It's not a top!...some putty linen Named Alpi Chinos

Yes, I know I absolutely love sewing tops so it's a bit of a surprise that I've sewn some trousers. I've already sewn two pairs of Named Alpi Chinos before. I bought this lovely putty/grey/beige coloured 100% linen last year from Edinburgh Fabrics and didn't have enough time to sew them up before going on holiday. So this year I challenged myself to 'just get them sewn!'

Frankly, I couldn't be bothered to put these on and take photos so I thought I'd focus on the details. Besides, this is what I looked like last year with the same trousers style if you're interested in what they look like worn.

I used the same alterations as I did last year, adding 1.5" to the front rise, 1.25" to the back rise, 4" to the inside legs. I ended up overlocking 2" of this off the leg hems but as you know, I much prefer adding too much length and having the luxury of removing it if I want to. I eventually overlocked a 2" hem and turned it up once before stitching it. It's not complicated but I don't want bulky hems. I also had to take in the waistband so much the original 3 piece curved waistband is now a 4 piece curved waistband. I also managed to locate the waistband joins not quite in the same location as their counterparts at the back and side seams but I can live with that!

The zip fly went in like a dream and I had also managed to get a YKK jeans zip in the identical colour to the fabric. I used a silver coloured jeans button I already had and thoroughly enjoyed getting the hammer out to bash that in. Very satisfying. Just make sure you poke the back through the fabric before putting the button part on top. There's a little plastic gizmo that helps with holding everything together before you hammer it all in. Still have to be careful of the 'hammer/finger' proximity thought!

The already had the silver coloured rivets so decided to add them too but they were 'wee devils' to use. I used a dressmakers awl to poke a hole through the corner of the back pocket - which was about 5 layers of fabric. This didn't work so well so I used my seam ripper to rip a bigger hole. Like the jeans button, you need to have the back part pushed through all layers of fabric. You need to be careful you don't make too big a hole! When you push the rivet top over it, it will click together I found I had to cover the rivet top with cardboard and give it a good tap with a hammer so get a secure fit.

I'm not so sure about the diagonal hip pockets on these trousers, maybe I need to change the shape to curved. But realistically I'll never be wearing my tops tucked in so it's not such a problem. All in all, I like them, love the neutral colour and have another pair of trousers for the gloriously, balmy hot summer in Scotland. That or my summer holiday in Spain, which seems far more likely!

A couple of Jamies

Oh dear! It's been over a month since I last blogged and I certainly didn't intend on leaving it so long between posts. But I haven't been idle...I've been sewing quite a few things and here are two pairs of Named Jame jeans to show you. It's certainly a pattern that I love and with all the alterations I've made to it, it's definitely a tried and tested pattern for me.

Here are some blue Jamies I made using stretch denim I bought from John Lewis in Edinburgh. I decided to topstitch in a matching thread and didn't use any rivets on these. I did get to hammer on the jeans button at the waistband though and there's some secret Paisley fabric in the pocket linings of both pairs.

These are the second pair of Jamies, this time made in stretch denim that I bought from Mandors in Glasgow when I was there in April. This is a lovely, good quality fabric and makes a great pair of jeans. This time I decided to add some mustard coloured topstitching, just like classic jeans and I like it. The topstitching isn't perfect but, you know what? I'm leaving it as it is.

I'm just back from an overnight stay in Glasgow and yes, I went to Mandors again and also Remnant Kings. I've bought lots of fabric, of course, so there's lots of pre-washing to do before cutting out etc. I bought a particularly lovely stretch black denim from Mandors so I guess that'll become a pair of black jeans! Maybe Jamies but then again, there are other jeans patterns out there, it's just the amount of adjustments that I'll need to make that puts me off trying another pattern. We'll see!

Lots of Named patterns Alpi Chinos

Well, it seems I've developed a bit of a habit for making a pattern....and then making lots more versions of it. I needed some new linen trousers for going on holiday at the end of June. We went to Prague and Vienna so I knew it could potentially be very warm at that time of year. And for the most part it was and we had temperatures of 36 degrees. After the success of Named Jamie jeans, I thought I'd have another look at the Named website and ended up buying the Alpi Chino pattern. Yes...Alpi Chino sounds like Al Pacino to me too!

The pattern is for non stretch light or mid-weight woven fabrics. Linen was one of the suggested fabrics. Great! I made a few alterations to the pattern before cutting out, I added 1.5" to the front rise and 1.25" to the back rise. I also increased the leg length by 4". These are the same adjustments I make to the Jamie jeans pattern. I also had to take in the centre back seam quite a bit but that's normal for me.

I love the front pockets and the back pockets. I wanted ALL the details on these trousers! The first pair I made was using some Essex Linen, I think it's a Robert Kaufman fabric, that I bought from John Lewis in Edinburgh. It's a 50% linen and 50% cotton blend which I pre-washed before cutting out. I used a jeans button from my stash, a metal jeans zip and added some rivets to the back pockets too. I like the coppery colour of the rivets and button compared with the fabric colour.

So, I was very pleased with how these turned out and decided to make some more! The next pairs were using a black linen that I bought from John Lewis and some kakhi linen I bought from Edinburgh Fabrics. I'm really pleased with both those pairs too! 

  

Can you see the four piece curved waistband? It's utterly brilliant and I love it! It fits so well. I used to hate waistbands so much because they didn't fit me at all and gaped. Now I know that curved waistbands are great and fit me so well and are the only way forward for me.

Em...confession time. Did you see the cream top I made throughout this post? Yep, it's yet another New Look 6217. I used cream polyester triple crepe but I thought I'd need to wear a camisole underneath so I lined it using cupro lining. This lining says do not wash/dry clean but I just wash it in a silk or wool wash in my washing machine, using an appropriate delicates liquid soap and it's always worked for me. The only thing is, if you let it fully dry out after washing, you will never iron all the creases out of it. That seems a small price to pay when you can just chuck it in the washing machine (either intentionally or unintentionally!).

It's another pair of jeans!

Here's one thing ticked off my Me Made May To Sew list already! I identified jeans as being a gap in my wardrobe! Yes, they are another pair of Named Jamie jeans, how I love that pattern now I've got the alterations to my liking. I also think I'm turning into quite a Named patterns fan-girl. Their patterns are real slow-burners for me. I see the pattern release and think they're ok and a few weeks or months later I suddenly love it and buy the pattern. And of course, they design for tall women (5'8") and I'm 5'9" so adding length isn't such a radical operation as it can be and this could go some way to explaining their attraction.

The fabric is a stretch denim from Mandors in Glasgow, bought during a weekend there in April. I liked the fabric so much I bought 5 metres of it as it's really difficult finding just the right weight of stretch denim in a nice colour. My hands do take on a blue tinge with the dye when working with this fabric even though I pre-washed it. I didn't do contrast top stitching, just used a dark navy thread. I got my hammer out and added a jeans button but no rivets as I wanted these to be 'low key' jeans. 

Good back pocket placement

I didn't add belt loops as I can't stand belts tied around my middle. I'm realising that I have a mega-short waist. My usual alterations are adding 1" to the rise and 4" to the length of the legs. I also take a huge chunk out of the centre back seam, tapering it in till the yoke. I love the curved waistband on this pattern. I'm usually absolutely useless at straight waistbands but curved ones are the way forward for me. It uses up more fabric but the fit is so much better. 

Secret Paisley pattern pockets

I love my new jeans! Just need another pair now as these are in the wash...

I made jeans!

Yes folks, this is why there's been so much 'radio-silence' on the blog. I've been busy and taking my time with these jeans and they've turned out lovely. I'm very pleased with them, can you tell?

The pattern
As a taller than average person, I decided to used Named Jamie jeans pattern and bought the PDF a while ago. After a wee while spent cutting and taping the pieces together the pattern was ready for any alternations I'd need to make. So I then spent ages measuring myself and also a pair of RTW jeans that were ok but had fit issues (the rise was too short). I altered the paper pattern by adding 1" to the rise and 2" to the leg length. At 5'9" I'm only 1" taller than the woman Named patterns designs for, but hey ho, we're all different and that's why we measure twice, cut once!

I also added 2" in width from the knee to the hem of the back leg pattern piece as I didn't want skinny lower legs. I also added 1" in width from the knee to the hems of the front leg pattern pieces. Ultimately it was a guessing game where to add the extra width but it's worked out very well.

The fabric and notions
This was a stretch denim from Edinburgh Fabrics and seems to be a new bolt of it as they were sold out for a while. I don't remember how much lycra it has in it, it's so long since I bought it. I did pre-wash the length of denim before cutting out. I also bought the rivets there and the metal jeans zip as they sell YKK zips which are the best zips, in my opinion. The pattern says buy a 4" zip but I suspected I'd have to add height to the rise so I bought a 6" zip and that was perfect. The jeans button I bought from John Lewis but they didn't have the copper coloured rivets to go with it. It has taken a long time to collect all the stuff!

Sewing
My sewing machine seriously doesn't like topstitching thread. At all. No matter what you do with the tension etc. I read on another blog that if you run two spools of normal polyester thread through the needle and run one thread through the bobbin, the effect is just like using topstitching thread. And it works! You have to do a bit experimenting with tension on a scrap of denim and a top tip from me, take hold of the two needle thread ends and pull them tight just after you lower the presser foots and then start sewing. That will help stop a small loop forming on one of the topstiched threads. It was fairly straightforward sewing the front and back pockets, the back yoke and then topstitching as needed, it was on to assembling everything and fitting.


Fitting
Ah, the most time consuming bit of the whole project! And definitely the bit to take your time over and to get it right. I sewed the crotch seam and tried them on. As they were good enough, I sewed the zip and fly, which went in easily enough. I think the fly topstitching was ripped out once though!

I pinned and machine basted the inner and outer leg seams and the crotch seam together using the longest stitch on my machine. Then tried them on. And repeated the process until happy! Then overlocked all these seams. I took 11cm in at the back waist and 4cm from each waist side seam, tapering to nothing at the hips. The inner and outer legs I sewed with a 5/8" seam allowance. I have jeans that don't gape at the centre back. Hurray! I think this is due to the curved waistband too, which I reduced by 1" at the centre back.

I didn't add belt loops as I only wear a belt if the waist is too big. And it shouldn't be on these custom made jeans, should it? Ha ha!


Finishing
Get the hammer out! I interfaced each end of the waistband using a medim weight cotton fusible interfacing, not the whole length of the waistband. Only time will tell if this was a good decision or not!The jeans button went in well and I eyeballed the centre of the waistband. The buttonhole was done after some trial and error using a scrap of denim and varying the stitch length.

The rivets could be a bit tricky if you aren't brave! I used the spike on my seam ripper to put a hole through the edge of my pockets but the rivet back still wouldn't poke though. So I used the seam ripper to 'encourage' a small hole that the rivet back went through. Put the top on, hammer it in and both rivets have one wash already.

I haven't tackled the hems yet so technically these jeans aren't finished yet. I've washed them just in case there's any shrinkage and I'll use my double topstitching to sew the hem.

Now onto an easier job, checked/tartan brushed cotton pyjamas with flat piping...I'll be back!