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The
first thing to do is sort out the pattern! Luckily, as I'd used
this one recently for a pair of black poly-cotton drill jeans style
trousers, we knew it fitted. But it is a 20 year old Burda
pattern, and therefore has no seam allowances. Here you can see
James adding seam allowances and cutting out his jeans. He made a
very neat job of it, too.
If you don't know how well a pattern will fit, once you have made adjustments to the paper pattern to fit it to your personal measurements, it's a very good idea to make a test fit pair of trousers (a 'toile') from some cheap fabric: that way you can make fitting adjustments without wasting expensive fabric. |
| The first sections to be sewn together are the inner yoke and pocket construction for the front pockets. These get stitches, neatened on the overlocker where possible, and zigzagged elsewhere, and pressed. |
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Here you see James top stitching the pockets. He made a very neat job of the double rows. They were sewn separately rather than with a double needle, so we could vary the width of the space, and so we could use the larger Jeans needle, getting a better result. |
| Next
came the back yoke and pockets. First the top edge of the pockets
were neatened on the serger, then top stitched and pressed... Then
the yoke seam was stitched and top stitched
Serging for the first time can be a little scary, but the Bernina 1150MDA can be made to go fairly slowly. James inserted the correct needles (size 90 Jeans needles for this project) and threaded up the machine himself, and did a few test seams before setting forth on the jeans. Luckily we didn't need to make any tension adjustments. The thread is standard 120's poly. Again, he made a very neat job of both the seams and the top stitching. |
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Once
the pockets were stitched in place, we felt it was time for a break!
Top stitching and edge stitching are not difficult, but, as James would tell you, they take a bit of thought! Most machines have marks on the foot that can be use for lining up and guiding the fabric. James chose a nice red Gutterman polyester top stitching thread: this is a thicker thread designed to show up well against the contrasting fabric. You might have to adjust the tension on the machine to cope with the thicker thread. |
| The
next stage is the back half of the crotch seam, which gets sewn on the
serger, then topstitched.
Serging round corners can be tricky and needs patience. You need to pull the edge straight and push the curve towards the knives at the same time, while also letting the machine feed the fabric! Slowly is best until you perfect the technique! Top stitching the curved seam also has it's own peculiar characteristics: much slow stitching and stopping to ease out folds is necessary! But it does get easier by the time you are on your fifth or sixth pair of trousers! |
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I
think the most difficult part of the process was sewing the zip in!
First sew the FRONT crotch seam on the sewing machine... Then insert the zip! Making a fly zip opening is more complex than a skirt zip, and requires patience. You have to assemble all the different parts in the right order! Here's a good tutorial on putting in a fly zip: http://www.fittingtips.com/classes/Class-FlyFrontZip.htm I think young James did very well with this, considering that it's his first zip ever! |
| After putting the zip in, we had a break for Dolly Mixtures out of my fairy Cake pot! We'd earned them! |  |
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The
outside seams were the usual serged seam plus top stitching, and the
inseam is just the serged seam.
Then it was time to try them on! The fit's OK, and the pockets work! And there's room for wriggling! By this time it was midnight, and we were both ready for bed! The next process will be the waistband... |
| Here
he is in the finished jeans! He says they are very comfortable,
and has worn them two days in a row...
Not at all
bad, considering this is his first ever clothing project! |
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