Turning The Unfinished Dress Into A Skirt

I decided to get this done quickly and out of the sewing room into the wardrobe. I took the unfinished dress I wrote about in my last post and just chopped off the bodice. I overlocked the raw edge and pressed about 1cm under and stitched down using a navy thread in the middle of the two rows of top stitching. You can hardly see the stitching. Then I added the buttonholes and jeans buttons.

button though denim skirt salvaged from an unfinished dress

Because this was meant to be a dress rather than a skirt the waistband is slightly loose but it is still wearable. Also as it sits slightly lower at the waist than the dress would the length of the skirt is slightly longer then I’d planned. If I were to make this skirt from scratch it would also probably have a shaped waistband.

It’s had it’s first wearing today, that’s why it looks a little bit creased in the photos. It’s really comfortable, I can ride my bike in it so I can see me getting a lot of wear out of it all though the year.

I am really pleased with the top stitching. Using two strands of standard thread in the needle has really worked for me and my temperamental machine.

Giving Up On A Project – McCalls M6696 In Denim

Last Autumn I took a cutting from the Sunday Times Style magazine of a MIH denim dress which I just fell in love with. I bought the fabric in the spring but it wasn’t until July when I got around to sewing it up.  I decided to make use of the McCalls M6696 shirt dress pattern using option D but with the short sleeves. This pattern has a definite waistband and I preferred this to the plaited belt on the MIH dress.  I made this dress with the full skirt last year.

I altered the skirt pattern by adding in some flare and I lengthened the sleeve and took out some of the sleeve head fullness as I remembered from the first make that the sleeves had so much fullness they were a pig to put in.

MIH denim dress – what I was trying to aim for….

 

My first stumble came when I realised that I should have used the size 12 or even the 14 skirt pattern, but I had used the 10 as my bust corresponded with the 10 but I hadn’t  noticed my hips were 3″ bigger on the body than the measurements on the pattern envelope. I managed to get around this with the ease allowed in the hip measurement and using the smallest possible seam allowance. All seemed well.

I had got to the stage where all I needed to do was to stitch down the collar stand, sew on the front pockets and button hole and apply the jeans buttons. I always struggle with getting a good finish when finishing off the collar stand and with the thickness of the denim it was just about passable.

I fitted the dress and the bodice was just not right. The waist and bust fit OK but it is the area above the bust, it’s just too big and the neck opening too wide. So I calmly decided to call it a day with this dress before I wasted a load of jeans buttons.

I haven’t been doing well with my motivation to sew recently and every time I go into the sewing room I see this as a bit of a block which is in my way.

Where I went wrong here is that I think the fabric was too thick and I need to toile the bodice again, I had done it last year but there didn’t seem to be any major fitting problems on the first dress.

I need to take some positives from this…..
I learnt a new and much more successful way of topstitching.
I usually use the Gutermann extra strong thread but there is usually some tangling up in the bobbing and this time I just couldn’t get my second row of topstitching to look nice and I really wanted the twin needle look. In desperation I tried the method where you use two strands of standard thread in the needle and it worked much better than I had expected and looks just the same. So from now on I think this will be my preferred method.

I’m going to chop the bodice off this dress and turn it into a skirt. I think once I have done that I can get my enthusiasm back and start making plans for what I’d like to sew for the coming Autumn.

I would still like to make this dress but I think I’ll leave it for a while before attempting again. And once it is done I can go down the local park and style it like this fashion blogger who is wearing the real thing. 🙂

Also any good tips on getting a good finish on collar stand would be much appreciated!

Black Jeans – No Belt Required!

These are the 3rd pair of jeans I’ve made for myself using the pattern I made from following the Craftsy Jeanius course. I was really pleased with the make up of my second pair but the fit was not what I was hoping for, they were looser around the bottom and thigh than the first pair and I still had gaping at the back waist even after changing to a shaped waistband.

Unfortunately black doesn’t photograph well and you can’t see much detail

 

I found that I had too much ease on the back leg creating horizontal wrinkles at the back of the thighs. I adjusted the pattern by cutting and slashing horizontally from the outer edge to the inner edge and taking out the excess, I did this in two places and took out around 2cm. I also took out another 1.5cm from the top edge of the waistband pattern – 3cm in total. I took this out from the back of the waistband only as that was where I needed the extra shaping.

Before I cut the fabric I measured the pattern against the Levis I had originally copied. I found I needed to shave some of the width of the hips and thighs.

So the result-  I have finally made a pair of jeans with a great fit around the waist – no belt needed, perfect fit around the bottom and thighs and no stupid mistakes like cutting the inside leg just that tiny bit too short.

No gaping at the back waist!

 

After sewing up the inside leg seams I tacked the outer legs using a contrast thread and big machine stitch. They were very tight and I nearly wavered and let them out but I held firm knowing that they would loosen up.

I gave them the ultimate test and cycled to work in them and they were slightly tight on the front thigh when cycling  which was to be expected but other than that no problems.

I seemed to have the usual topstitching stresses, thread getting tangled at the start of stitching & tension problems but black on black is harder to unpick than orange on blue denim! I used the Gutermann extra strong as usual as even though the thread would be colour matched I wanted the thicker raised look. On this pair I only flat felled the back rise seam which I think is a must with cycling.

I found the fly slightly hard work this time. With the black sometimes I couldn’t see what was what.

slightly creased as I have been wearing a couple of days and just took them off to photo. The jeans zipper is from eBay, I’m not too impressed of it’s quality and will stick to the YKK ones in the future

 

The fabric was from eBay and was just the right weight at 10z. 98% cotton with 2% lycra at £6.99 metre.

I’m wearing it with a new Sewaholic Renfrew with a cowl neck which is exactly the same as this one I made last year but with a brighter stripe. The fabric was £4.95 a metre from Leon’s in Chorlton. It’s a straightforward easy make with all seams sewn on the overlocker.

My next make is for World Book Day, 3rd March. Luckily this year the school gave us a months notice to which I said to my children “don’t go telling me the week before that you want to be ….”. My daughter settled on Dorothy straight away and it’s me who’s been slow at doing anything. All items have arrived from eBay for the Dorothy outfit so I just need to get cracking and have it ready for next Thursday.

My 4 year old couldn’t make up his mind and rejected all my suggestions. So it’ll be Harry from ‘Harry and His Bucketful of Dinosaurs’ (again). We have a small bucket and we have dinosaurs.

 

Sewing Menswear – Thread Theory Jutland Pants

My confidence in sewing jeans and mastering the fly front led me to suggest to my other half that I make him a pair of trousers. I had been looking at the Jutland Pant pattern from Thread Theory and as he works as a carpenter they looked like they would be a sturdy pair of work trousers.

Side view of Jutland Pants

We’d decided to make them in denim. I found a 14.5oz denim on eBay for £5.99 per metre. I was expecting it to be heavy weight but it was a bit like cardboard when I opened the package. I ordered from Regency Rags Fabrics and I’m not quite sure if I’d recommend it.

The pattern called for 2.6mts of fabric, so I ordered 3mt and received a generous 3.6mts. I gave it a pre-wash and even as I was recklessly shoving all the fabric into the machine I wondered if it was a good idea with such a large amount of stiff fabric. Of course it turned out to be a bad idea as when I removed from the machine it was all creased up and where the creases were the fabric had faded. Once I’d ironed the fabric it looked better but some of the fade lines were still visible. Also it was a marathon ironing 3.6mts of 150cm wide fabric and in the end I only used about 1.90mt for the pants.

He wears a 34″ waist so I traced off the size 34″ and made a toile which fitted fine.

For the pocket bags I ordered some gingham from eBay sold by Favourite Fabrics. I would definitely recommend this fabric, the background is ecru rather than white and I went for the navy 3mm version. I also used this for the underneath of the leg pocket flaps and for the binding at the inner waistband.

Showing the gingham pocket bags and binding at the inner waistband

I didn’t have any issues sewing up these pants, the instruction booklet you get with the pattern is very clear. I flat felled the outside leg seam, the thickness of the layers at the knee patches didn’t cause too much of a problem. The instructions do say that you can flat fell the inside leg seams too even though it would be tricky as you’d need to sew in a tube. I decided against this and used a normal seam and overlocked the edge. I did topstitch the seam which was just about manageable. I use a method which I think is called ‘puddling’ but I can’t find any reference to it on google. Anyway, I turned the tube of the leg inside out and began topstitching at the top of the inside leg. After a short while it’ll begin to get difficult to stitch but just keep going slowly and with the needle down manoeuvre the fabric so you can keep on with the seam. A tip here would be to know the length of inseam you need as I ended up cutting about 3″ off the bottom which would have made the last bit of topstitching much easier. To get the fabric off the machine you need to go right back up the seam to the beginning. I found that taking the foot off and the needle out made it much easier to remove the fabric. I did take some photos when stitching which may help to explain better than my words.

What I call ‘puddling’ that tricky topstitiching of a seam when you are working with a tube of fabric

One thing I wanted to do but couldn’t was to flat fell the back rise seam. This is because you join the two completed legs before sewing the fly zipper. So the rise seam is sewn from the back to the front just below the zipper opening in one go. The instructions tell you just to sew a normal seam but remember to neaten the seam first before sewing together. Frustratingly I looked at the sewalong on the Thread Theory blog for tips on sewing the fly only to see that in this instance they had decided to sew the pants in a different order and had flat felled the back rise seam – grrr!

The fly instructions were easy to follow but the problem was that I had the whole weight of the pants to deal with rather than just two front pieces. I prefer the method I leant on the Craftsy Jeanius course where the fly is inserted before the legs are sewn up.

Towards the end of the sewing I was running out of topstitching thread, it was a few days before Christmas with no chance of being about to get anymore and I really wanted to get them done. So I only single needled the fly and rise seams. My thread ran out just as I got to the end of the waistband, I was having to hold the thread as I made the final stitches as it had already come away from the reel. The hems were stitched in standard navy thread which I’ll topstitch in orange when I get the chance to buy more. The topstitching was fairly successful, there was a lot less unpicking than usual. One thing I did find that even though my stitch length would be set the same on some seams the stitches were shorter and I think this is to do with the thickness of some of the seams. It’s not perfect but it looks OK.

Topstitching, and I remembered to tie off all end securely!

I decided to wash the pants again after I’d finished the sewing as quite a bit of dye was still coming off them during making up, all the white areas of my ironing board cover have turned pale blue. The finished inside leg length was 32″ but when I took them out of the machine I could tell straight away that they had shrunk. They had shrunk in length by 1.5″. I was a bit frantic at this stage and was standing on the waist and pulling the legs up! I had used quite a generous double fold hem so I waited for them to dry – which due to the thickness of knee patches and pockets is an age-  then undid the hem. I overlocked the edge and turned up once which wouldn’t be my ideal hem for trousers but I thought I’d see what the length was like when he wore them before doing anything else. As it turns out because he wears his trousers slightly ‘low slung’ I’ll be able to double fold the hem.

I’m a bit annoyed with myself as I’ve had all the time since Christmas to take photos in daylight and today I’m back to work and have missed the opportunity. Nor do I have a shot of them being worn but trust me they look great!

The rivets were from the batch I bought from Cast Bullet and the 1″ wide Velcro from eBay.

Anyway, I’m glad to report that the Jutland Pants have been a great success and were worn all through Christmas week. I really enjoyed making these and would quite happily make another pair. I have enough denim left to make a standard pair of jeans. So maybe later in the year I’ll take a pattern from a pair of Gap jeans or maybe just alter the Jutland pattern which would probably be easier. But I’ll be giving the fabric another wash before I make anything else with it I don’t want anymore unexpected shrinkage!

 

Jeans

After what seemed like a marathon jeans making session earlier this year doing the Crafty Jeanius course I decided it was time for a second pair. This time around the pattern was already done and the fabric was pre-washed when I bought it.

There were a few areas I wanted to improve on for this pair.
1. fly front, the under flap on the first pair was too narrow
2. Top stitching, my first pair has a few ends that have come undone
3. Try and flat fell the seams
4. Get a better waistband fit
5. Get the length right! The first pair were annoyingly just a bit too short.

I bought the fabric from Abakhan in Manchester. They have pre-washed denim to buy by the weight. The lengths were about 150cm long and the piece I bought cost £11. It has some lycra content probably 2 or 3%.

A few months back I came across a great blog post from ‘notes from a mad housewife’. This has a fab tutorial for flat felling seams. I knew what the finished seam looked like but I didn’t really know the best way to construct it. This way is so easy. The seams are butted together and zig zagged then pressed in a Z shape before stitching. You just need to remember you only need 3/8″ seam allowance with this method.

I flat felled the back yoke and the back rise seam.

pressing the seam before applying the two rows of topstitching for the flat felled seam

The fly worked out really well but I forgot to stitch along the very edge which I didn’t notice until I’d inserted the zip and couldn’t add afterwards.

Top stitching was relatively stress free and I mastered making a decent looking bartack. I also took great care to tie off the ends of all the stitching lines so hopefully there’ll be no unravelling.

 

One thing I wanted to do on this pair was get a better fit at the waist. I had altered the back yoke pattern and remembered to add twill tape to stop any stretching.  I decided to cut a two piece shaped waistband. I took out 1.5cm from the top edge on the half waistband, 3cm in total which unfortunately didn’t make as much difference as I thought it would. I can still pinch out a couple of cms so next time I need to increase the curve of the waistband from the centre back to the side seam.

One thing I found was that I had quite a bit of ease in the outside leg seam of the back, I couldn’t remember this from my first pair. You can see it in the side on photo. This is also giving a few wrinkles on the back legs, so I  before I make another pair I need to adjust the pattern and pinch out the fullness in a couple of places which should sort out the problem.

You can see the fullness in the back leg

Saying all that I am really pleased with the make up of these jeans, they are a definite improvement on the first pair but I don’t feel I’ve quite got them right. The fit isn’t quite as my original Levis or the first pair I made. They are slightly more roomy around the back thigh. I did try them on before attaching the waistband and I felt they fitted OK but what I need to remember that at this stage they need to be tight as with wearing they loosen up quit a bit.

The rivets are from Castbullet in the US, definitely worth the investment if you plan to make more pairs.

Fabric, thread & zipper cost me less than £16 a big saving in comparison to a £90 pair of Levis.

I’m going to adjust my pattern before I put it away, take out some fullness from the outer leg seam, re-shape the waistband take some width of the back thigh so it’s ready for when I want to use it again – otherwise I’ll forget.

So rather than a slim straight leg they are more ‘boyfriend’ fit but still a pair of jeans to be proud of 🙂

 

Denim A Line Skirt

I started the autumn sewing off with something quick and easy. I had planned to make another soft pleat denim skirt but I found I really like the shape of the A line utility skirt I made in the summer.

Denim A line skirt

I had a piece of denim which I’d bought earlier in the year but there was only 80cm of 150cm wide fabric. I took the pattern I’d used for the utility skirt and re-traced it, making it shorter and re-shaping the side hand pockets. Out of the fabric I had I managed to get a skirt length that would sit just above the knee.

The pattern is a 4 gored skirt taken from the Winifred Aldrich pattern cutting book and just with the utility skirt it was important to be able to cut it out with the straight grain central in the panel. Having the grain line up the centre of the panel gives the skirt a better drape than if the straight grain was at the centre front / back.

Winifred Aldrich 4 gored skirt pattern

It was straight forward to sew up and has a zipper in the centre back seam. I top stitched the front and back seams either side of the seam line. For topstitching I use the Gutermann extra strong thread, rather than the topstitching thread, along with normal sewing thread in the bobbin. I find that this works well for me (not so many tangles and frustration) and gives the same appearance. It’s also a plus that it comes in 100mt reels rather than the 30mts for the topstitch thread. It also works out cheaper than the topstitch thread.

Topstitching detail on A line denim skirt

I used bias binding for the hem, I really like this method as it eliminates having to deal with any excess fabric there maybe when you turn up an A line skirt. The photo below is from the skirt I made earlier this year. I attach the binding and stitch using a long stitch and contrast thread from the wrong side. The I stitch from the right side in the correct thread using the first line of stitching as a guide.

Wide bias binding at hem

This has had a lot of wear over the last few weeks, so a successful start to autumn sewing.

Girls Denim Skirt

After finishing the jeans I went straight into another denim project. My 7 year old daughter wanted a new denim skirt to replace the A line skirt I made over a year ago. This time I wanted to do a more classic style of denim skirt, especially now I know how to insert a fly zipper….

Girls denim skirt

The fabric was left over from making the first skirt and was originally from Ditto Fabrics. I think it was 97% cotton 3% lycra and a slightly heavier weight than I used in my jeans.

I started by drafting the basic skirt block from the Winifred Aldrich Metric Pattern cutting for children’s wear using her individual measurements.

I drew on the style lines, yoke, pockets etc following what I had learnt from the Craftsy course. I took the size of back pockets from a pair of current pair of jeans.

I found topstitching this skirt more successful that the jeans. I think this was because instead of using Guttermann topstitch thread I used Guttermann extra strong and it seemed to give me less problems.

When I went to stock up on the topstitch thread I noticed the extra strong quality. It looks very similar in thickness. It comes in 100mt reels instead of 30mts and works out cheaper so I thought I’d give it a go. I didn’t have any issues with tension and threading the machine needle was easy, it doesn’t seem to untwist like the topstitch thread.  Also because all was going so well, changing the thread to topstitch wasn’t a chore.  In my opinion it give the same look as the regular topstitch thread so in future I think I will chose this quality.

The fly zipper worked out ok. I made the under flap wide enough and long enough to cover the entire zipper inside and I was able to bar tack at the bottom edge this time. I’m no master yet on inserting a fly and still found it a stressful evening of sewing.  In fact I was so tense it made me feel sick by the time I’d finished – hobby sewing isn’t supposed to do that! But I know how to improve for the next fly zip, I’ll get it perfect one day!

As my daughter is still quite slight around the waist and hips I added buttonhole elastic into the back waistband. You can buy this in different widths from eBay or Amazon.

After sewing on the waistband I positioned the button holes for the elastic exits just to the front of each side seam. Then I sewed on a button just forward of the buttonhole.  I completed the waistband then threaded the elastic through. I secured the elastic at the centre back with a line of vertical stitching which would be hidden by a belt loop.

Adding the buttonhole and button for the elastic – remember sew the button on before finishing the waistband, it’s much easier.

Thread the elastic through the waistband casing and neaten the ends of the elastic with a small hem.

I think the back pockets are a bit too low, I noticed this when sewing on but I had marked the position with the awl making holes so I couldn’t move up. There is also just enough stride room, in hindsight maybe I should have made slightly A line to allow for this.

Overall skirt is a great success and my daughter loves it and the old skirt has been sent to the charity shop.

Jeans – Completed!

So I’ve made my own jeans and I’m really chuffed!

The rivets arrived from castbullet.com in the US last Friday. I had been waiting eagerly for them and kept being disappointed by the postman then on Friday morning I heard a packet ‘clunk’ to the floor and I knew it must be them.

Woohoo! First ever pair of home made jeans (photo taken in the mirror, the coin pocket is really on the right hand side).

I followed the instructions from Fehr Trade on how to insert. I cut the prong of the male half down once I had put through the fabric using wire cutters. I first tried to cut down first then push through the fabric but soon realised without the point that wasn’t going to work…. Anyway, once in just banged a few times with the hammer and all worked fine! No stress.

I can’t recommend the Craftsy Jeanius course enough. I just wasn’t expecting it to be such a success.  I followed it to the letter mostly but I chose to sew my inside leg seams first and topstitch them rather than sewing the outer leg seams first.

There’s no mention of felled seams in the course. I was going to flat fell the back yoke and the front and back rises just like the jeans I was copying but in the end I just overlocked.

Next time I’ll make a two piece curved waistband, my body shape needs more of a curve than I achieved curving the straight band with the iron. The original jeans don’t need to be worn with a belt but these do.

I didn’t do any distressing on this pair, there are things you can do using sandpaper for an authentic look, so I’ll just see how these wear down over time. I really liked this post from Taylor Tailor showing his jeans new then 3 years on.

I am really proud of these jeans. There are areas which I can improve on for next time, the fly looks OK when zipped but inside the flap isn’t wide enough so the button is placed quite close to the edge of the waistband.

I also think they are a tiny bit short.  I’m wearing today with ballet flats and the length is just right but wearing with Converse I think they could have been longer. I think there is more fabric in the double fold hem than there needs to be so I could probably eek another ½ “ out of the length.  I’ll wait and see how I feel after a few more wears.

The fabric, cotton with 3% lycra, is super comfy. I wore them today riding my bike to work and they felt great.

I really didn’t think I’d get around to making jeans, they seemed like such hard work with too much that could go wrong but I’m so glad I made the effort.

So if you’ve been thinking about it just take plunge!

Jeans – The Last Mile Is The Hardest Mile…….

The jeans are finished all bar the rivets.

As I planned there were two final evenings of sewing. Putting on the waistband and then belt loops and hemming. I was glad to get to the end of the sewing, at times the top stitching had really tried my patience.

I had originally planned to make a two piece shaped waistband but in the course Prof Kenneth cuts a straight piece and shapes with the iron. I thought I’d give it a go. Because my fabric had 3% elastane I stitched a length of organza selvedge to the centre fold inside to prevent the top edge stretching out. It seems to have worked ok but I think next time I’ll try a two piece to ensure I get the right amount of shaping.

Straight waistband after being curved with the iron

Applying the jeans button was fine except that because my fly zip guard wasn’t as wide as it should have been the button is quite close to the edge.

With the fly guard not being wide enough the button had to be positioned quite close to the edge

The last job was applying the rivets. I was really pleased with my eBay rivets £1.69 for 10 but I hadn’t thought about how they were going to be applied. They had quite a protruding knob in the middle which made me think that hitting them directly with a hammer wasn’t going to work. I found a tool in my husband’s workshop which had a hole in which would fit over but I’d still be able to hit the edges. Unfortunately this didn’t work as the post of the rivet would burst out of the front.

Damaged Rivets

I had come across a post by Taylor Tailor who recommends cutting circles of denim to add thickness before whacking. I managed to apply one OK-ish but when I tried again the cap wouldn’t stay put or the post would come through the front.

By this time my stress levels were going through the roof. I only had 10 rivets and I needed 6 good ones.

At this point my husband said some wise words “if you’re not happy you’re not going to do a good job”. So I put the hammer down and pulled out the rivet that was in and chucked them in the bin.

Back to the internet and I came across this post from Fehr Trade. (Why don’t I research things properly first?)  After a night thinking about rivets I decided to order some from the US supplier recommended to get some decent ones. Overseas orders need to be a minimum of $25, so I ordered 100 rivets and 10 jeans buttons – sounds a lot but I do have plans for more jeans.

I’m not considering these finished until those rivets are in. They’re hanging up in the wardrobe waiting; every so often I get them out and take a look as I’m really proud of them, the fit is spot on. The top stitching could be better and the coin pocket placement is a bit off but other than that I’d say they were a success.

I think the Craftsy Jeanius course is great and would recommend it to anyone. My only comment is to look out for the price. I paid £12.50 on Black Friday, it’s currently at £19 reduced from £29.

I’m hoping the rivets arrive before the Easter weekend so I can start wearing and do a proper ‘finished post’.

The coin pocket position could have been better…. and you can see the holes waiting for the rivets

Jeans – Work in Progress

I am pleased to report that the jeans I’m currently making following the Craftsy Jeanius course are going well. I am really enjoying sewing these up. Even though I’m going slow and steady they have sewn up quicker than expected.

I just need to put on the waistband, belt loops, button, rivets then finally hem.

The top stitching has been only mildly frustrating. My very first stitch using the top stitching thread tangled itself up – but I took a deep breath and stayed cool.

I had real problems stitching the edge stitch on the front pocket bags, on the reverse side there are some loops. But strangely the second row would stitch fine. After unpicking a few times I accepted the imperfection as it wasn’t visible on the outside.

I’ve even taken the time to tie off all my topstitching thread ends as directed, well all but one and this is what happens when you don’t. I still have to sort this out.

arrgghh! Unravelling topstitching 😦

The jeans are fitting well and the small adjustment I made to the front to add some width in has worked. My only issue was with the back waistband as it was still gaping despite the adjustment I made to the pattern after the toile. I then remembered a picture in ‘Claire Shaeffers’s Couture Sewing Techniques’ where a gaping low ‘V’ neckline had the excess taken out of it by using seam tape.

I needed to remove 1.25cm from each half of the back yoke. They were measuring 21.25cm and wanted to get to 20cm, so I found some tape to use (selvedge cut off some quilting cotton). I marked a 20cm length also noting the mid-point. Then I pinned this to the yoke just inside where the seam would be sewn using lots of pins to spread out the fullness. I then stitched the tape on using tiny running stitches. I treated each yoke section separately. Once the tape was on I steamed the fullness out and double checked that they still measured 20cm. This has really improved the way they fit at the back waist.  I’m not quite sure what to do next…I think the tape should stay on, maybe trim it down a bit as I don’t want it to show once the waistband is on. Let me know if you know the best way to deal with this!

top picture shows how much excess needed to be taken out
middle picture shows the fullness evened out and pinned
bottom picture show the yoke after the fullness has been ironed out

For my first attempt at a fly front I’m really pleased at how it has turned out. The instructions are really clear but there is room for improvement the next time I do one. You can see from the picture that the inner zip guard is too short and not quite wide enough. I needed to make my pattern pieces bigger. The inner guard should reach as far as the twin needle stitching so that it can be secured with a bartack at the bottom. When you look on the right side of a pair of jeans this bartack sits on the twin needle just at the bottom curve.

fly zipper opening from the front and the back

I mentioned in the previous post that I was going to do a two piece waistband so I could get the shaping but in the course the waistband starts off as a folded straight band but then is shaped, stretching and curving the bottom edge slightly with the iron so I’m going to give this a go.

There’s two or three evenings of work left to do so I’m expecting that this time next week I’ll be in my own jeans 🙂

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