Jamie Jeans … 1st make

There is an online group called The Monthly Stitch which consists of a great group of seamstress.  It has been fun watching all the makes and participating in the chatter online.  February’s challenge is “Smarty Pants”.  I have a pair of slacks in the making I hope to finish for this challenge, but in the meantime, I have finally finished the Jamie Jeans.

When Named Clothing came out with their first patterns, I was taken with quite a few of their styles.  Particularly the Tyler blouse and the Jamie jeans.

Tyler Shirt and Jamie Jeans

I have made a muslin of the Tyler blouse, but I’m not happy yet.  I had to enlarge the pattern and make a FBA which changed the style of the blouse more than I wanted.  It is on my list to try again.

I decided to make the Jamie Jeans for my baby girl since she would be an easier fit.  The fit of the jeans was really good on her.  She has stocky thighs and rear end and some jeans look a little tight through the hips on her.  These really looked good and gave her a leaner look.  Unfortunately, I could not get photos of her modeling these jeans.

Instead, her older sister (Jamie, oddly enough) modeled them for me.

For the first make, I’m happy with the way these came together and pleased with the fit.  For Jamie (above), I might fit the leg a little closer.  The yoke also looked very flat on Jamie.  In these photos, it didn’t bother me.  In person, I thought it should be adapted to show more ‘V’ shape.

I used a method for the waistband taught by Kenneth King in his Craftsy class, Jean-ius.  The waistband is cut on the cross grain and steamed into a curve and set on the waistband.  This method didn’t work well with these jeans.  The waistband has too much room in it and stands up from the back.  The pattern calls for a curved waistband which I will use next time.

I also used what Kenneth King called the “Burrito Method” to install the waistband.  I wish I knew how to explain it because it gives a very neat look to the front edge.  Next time I will try to take photos to show.  He gave a great tip for matching the right and left side of the front waist band so the waistband is level.  There are a lot of wonderful nuggets of information in this class.  Kenneth King has a wonderful teaching style.

The pocket design was a doodle that Betsy had drawn a few years ago.  I didn’t like the way I attached the pocket and will do a neater, better job on my next pair.  I started with a single seam, didn’t like it and added a second line.  Definitely can be neater.

And then there’s the button!  I used the jean snap from Wawak.com.  I ruined the first two trying to attach it.  I finally got one attached and it came off on the first wear!  Back to the drawing board on that one.  If I remember correctly, Angela Wolf talks through this process on her jeans class.  I will have to revisit that.

Whew!  I’m looking at this one as a muslin.  LOL!  Basically all of the issues here were my own techniques.  The pattern itself went together very well.  They were a good fit for all three of my girls.  The style is very flattering on them.

So that’s my jeans saga for the day.

SUMMARY:

Pattern:  Jamie Jeans by NamedCollection

Fabric:  Stretch denim from Hancock Fabrics

Notions:  Jeans snap and zipper from Wawak.com