Jalie 2908

Merry Christmas to Me!!

My absolutely fabulous Jalie stretch jeans are done!  They aren't perfect, but they fit fairly well, they're comfortable and I like them.

Side view

And from the back.

I made the "low rise" version of this pattern, since I generally like low rise jeans, but this one is QUITE low, even on me, and I am quite short waisted.  Next time I will be making the mid rise for sure.  I made no fit adjustments, since the pattern measurements were so close to my own.  I do think I need to tweak the back crotch curve for the next pair.

See the under-butt wrinkles?  I think it needs to be scooped out just a bit more.
I added rivets and a coin pocket ...

I cut the waistband on the straight grain, rather than the bias, as many reviewers on PR got good results with this.  I also did Emilie's "Gaposis Fix" from the Jalie website.  I can't seem to find the pictures of the original tutorial, but basically you take a small dart out of either side of the yoke before you attach the waistband.

Can you see the little dart?  Mine were about 1/2 inch deep.  Although this did improve the fit, I think I prefer to refine the fit at center back.  For the next pair, I will save the center back topstitching for later in the process so that I can check the fit once the jeans are fully constructed, do any needed alterations and topstitch then.

I did learn quite a few other things while making these jeans.  My first piece of advice to all you intrepid jeans-makers out there is to check out the tips on the Jeans Sew-Along on PR.  There is not only great advice for sewing your jeans, but also great resources for getting notions, fabric, all sorts of cool stuff!

Here are a few other things I've learned:
1)  Get a jeans needle and change it often.  I went through three on this pair of jeans.  Denim is tough fabric and you are doing a TON of topstitching.
2) Get extra thread.  All that topstitching takes a lot and you want it to match.
3) Denim is linty.  Make sure your machine is clean before you start and clean it again after you finish.
4) You can get special thread for topstitching, but I used the triple stitch on my machine and got great results with regular thread.  Then I didn't have to stop to change the thread for every topstitched seam.
5) Edge finish your pattern pieces before construction.  Denim ravels like crazy and if you already have clean finished edges you can make any fit adjustments without fear.

I hope that you all are having a wonderful holiday with family and friends - and some time to SEW!