Mens Designer Jeans

I've made a few pairs of jeans for me but this was my first attempt at making a pair of denim jeans for my husband.

The good news is he agreed to model them for my blog so you get to see him wearing them.

He is over 6ft tall and finds buying the leg length he needs quite difficult unless you want to spend a fortune [which he doesn't].

I had this heavy weight denim in  my stash and I can't remember where I bought it exactly as it's been there for quite a while.

He's quite a plain dresser and didn't want anything fancy on the back pockets so I just copied the design from a pair he already owns.

I'm quite surprised he opted for the gold top stitching but I'm pleased the way it looks as a finished garment. I actually used the ordinary thread double through the needle while the bobbin was just single. This is a super easy trick if you don't have top stitching thread in the right colour.

I did however have enormous battles with my sewing machines especially getting the several layers of fabric to stitch properly over the belt loops on the waistband. The thread kept breaking or the stitching just went completely loopy and I must admit to the occasional bad language to vent my frustration but as I was alone in my sewing room, no-one heard me.

I changed the needle [a jeans needle] three times, re-threaded about 50 times and even tried using my older workhorse machine but nothing worked for long. Having watched the machine very closely and going as slowly as possible the thread always seemed to break at the needle yet there wasn't any undue tension or bumps on the thread and I tried different threads to see if that was the issue but it didn't seem to be.

Eventually I changed the needle for a used Stretch that was supplied with my machine and at last it behaved properly. I also found a trick to get over the really thick places by using the spacer that came with my Husqvarna Viking Ruby to jump the foot smoothly over the fattest bits. What I discovered was that the cheap jeans needles that I got from Lidl's recently were the problem They just didn't fit perfectly. Lesson learned.

These jeans were drafted using my SFD Pants Pattern but with the modifications in the special leaflet from Glenda. This worked well and I did make a muslin first to check.

I used pieces of fabric I recycled from one of his Dad's shirts for the pocket bags to remind him of his father.

Would I make another pair? I feel a bit exhausted right now and can't wait to get back to some selfish sewing with easier fabrics to work with but after a while if this pair proves comfortable and he asks me nicely, I might.

I've actually booked a service for both my sewing machines next week as I think they deserve a bit of TLC don't you?

Next time are some T-shirts I made but haven't got to blog about yet and a fleece for my holiday next month. [It's super lightweight so will not take up much of our luggage allowance.]