Monday, April 13, 2009

Jalie 2908 - Damn Impressive Jeans

So would say these fit really well. I heart Jalie. Really. I mean, really, a pair of jeans? I think pants are hard to fit but a snug form-fitting pair of pants? The Jalie jeans are more than I had hoped for. I know it sounds sappy but who doesn't need a pair of jeans in their TNT arsenal? These are a little snug but fit really well other than that. I want to wear them for a day to see if they loosen up because of the lycra. I'm thinking of adding about 1/4"-1/2" on each hip/thigh area. Do you see any other fit issues? I tend to get excited about something and that clouds my brain and I don't see obvious things.
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Here is where you can see the tightness. The right is tighter than the left due to a twin-girl-talking mishap. It involves a lack of focus on the sewist's part and a 5-thread serger. I had to do a pretty good swayback adjustment. I have to do that on all pants patterns.
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Here's the teaser photo again. This shows the topstitching and the swayback adjustment. The CB is tighter at the top than the bottom so that it doesn't gape. You can see that instead of a straight line, it's a gentle V. I got this solution from Emilie's Gaposis Fix.
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The inside fly extension. I used a 5-thread serger on all the seams. At the end, I forgot I wasn't doing slacks and did the waistband in the traditional trouser way instead of the jeans way. I think it turned out better maybe. With the Jalie directions, you are supposed to sew the waistband to the inside, fold the band to the outside, turn in the SA, and stitch it to the outside. With that v-back, it would be more challenging to make it look nice. This way there isn't any added bulk with folding in the SA.
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Front details. I screwed up on the buttonhole. It needs to be about 1/4" more towards the center. It'll be fine for this pair but for my next pair I'll be sure to fix that. I'm still trying to figure out how to use the vintage buttonholer. Sometimes I get it right and sometimes, well, I don't.
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Here you can see the gentle v in the back a little bit better. I really want to try RocketBoy's tutorial on the inside lining but I'm not sure it will work if I have to bend the lining fabric so much.
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I meant to put these inside out so the pretty print was on the inside of my pants but I forgot. It's like my grandma and her sheets. My grandma always puts sheets on her bed so that the right sides are facing each other. She likes to be "between the pretty" she says. Also, when she turns down the bed, the pretty part of the sheet shows. What is that anyway? Turning the bed down? What does it mean? I guess I'm lucky if the bed gets made in the morning.
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I used Emilie's fix and put darts in these pants. I transferred this dart to the back yoke piece so all future pants will not need a dart in the back. It's really hard to see on the pants.
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To make the alteration, I cut the piece with my trusty rotary cutter.
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Then I overlapped the correct amount and taped that puppy down.
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This is the alteration I did on the waistband. It angles in about 3/4" of an inch.
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Here you can see what it was like without the alterations.
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Well, I'm excited. I need to do the full review but I can see another pair of jeans in my immediate future.

27 comments:

-E said...

you friggin rock :)

e

sewellen said...

Wow...You're right...Dang good pair of jeans! *jealous*

Jen said...

They look great! I've got that swayback thing going on too and I can NEVER find jeans that fit - I think I'm going to have to get brave and try to make myself a pair.

Love your blog, btw :-)

Jen

kbenco said...

Unreal jeans. Your waistband looks really neat.

Lori said...

Those are a great pair of jeans.

2BSewing: said...

Your jeans are looking great. I'm now impressed with Jalie. :)

Paulette said...

Hey Dawn - the only fit issue that I can see from these pics is that they fit you (PERFECTLY) and not ME!

gwensews said...

Great jeans. Wow! Think of the possibilities beyond denim for dressy jeans. Velveteen, for example. Faux leather. Suede. Endless options. Good job.

Vicki said...

Fabulous!!

Ann Made Studio said...

They look great!

Anonymous said...

Dawn, the fit looks great and your sewing is just fabulous. You've done such a great job.

Miranda

Lisa said...

Those jeans are the bomb! Nice job!

Alex said...

Those jeans look great, I just picked up this pattern and am looking forward to trying it out soon!

KellysSewing said...

Great Jeans! Fabulous job on the top stitching. I had to do the sway back adj as well (or in my case, big butt adj) so when I did the fabric insert on the waist band, i just did the same sway back adj on it.

Unknown said...

Damn, you're good! You make it look so easy...

Beth Conky said...

They look great with the swayback and small waist adjustment. I don't think they look tight. But it's how they feel that counts.

Beth Grim said...

I've always been drawn to Jalie patterns. Thanks for showing the details of your jeans-project. I usually have to fix waistbands like that, so it's super helpful to see how you did it.
I saw another review (somewhere in the blogasphere!)of these jeans. Seams like a great pattern. Stretch jeans are the only kind I wear, these days!
Lookin' good...

Jami said...

Those look great on you and I am an old swayback mare myself and needed to see the fix. Thanks for sharing. Where do you find the great jeans fabric with lycra? I might consider trying a pair if you share! : )
Jami in WA

Tamara said...

They look so terrific on you!

Mommymita said...

I was hoping the Jalie would be my new go-to pattern company but the fit was way off

Your's look great though! I almost thought the falling snow was some sort of deconstructed embellishment. Now that you have a great fit the sky is the limit with design.

I may have mine finished this week - and the only thing harder than sewing with a cute chatty little girl is sewing with a toddler on your lap. That is why my sewing is only accurate 50% of the time.

Rachel said...

Those jeans are HOT!!! I have the same gaposis problem. Thanks for sharing how you fixed it.

elbereth said...

It was really interesting seeing what you did to alter the jeans. The fit is slamming. I hope I can get there one day!

angie.a said...

HAHA!! Yes, they're DAMN impressive woman!

Anonymous said...

What a great pair of jeans you sewed! Thank you for showing how you made all the different adjustments. I had a hard time picturing how to do them. Plus, I can see a diagram, and I'm never sure it works, but real fabric? That's a real, working adjustment. The jeans look fabulous on you.

ari

Thunderhead said...

What a great job! This is the first time I have been on this site. Have you ever had a reason to add (like an expansion at the waist for going up in weight and then back down in weight)? Or a gusset?

Anonymous said...

This is the 4th review of this jeans pattern that I have run across in the past 2 days.

I thank you very much for showing that back/yoke fix. I have this problem with all of my pants!

Caye Marcy said...

I am just finding your awesome blog, and am attempting round 2 of the Jalie jeans. Is there anyway you could repost the pictures? I think the darts in the back yoke might be just what I need to make these perfect!!