Jalie Eleonore, with sparkles

Well, the inevitable fall weather has finally hit us here in Eastern Tennessee, and fortunately I had an outfit all ready for Myra! She's been agitating for a pair of jeans "but fancy like yours, not from the store" for a while. And really, how can I refuse a request like that?!

Of course, the fancy part of her descriptor meant she wanted embroidery and sparkles. As you wish.

Myra prefers her jeans with a slim leg, so I went with the Jalie Eleonore pull on jeans. The pattern is great and given that the pants don't have zipper or buttons, they're a quick sew. Which is a good thing, as my sewing time has been pretty sporadic lately.

I made the same alteration for Myra that I did for myself. In the interest of booty coverage, I raised the back waist 3/4 of an inch (by increasing the height of the yoke at CB). I also shortened the elastic piece in the back waistband and stretched it as I basted it in. This pulls in the back waistband to cover Myra's backside.

For the embroidery on the front, I did a flourish with stars. I used a new-to-me applique technique that uses Glitter Flake heat transfer vinyl in the place of fabric. The big benefit of this method is that the HTV doesn't have to be cut away during the applique process - it rips away! Super fast and easy! And glitter-tastic, so Myra is definitely a fan!

The back pockets are embellished with purple unicorns, tiny glitter stars and swooshes. I used the rip-away applique method again here and it was amazing. I'd never have been able to applique those tiny stars with fabric. The trimming would have been too tedious.

As a finishing touch, I embellished a RTW sweatshirt with a dark purple glitter flake unicorn, to coordinate with her back pocket design. She was pretty thrilled with her new outfit, and declared that I am the best mom ever. So that was a win all around.

Jalie 2908 sewing jeans!

Jeans! The leaves are turning and it's getting chilly, which always makes me want to sew jeans and jackets.

Jeans were a real wardrobe need too, so it worked out to my advantage. Basics like a good pair of dark wash jeans are always useful!

Of course, the pattern is Jalie 2908. I think this is the 9th pair I've made, so I've tweaked the pattern so many different times that I'm not sure Emelie would recognize it if she saw it!

This time, I altered the hip curve by about 1/4 inch. Not a major change, but I like the feel better. Definitely more comfortable. The fabric is a Ralph Lauren stretch denim from Mood. It has cool crosshatch threads running all through it that gives the jeans an interesting look.

I did all the topstitching with embroidery thread instead of jeans topstitching thread. I really like the look! I little more subtle than jeans thread, but with more shine. I chose the color (University of Texas orange) to match my pocket embroidery. It's pretty close to the classic jeans gold.

Of course, the pockets are the best part! I went with a vintage sewing theme. Both designs are from Embroidery Library. They were fun to stitch out, except for the flowers. I chose a tweed rayon thread for the flowers, and it was super finicky. I had to stitch out the flowers at a snail's pace with thread conditioner and still got quite a bit of breakage. In the end though, I love the result. The roses have a lovely depth of color.

Yay for my new favorite jeans! I could definitely use another pair in the rotation, but I've a few other projects on the backburner first. Lots to do!