….I cracked on with the jeans.

Both children rarely have afternoon naps now, but with all the excitement this week in the run up to the show, they are absolutely shattered and went to bed without a murmer.

So I hot-tailed it up to the sewing loft as fast as my little legs would carry me and sewed like a woman possessed!

I now have the front pockets finished including the little coin pocket:

And I got the back pockets sewn into place too!

They just need a good press.

All the threads are securely finished off.  Both front and back jeans are complete.  It’s time to sew them together and finalise the fit.  Then there’s only the waistband, button and buttonhole, rivets and hems and they are finished.  I think I’m making good progress despite time constraints.

So far so good.

Well, I’m pleased to report that the weekend saw some progress on the jeans front.

I inserted the fly zip and the pocket linings:

The fly guards and the pocket linings are a remnant of quilting cotton from my stash.

I had already purchased the jeans zip before I watched the Palmer Pletsch DVD.  They suggest using a normal dress zip to reduce bulk, and I’d be tempted to try that next time.

The yokes are also sewn to the back jeans and topstitched:

To me the yoke is the wrong way round…even though that’s the way it was on the jeans I destroyed cut up for a pattern.  Assuming these jeans turn out ok…next time around I’ll be redrafting that yoke, but it’s fine for now.

The topstitching is a variagated denim blue.  I like the subtle effect of the denim thread on denim fabric, and it makes a nice change from the traditional gold thread.

Whilst the whole of this project is a learning curve for me, the biggest thing I’ve learned is that the choice of denim makes all the difference.  My denim skirt is made from a heavier weight rigid denim and was a dream to sew.

This is a lighter weight (although not lightweight) stretch denim, and it’s an absolute bear to sew with.  It wiggles and fidgets and is generally quite moody.  That said, I think they’ll be more comfortable to wear in the summer months.

As an aside I always wore stretch denim in RTW because the fit was so awful and the give in the fabric made them bearable.  I think I’d like to see how they work out in a more rigid denim now that I’m addressing the fit.

It seems that so far I’ve not been put off making jeans!  I’m making notes to myself of what I’d change next time out, so I’m taking this as a positive sign.

Next up is sewing on the back pockets and then I’m ready to put them all together and checking the fit.  Slightly daunting but I have time to build myself up to it.  We have a very busy week Chez Stitches.  We have dance rehearsals, the show itself on Friday and Saturday nights, I have studying, I’m sitting on Adoption Panel this week and we also have a parent’s evening at Button’s new school.  All good stuff but little time for the sewing machine. Hopefully at the weekend I’ll get an hour in the sewing loft and get the pockets on, then I’m on the home stretch, if you’ll excuse the pun!