Just to keep you on tenterhooks a little longer with the big coat reveal, here are the jeans I made a few weeks ago, and have worn almost constantly without getting any photos. Oops! I guess that at least by wearing them contstantly, you can infer that I rather like them and am pretty happy with how they turned out.
So, after the debacle of the last pair and its toile, I made the same alterations to the pattern for the slim leg jeans and got cracking. The fabric this time is black denim from Croft Mill, I can’t link to it because I got the last piece, mwahaha! It has much more stretch than both the toile and the fabric used for the wide leg version of the Ash jeans. Which means that I could, in hindsight, have made them tighter from the hip up. Is it a problem? No, not really. Certainly not enough of a problem to have me unpick the topstitching and re-do anything!!
I used a deliciously contrasting thread for topstitching this time, not denim thread (because I didn’t have enough left and was too cheap to buy more), but a similar colour to the denim thread I had. It looks pretty good against the black of the denim, and so I needed a button that would go with it too! Luckily for me, I’d had a good raid of the local charity shops a couple of years ago and had built up a collection of military buttons. The old gold/bronze colour of a particular set matched perfectly.
Pocket fabric this time comes from another one of the other half’s shirts that have got all holey in the wash. How do you guys keep your man’s shirts from getting holey along the collar and cuff edges? I swear these shirts aren’t all that old, but they’re all going tatty and definitely unwearable in polite company. Under the car or in the garden is a different matter all together…
There’s only one thing I definitely need to change about this pattern – the leg length. Remember how I said with the wide leg pair that they could do with being 2-3cm longer, but that it would be ok with the narrower versions because you can get away with shorter on tighter?? Well – you can’t! Or at least, I can’t! I’m constantly using my feet to slide the fabric down to where it should be, so a definite alteration for all versions needs to be the addition of 3cm in the leg length. Not something I thought I’d need to do, but there you go.
Also, what should be the difference between a slim leg pair of jeans and skinnies?? Because these feel like skinnies to me! Is it just that I have chunkier calf muscles? Should they fit looser? I cannot tell, having gone down a rabbit hole on google images with this pattern and got nowhere. Can anyone tell me if this is how they’re supposed to fit, or do I need a full calf adjustment??
And so I’ve completed the first instalment of the #SewYourWardrobeBasics from Stef at Sea of Teal. February’s theme is stripes – challenge accepted!! You just cannot beat a good (or bad) stripe! Is anyone else doing this “challenge”? I’m going to make a Basic Instinct Tee with my stripe fabric, I need more tees for the allotment, and I can’t wait until it’s already warm to get making!
THE COMPULSIVE SEAMSTRESS 
Your sewing projects are always so professionally done, down to the last detail. I love too that you often find fabrics that blend with your hair color. Denim just does that – gets baggy. I have some stretch denim and have hopes that will retain the size/shape.
Skinny or slim leg? Who cares – they look great 😀
These look great! If you have to keep pulling your jeans down, that’s a good indication that you need a full calf adjustment. This took me YEARS to realize 😂
I just couldn’t tell! I’m not used to tight fitting jeans, lived in my Birkins too long! 😀
Oh, these do look quite good!!! I like what kmpsews (above) said about the calf. Certainly try a bit more to the length so you don’t keep scooting them down and see if you like that, too. Overall, though, these really do look great. There, I’ve gone from good to GREAT!
The jeans look great. I’ve noticed belts seem to be coming back into fashion so perhaps, that is a solution to the looseness, rather than re-doing all that hard work!
Thanks for highlighting the challenge- I hadn’t heard of it and it looks like fun. I have some striped fabric and a definite need for long sleeved tees, so I think I will be joining in this month 😀