ash jeans – THE COMPULSIVE SEAMSTRESS

Ash Jeans, slim leg or skinnies??

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.

ash slim 1 — Ash Jeans, slim leg version

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!!

ash slim 4 — I like the fit, but they do get a little loose as the day goes on!

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.

ash slim 3

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??

ash slim 2 — Excuse the wrinkly bits, it was mid afternoon before I managed to get the other half to take these photos, and they just emphasise that I really should take these jeans in!

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!

Ash Jeans for the Win!

For those of you waiting for the results of the jeans! They’re done, worn and I’m rather happy with them! I have had my fun and games trying to chose the right size to make, initially going purely with my measurements and toiling the 31 in the slim leg version in some left over pieces of denim in the stash. The toile fabric wasn’t quite stretchy enough, but I figured with the proper stretch, that the 31 was just fine. But I was wrong – so wrong!! They were like leggings, but without the amount of stretch that leggings have – I felt like I was back in the late 80s again, having to wiggle and jump into my jeans! So if anyone out there would like a pair of slim leg Ash jeans in size 31 – I have a pair looking for a home!

wide ash 6 — Wide leg Ash Jeans by Megan Nielsen Patterns

It was tricky to figure out which size to actually make. In the end, I retraced all the sizes from 31 to 35, and graded between the sizes. I toiled the wide leg this time, using the left overs of that fabric I used for the slim leg version, so be sure of the stretch percentage. This time I had the 35 at the waist, going to the 33 at the hip, eventually ending at the 32 for the legs. The fit was much better, but slightly loose higher up, so I went down to the 34 at the waist.

wide ash 4

Fabric for this pair of jeans came from the stash. I had initially bought two pieces of stretch denim from Croft Mill for these jeans, and the first pair was made with the Brexit – Devine fabric. It’s a lovely fabric, good dark blue colour and good weight for slim leg jeans. After the poor fit, I immediately put another 2m of the fabric into my basket to replace it! I didn’t want to use the next piece if it was going to go bad again, and I remembered that I had a piece of denim in the sewing cupboard. I cannot remember where or when I got it, but it was probably from Croft Mill too! They do tend to have good denims. Thank goodness for a stash!

wide ash 1

As most of the construction details have already been covered in my Work in Progress post, I’ll leave that out here. Here I’ll tell you that I’m pleasantly surprised with this pair of jeans, they fit well, after all that faffing with different sizes, and I will definitely be making another pair, this time I’ll be brave and make the slim leg version. The sizing I chose seems to have done the trick, so I’ve transferred all that information to the slim leg pattern.

wide ash 3

So, for me, it wasn’t a case of “fits straight out of the envelope”, but then that really doesn’t happen to many of us, does it!? The instructions are good and easy to follow, I just did my own zip thing. (See previous post about pattern designers making fly front zips overly complicated!) Initially, I thought the length of the “regular” height, full length was perfect, I cannot remember when last I didn’t need to cut a large chunk off the bottom of a pair of trousers. But, after wearing these a couple of times now, I feel they could be a smidgeon longer, max 2cm. Of course, that’s just about the hem allowance, so I’ll have to make a hem facing if I actually want to lengthen this pair. Perhaps with the slim leg, this length will be ok – but with the width of this pair of jeans, I feel they could be just that little bit longer.

wide ash 2

wide ash 5

So, it seems I can put my Birkin Flares (now 3 sizes too big) to bed, because Mama’s got a fabulous new jeans pattern – yeah! And with 4 leg styles to choose from, I’ll be busy for a while here… ps, I also have a length of another denim from Croft Mill Fabric to use on another pair, I can’t link to the fabric because it seems I bought the last 2m! Check out their denim fabrics though, I’ve honestly yet to be disappointed with their denim fabrics. Always get a sample first though, before you part with your hard earned money.

wide ash 7

Work in Progress Wednesday 8/19

I’m making jeans! I haven’t made a pair of jeans since 2016, when I made 5 pairs of Birkins! I did some research on the current favourites, as well as patterns that have been around for a while, and, despite the fact that I already have the Ginger jeans pattern – and have yet to use it, I bought something else entirely! I’m not that sold on the Gingers. I traced them while on holiday in September, and the more I traced, the more I realised this was not the pattern for me. The shapes weren’t right for me!

My choice for this year is the Ash Jeans pattern from Megan Nielsen. I dithered a bit over the Dawn, but realised I wanted jeans with stretch, so that meant the Ash. I like that there is a choice of 4 leg types, and a very decent size range. I toiled the 31 – which, according to my measurements should have been just about perfect, but they were waaaay too small! I made the slim leg, but they turned out like leggings, all over… I actually couldn’t close the button. So I went back to the size tables, compared the Birkin Flares and my Burda measurements and the Ash measurements to get an idea of what I should have done with this new to me pattern company. In the end I retoiled using the 35 at the waist, going to the 32 at the leg. That’s a big jump! And they were a little baggy, so in the end I’ve got a 34 waistband, moving quickly to the 33 just above the hipline and merging into the 32 by the crotch level. The only thing that’s close to my measurements is using the 34 at the waist the other sizes should technically be too big. Here goes nothing!

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I finally chose a new pattern to make jeans! After researching what's available, I decided on the #MNash jeans from @megannielsenpatterns. I've made many, many notes on the instructions, but overall they're good. The toiling stage went well and I'm almost ready to do a last fitting on these, just to double check.

A post shared by Anne W (@compulsive_seamstress) on Nov 11, 2019 at 6:12am PST

I re-arranged the order of work slightly by making up all the small bits first. I overlocked the pocket edges, pocket facings, fly pieces and belt loops, then ironed the turnings and folded over the top edges of the pockets. Then I topstitched all the pocket edges and made up the belt loops. Now they’re ready for use when I need them.

All the small pieces ready for overlocking and topstitching

Back pockets pinned in place. The chalk on the corners shows me where to stop and change direction when topstitching

Next I attached the back yoke to the back leg overlocked that seam and topstitched. Then I attached the back pockets. This means less changing of topstitching thread. Then I overlocked the centre back seam and the outer leg seams of the back and front pieces. The centre back seam was next, followed by topstitching. Now the back is ready.

Pockets on, topstitching and overlocking done

Back seam sewn and topstitched

Next was zip. I reversed the zip so it would open to the left, like all my other trousers. I guess it’s a hang-over from when jeans were exclusively menswear, but I don’t like my zip opening the “wrong” way. I chose a green thread for topstitching, just an ordinary thread. My Bernina will do a lot I ask of it, but it baulks at topstitiching thread, whether in the top or the bobbin. It just doesn’t like it. I didn’t change anything in the zipper instructions, apart from reversing the sides to sew things to. But I did chalk on the centre front line on the left, and pinned the right CF to that line before attaching the zip tape to the right fly facing.

Front pocket bags are cut from the back of one of hubby’s shirts. Don’t panic, he’d managed to wear through the collar and get holes in the sleeve where the cuff joins, so it had already been relegated to the “re-use for something else” box. I unpicked the back darts, gave it a good press and cut the shallow pocket. I’ve used French seams for the bottom hem of the pocket, it should add strength. Once the pockets were done and topsttitched, I overlocked the outer leg edges.

Attaching the pocket facing and coin pocket to the pocket bag – made from a Ted Baker shirt!

Now to sew the front to back along the inner leg seams, and then overlock those seam allowances together. At this point you’d usually press to one side and topstitch, but I’m going to skip that step on these jeans. If I decide I really need topstitching, I figure I can get in there and topstitch afterwards as the legs are fairly wide. It shouldn’t be that tricky… The side seams are now sewn and the top section topstitched to keep the seam to the back. And that’s it for today, I’m hungry! Somewhere along the line I kinda forgot about lunch. So tomorrow I’ll attach the belt loops & waistband and do the button and hems. Fingers crossed it all works out!

Pockets finished, seams done. Where’s dinner?