm tilted here and I think the fit through the tummy and even around the back pleasantly surprised me. I may do a full front thigh adjustment, but I think the stretch factor in the next pair may help.
I loved the ingeniousness of the pockets on Safran. I am hesitant to call them jeans in a traditional sense. I think they would look amazing as work trousers in a nice hefty stretch drill. I'm calling these a denim pant. I ommitted topstitching on these. Primarily as they were my first try but secondly because I'd left my second machine at my Mum's. I have now retrieved it as I'm excited to embark properly on the Ginger Jeans Class. 
All in all, i'm calling these a win because hey! I learnt to make a wearable pair of pants and that is a huge personal achievement! 
What in your sewing life has been your nemesis project?

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