Quick note 1: All the winners from the Momiform MAKEover giveaway have been notified! Congrats if you won! And if you didn't, better luck next time! Thanks for entering! Quick note 2: This post contains affiliate links! Money doesn't buy happiness, but it does buy fabric...and those are kind of the same thing. :)
If you follow me on Instagram, you know I've been OB.SESSED. with making jeans these last few weeks. I've been taking every class I can, trying every technique and practicing ALL THE THINGS to eventually get to the perfect pair of handmade jeans. I think the two most challenging things about making jeans are 1) finding the perfect pattern and 2) finding the perfect denim.
I've tried several patterns with decent success, but as you know, it can take trying on dozens of pairs to find the perfect ones even in a store where they are already sewn. So, I decided to visit my nearest high-end department store to try on a bunch of pairs. I settled on the AG Stilt Cigarette jeans which you can see here on Pinterest.
I paid my $165 and headed home with THE perfect jeans, but of course, my husband was like:
Womp, womp. So, off I went to Craftsy to sign up for this course:
And it was fantastic!
Admittedly, I didn't watch the entire course since I already have a pretty good understanding of the techniques involved in making jeans. I focused on the portion specifically about copying a pair of my favorite jeans. You'll be happy know, however, that the instructor, Kenneth, goes over ALL the details of constructing them, too.
So, I traced the designer jeans...
Made my pattern...
And constructed an exact copy of the great-fitting pair!
I even used the distressing techniques I learned in Angela Wolf's class on Craftsy (more on that here):
And here's the finished product!
That is baby spit-up on my shirt.
And that is a REALLY close-up shot of my...topstitching.
More...ahem...topstitching...
Ahhhh, I really love making jeans.
I used mystery denim from Mill End here in Portland for this pair, and sadly, it has zero recovery. I'm able to take these off without unzipping within just a few hours of putting them on. However, they were a great muslin. I've just ordered a couple yards of Cone Mills stretch denim from Fancy Tiger (only three yards left as I type this), and I plan to put it to good use very soon.
I did receive some samples of Cone Mills S-Gene stretch denim from a Los Angeles supplier this week, and once I get all the details (if you can purchase it at retail and how much), I will fill you guys in! Stay tuned! xoxo