Jalie Jeans - My Second, and Last, Pair

Almost exactly one year ago I made my first pair of Jalie Jeans. Initially, I was pleased with the fit and authentic RTW look. When I completed my jeans, there were already 70 reviews for this pattern on Pattern Review, so I didn't bother to add one more. I just checked and there are now 93 reviews of this pattern, which was ranked as one of the "best patterns of 2009".

Popular indeed.

As I wore my jeans, I liked the look of them, but I quickly realized that they were less than satisfactory. When it comes to pants, my shape is akin to...

The phenomenon boils down to this equation:

     Lack of waist + Smaller hips = Pants that fall down

I am not ready for suspenders, and don't ever expect to be (not with my bust!), so I resort to using a belt. But, even with a snug-fitting belt, my pants have a tendency to fall down. This is crazy-making.

And then there was that time that I couldn't find my belt, and I was in a hurry to get to work, so I threaded some elastic through the belt loops and left the house "Jethro style", hoping that the ends of the elastic wouldn't work their way out from where I had tucked them into my jeans, and peek out from under my top. (I couldn't risk a wardrobe malfunction at work!)

Sigh

There was one other annoying issue I had with my first pair of jeans. I had hemmed them in the traditional way, with a narrow hem top-stitched in contrast gold thread. From the first wash after the jeans were completed (I had prewashed the denim fabric more than 3 times), the hem flipped to the outside. No amount of ironing would make those hems behave. This drives me nuts.

I posed the question on how to eliminate the "hem-flipping-to-the-outside" problem, both to Carolyn, Jeans Queen, and on Stitcher's Guild. The consensus seems to be that the only way to avoid this is to use a wider hem. So that's what I did.

(By the way, I covet Carolyn's jeans and cords, in particular her purple jeans, her rust cords, and her black cords. I thought she also had an olive green pair, but I couldn't find them on her blog.)

I thought I would give the Jalie Jeans pattern one more try. This time I would put elastic in the waistband. The result? It helps, but already I can see that I will be tugging these pants up endlessly, even though I made the elastic fairly tight.

Pffft.

You know, I wish people would stop deriding elastic waist pants. For some of us, they work better than a more fitted pant.

Materials:

• Pinwale stretch corduroy, in cream, from FabricMart. This is no longer on their site, but it was a Jones New York fabric and I think it was 97% cotton, 3% spandex. I have seen pinwale corduroy described as lightweight, but this stuff is very beefy. Much heavier than the denim I used for my first pair, though that does not impede the stretch. I ordered 2.5 yards, but FabricMart sent me 5, along with a note stating that there were some spots on the fabric, so they had given me another 2.5, and to let them know if the spots did not come out, or if I had any other issues. Customer service, indeed. (The spots did come out in the wash.) I machine washed/dried the fabric twice to eliminate shrinkage.
• 1" elastic for the waistband.
• In addition to regular sewing thread, Guterman white top-stitching thread.
• A Coats/Clark 9" jeans zipper in white w/ brass teeth from JoAnns. (I cut it to length.)
• A pewter "heart" button from Fabrix.
• Scrap of a beige-colored flesh-toned silk charmeuse to finish the cut edge of the front pocket. (These were faux pockets because I didn't want the pocket bag to show through the cream fabric.)
• Scrap of beige-colored linen to use as fly shield.

Alterations & Modifications

• Inserted 1" wide elastic in waistband.
• Used a wide hem.
• I didn't want the front pockets to "show through" the cream fabric, so I made "faux pockets." I used scraps of silk charmeuse in a beige-flesh-tone to cut shaped facings to finish the pocket opening.
• I used a scrap of beige-colored linen to cut out the fly shield.

This pic shows the faux front pockets (the back pockets are real), the pewter heart button, and the elastic in the waistband, which I ended a couple inches from the front so I could make the button and buttonhole.

The back of the faux front pockets. You can see the silk charmeuse (on the left) that I used to face the pocket opening.

Conclusion

I can see I will still need to wear a snug belt with these pants. I think in future, if I need jeans, I will adapt the Linda pant from Style Arc. I have made 3 pair of Linda pants, and none of them fall down. :)

Oh, these pants are garment #4 in my Autumn 6-pack. I have 2 tops and a jacket left to make. (Yes, I know that is 7 pieces. :) )

More Pictures

I took these pics at 8:30am today (Saturday). It has been so dark and foggy the last couple of days. After I took these pics, I took this picture of my street.

I then turned and took this picture of the alley, where I take most of my pictures. Can you see the car coming down the alleyway? It's not that far away but, with the fog, you can barely see it even though they have their headlights on.

And speaking of weather, I hope everyone in the path of Hurricane Irene stays safe, and with electricity! I hope to see new projects that happened because folks are staying indoors. Even if said project is a baby or two. ;)