So, we’re like halfway through July now apparently. ERMAHGERD.
In my head, we’re still in March – because that’s when I left the office to go to NYC for our holibobs and I haven’t been back to work since. All my stuff is still sitting on my desk as I left it (hopefully), and the change of clothes I was planning to wear after cycling in on my first day back is still in my locker. Along with my shoes, toiletries and towel. Life paused for me at that point, and although the weeks are tickin’ on by, my mind hasn’t quite caught up yet.
So yeah. It’s all a bit insane in the membrane with regards to what month (or even day) it is right now. It’s like that weird period between Christmas and new year, but we’ve been living it for four months.
And then I went and changed the frequency of posts here on le blog, and really threw everything out of whack π
But here I am with a shiny new post! This one is jeans. Enemy of me as a sewist, but also as a human being. Jeans have been a source of drama in my wardrobe, for like ever. Having an hourglass shape with a smaller waist but huge hips – along with chunky ol’ thighs and calves – it was impossible to find a pair of jeans that fit me. If the waist fitted, there was no chance in hell I would get the jeans over my hips. If I bought them to fit my legs, I’d have so much spare fabric around the waist it was ridiculous. The same went for trousers – things that were made to fit ‘average’ legs were just so incompatible with my body shape. I suffered years of wearing uncomfortable skinny jeans when they were the only thing available in shops (they fitted my waist but cut off circulation everywhere else), and rejoiced when I discovered Mom jeans (yay for room in the thighs!).
Not wanting to be limited to what I could find in the shops (well, online, really, because let’s face it – clothes shopping in actual real stores is a special kind of hell) last year I decided to take the plunge and see if I could make something that fitted better. The journey so far hasn’t been all that much of a success, if I’m honest. For many reasons. Grab your cuppa and settle in, folks βοΈ
These are the original, test-run pair of Dawns:
Made from a slightly stretchy corduroy, I made a size 10 at the waist and 12 in the hips/legs. The fit was… okay… but the fabric was a bit eugh – a polyester corduroy rather than a cotton one, which turned out to be a bad choice, because polyester. Coincidently, I happen to have a piece of cotton corduroy of the same colour in the stash, which will one day become a pair of trousers – maybe even a pair of Dawns… we’ll see π
So they were the trial run before I attempted the real deal… which are the bad boys I’m presenting to you today ππ»ββοΈ
This time around I made a 10 through to 14 (instead of a 12), to give me a little more room in the leg and bum because where the corduroy had some stretch, this fabric had NONE. Actually, letβs talk about the fabric for a bit, because boring fabrics in ready to wear jeans was part of the reason I looked to make my own.
I spent aaaages browsing denim fabric online, but didn’t find a thing that was anywhere NEAR loud enough for me. SO MANY blues, indigos, a couple of rusty reds… NO PINK. And no leopard print. And if I’m honest, the one thing that’s missing in my wardrobe, jeans-wise, is a pair of hot pink leopard print mom jeans. But the problem with that, is that if you can’t find any of these in stores, and you can’t find hot pink leopard print denim to make them yourself, how do you get these in your life?
Spoonflower, that’s how – an idea that struck me after hours and hours of fruitless searching of t’interwebs for denim that apparently didn’t exist. I knew they were now doing their Dogwood Denim, so I thought Iβd give it a try – I found a suitable pink leopard print design, and ordered a couple of metres.
When it arrived, I remembered instantly why I was always a bit meh over Spoonflower – their designs are printed onto a white base fabric. That means that my lovely hot pink denim is not pink on the inside – it’s in-your-face-bright-white. It actually bothered me enough that I thought about putting some pink dye in the washing machine to try and sort it out. Also, Spoonflower is not the cheapest option by a long shot (at an eye-watering Β£32.50 per metre π±) but it was the only way that I was going to get those leopard jeans that I so badly wanted.
Straight out of the packet (as in, freshly dyed as well) the Dogwood Denim is suuuuuper stiff. You gotta prewash this bad boy fo sho. When mine came out of the machine I was a bit annoyed that a white crease line had appeared on it – this has happened to me in the past with black denim, and it was no less annoying the second time around, especially with the cost of this fabric. Thankfully it’s not toooo noticeable, but I’m gonna have to wash them inside out to prevent this happening again in the future *sighing already*
I bought two metres of fabric – slightly less than the pattern envelope of the Dawns recommends, but because the print doesn’t really look any different whichever way up you put it, I figured it wouldn’t really matter if I cut some of the leg parts upside down to save fabric. I can confirm, it did not matter ππ»
With all my pieces cut, it was time to make the magic happen.
I managed to cut the button fly the correct way around this time (but had to flip the pattern piece over to do this – dramas explained in previous pair post!) and for some reason got totally carried away and interfaced this piece, even though the thickness of the denim definitely did NOT require this, and I don’t even think it’s mentioned at all in the instructions. Oh well, I guess the buttons will just be *extra* secure π€·π»ββοΈ
I bought some jeans buttons off eBay for a few quid, and it’s just not right if you make your own jeans and don’t go totally out there with the pocket bags – so I obliged with some astronaut-kitty-cat fabric that I’ve been hoarding for a while (which although I bought as an offcut, is actually a duvet cover from Asda π)
I levelled up with this pair and followed the tutorials on the Megan Nielsen site for flat-felled seams on the inside of the leg. Sure, it took a really long time to fold and press and pin and stitch, but it does look good. Well, it does apart from the fact that I used black thread, which you can see on the inside against the white fabric π€¦π»ββοΈ I also french seamed the pocket bags rather than just overlocking the exposed edges, but I had a moment and went wrong somewhere because on one bag the seam is inside the pocket, and on the other it’s outside?! But letβs ignore that for the minute and look at my CAT ASTRONAUT POCKET BAGS π€©π€©π€©
The black overlocking and stitching on the inside looks a bit messy (okay, a lot messy) against the white fabric – I should have really changed the thread in my machines to white, but I was about 70% of the way through before that really dawned on me. Yes, I know that no oneβs going to see the inside, but Iβm kicking myself for such a rookie mistake that could have been easily avoided π€¦π»ββοΈ
The fly instructions of the Dawns are very clear (despite the confusion around the orientation of the fly piece) and for a first-timer at jeans, they are definitely sufficient to get you through it.
I decided to jazz this pair up a bit with some sequin stars that I cut out of a dress that I got for Β£1 in an ASOS sale (I used to work in the same building as their head office, and sometimes they would have sales of their excess stock for staff and if you were quick, you could get your name on the list and get in to score a few pieces), which I bought because it was pretty but in reality, I was never gonna wear. I cut out the stars I wanted, folded the netting to the reverse and stitched in place, and then sloooooowwwly machine stitched the stars to the pocket and gold faux leather label. I learned my lesson on the last pair of Dawns when I used a cool oil-slick leather label which lost all colour in the wash and is now a manky swamp green colour. Yay.
The jeans actually come together really quickly once youβve got the fly and pockets in place (because letβs face it – hardly more than just a quick whizz up and down the leg seams is all that remains), but it is DEFO worth basting the legs because even if you know what you think the correct seam allowance should be to fit your legs, each fabric is different (and also: weight gain) so CHECK YO SEAMS. I know I’m the first one to sack off some basting or just faffiness in general, but basting the outer leg seams before committing is well worth your time.
I tried on the jeans having stitched the outside leg seams at 5/8″, and they felt pretty snug so I decided to go with half-inch instead. I was left with a masssssssiivvvve gaping bit at the centre back waist though – and I thought about taking some of the slack out with some darts. But, on fitting the waistband around my waist and deciding that I didn’t want it to be any smaller, I thought that maybe I shouldn’t take any out of the back if I was going to have to make the waistband smaller to match it. But then, I had the bright idea to measure the waistband against the raw top edge of the jeans – and the waistband was too short π± By like, about an inch. Not even just *slightly* short – well short. How?! I’d stay stitched as instructed right at the start, so I couldn’t figure out how the jeans had got so out of shape. I guess this was why I had the massive gape at the back. I didn’t have this problem with the corduroy pair… was it the denim? I couldn’t be sure. I guess Iβll never know.
But I knew I needed to fix this mismatch between the waistband and the top of the jeans, pronto.
I measured one inch wide by 2 inch deep darts equal distance from centre back, and sewed them. This helped the situation, but gave me a weird poofy little bubble at the bottom of the dart. To get rid of this, I restitched the dart all the way down to the bottom of the yoke. Better – but it still looked a bit weird – itβd have to do. I was well aware that these were going to be put under a lot of strain from my ass, so I topstitched them down on the outside as well, for good measure!
With that drama averted, it was time to put on the waistband – which thankfully now matched up with the circumference of the top of the jeans. It’s a bit of a mission getting your topstitching on the front corners of the waistband because of all of the seam allowances (pro tip: trim ’em), but if you go slowly it should be okay (and if I haven’t mentioned it yet, you should defo be using a denim needle for this. You’ll soon know if you’re not, because it’ll snap. Ask me how I know π). The belt loops are another kind of evil – trying to get an even, straight bar tack to sew them down with is damn near impossible. I always find that the layers are just so thick that the fabric doesn’t feed very well, so you end up giving it a little encouragement (read: a yank through the machine) and then you end up with a properly uneven bar tack with a gap in the middle. Thinner denims and corduroys go through the machine better, but this ‘real’ denim was a drama queen when it came to the bar tacks. Just do your best and move on.
When it comes to installing rivets through thick layers of denim, that’s another ballache. You will definitely need an awl to stab the holes, and then you can say goodbye to the skin on your fingers as you try to wrangle the rivet through the many layers of fabric. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya.
The fabric is nice to look at, but it falls short in practicality. When I basted the legs at 5/8″ and decided to unpick and sew at half-inch instead, you could see little white dots where I’d removed the basting stitches. Washing and wearing them has definitely faded the print as well – theyβve got more of a βvintageβ look now. And they also don’t appear to have softened enough for my liking. Annoyingly, where the seams have come under any strain (ie, just with wearing them), you can see the white fabric base peeping through. Pfffffff.
There are some weird fit issues going on with this version – they are slightly too baggy on the hips (and there is too much fabric around the front stomach area which poofs out in an unflattering way) but they feel tight around the front of the thighs and walking up stairs is a problem. I keep wanting to yank ’em up in order to be able to move my leg better… not sure what this means, adjustment wise?!
If Iβm honest, Iβm a little underwhelmed with the jeans in general. The white fabric on the inside really bothers me, more than it should, but I canβt find βrealβ denim in the prints or colours that I want. It would be nice if the denim had just a *little* stretch (or was even just a little bit softer) because comfort. Like the activewear leggings I made which would have been 100% better constructed if I had access to the industrial machinery they are normally made on, I feel like these jeans are very much home-made.
I think Iβm maybe just a bit high-maintenance, jeans wise – Iβve never really had any jeans that fit well, apart from the one embroidered Alice and Olivia pair I now have and the curvy-super-high-waist jeggings from American Eagle that coincidently also came from NYC. Itβs so refreshing to find a brand where ‘curvy’ actually means curvy rather than βplus-sizeβ (American Eagle define it as more room through the hip and thigh, which is *precisely* what I want). Usually, when I see βcurvyβ jeans for sale I get really excited, only to find out that actually, they mean plus size. You can be curvy at any size, donβt they know?! Anyway. Iβve got precisely those three pairs of jeans that fit me only (all store-bought) and so I just rotate those.*
*I mean, I say that I have three pairs of jeans that fit me, but by this point in lockdown I think the chance of me needing to buy some fat jeans is extremely likely, so it could be that I actually have zero pairs that fit me right now π€
Will I make another pair of my own? Maybe. Iβm not sure. I’m underwhelmed with my attempts so far, and itβs dependent on whether I can find a suitable fabric – a good colour, cotton (or at least mostly cotton), with a little stretch. If I canβt find a worthy fabric, Iβm not spending the time making any more pairs of jeans because Iβll likely just end up disappointed again. I would really like a nice burnt orange pair, but I canβt find the right shade of denim – thereβs a narrow line between βbrownβ and βtangerineβ and we all know how risky buying online is, colour-wise. I even looked in every single fabric store in NYC’s garment district and even they didn’t have any.
In other news, Iβm pleased to report that I have been spending some time at the sewing machine! Butttt… itβs not clothing π± Iβve started my Skyline Quilt! and Iβm loving it. Really loving it. I’ve only done like four blocks, though – a few of the big star blocks:
I feel like I could get addicted (in fact, I may already be) because now I want to make this one too:
Isn’t it so pretty! I love the little mountains π
I discovered that there are loads of free quilt patterns on the Art Gallery website (which is where I found that one), and then I realised that quilting can become a VERY expensive hobby, VERY quickly π¨π
Iβm still reading as well, I finished The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (LOVED it), then I read Number Nine Dream by David Mitchell (didnβt like it, despite really liking the film adaptation of his other book Cloud Atlas), and Iβm very nearly at the end of A Gentleman In Moscow by Amor Towles (meh, but better than Number Nine Dream). Next up is Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, and my Amazon list is about twenty books long so I think I’m good for a few more weeks at least! But, I’m always open to book recommendations so hit me up with your faves (and if you have any tips on how to make quilting less expensive, give me those too!)
I hope all is well in your little corner of the world… I always love to hear from you guys so feel free to say hey in the comments π₯°
For now, I’ll leave you with the pics of the finished jeans – enjoy! π(and if you’re nervous about making jeans I have just three words for you – GO FOR IT πͺπ»)
Happy Sunday guys βπ»
Next time on the blog: I’m doing a bumper round-up – Make Nine progress, and a look back at the next lot of makes to see whether they’re being worn π
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30 responses to “Wild Child”
Hi Sarah, I’ve missed you! It seems like a loooong time since your last blog.
Thanks for the book reviews. I’ve been doing a lot of reading and not so much sewing over the past couple of weeks, but I’m getting back to the machines now. I shall check out Art Gallery quilt patterns, I never thought of looking there although I do love AG fabrics. I’d like to make yet another quilt that I really don’t need. Yes! Quilting is a very expensive hobby, I agree wholeheartedly. Quilting fabric has gone up in price quite a bit over the past few years, but aren’t there some gorgeous fabrics out there? My current passion is ruler quilting and I’m busy collecting Amanda Murphy’s rulers, which are definitely the best I’ve tried. They have a patented non-slip backing that really works. Yay!
My knitting hasn’t moved on very much, although I did take it and did a few rows, just the ribbing on the back, while visiting a friend a couple of weeks ago. We sat in her garden and is was tres enjoyable. I don’t usually knit much in the summer anyway. I don’t know why I started it really, other than that I had donated my very shabby long cardi to my cats so needed a replacement. Well, I didn’t so much donate it as they took it over.
I have fabric to make some tops, but can’t seem to get started. I have made trousers in the past, but have never attempted jeans. Nor am I likely to tbh. I’m not that brave, besides, I’m too busy quilting!
I have purchased from Spoonflower before, some time ago, but was underwhelmed by the quality of the fabric for the price, so I’ve not returned to them since. I understand they have much more choice now, but it sounds like the quality hasn’t improved? I haven’t ever used the fabric I bought. I must dig it out and use it. I have, naughtily, visited two fabric shops this week, the first in person shopping I’ve done since early March. I have done an awful lot of ‘click, add to the basket’, however. Since I’ve not felt the need to visit other types of shop, fabric shops are obviously the most essential!
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Hi Bren! π Ahhh Iβm sorry thereβs been a hole in your inbox π Sometimes I feel like two weeks drags on by, and other times itβs gone in a flash! This lockdown is bending time I think π
What books have you been reading? Any recommendations?
I can see that quilting would be βsurplusβ quite fast – I mean, realistically how many quilted things can I have around the house?! It doesnβt stop me from wanting to make them though π
As Iβm such a newbie Iβve never even heard of ruler quilting – so Iβve made a mental note to look that up! The rulers I got from Amazon have some sticky pad things to put on the back which stops them slipping, which I only realised after Iβd been using them for a while and swearing about them sliding around!
I love that your warm clothes are donated to the cats – Iβm glad itβs not just me!! My Mum kept hold of my Christening blanket until she died, sheβd be turning in her grave now to know that the dog sleeps on it! I look at it as if Iβve passed it on and donated it to my βchildrenβ… they just have fur and four legs π
Yeah, Iβm a bit disappointed with the Spoonflower fabric. I donβt think Iβll bother again. I went into a sewing shop last week (to drop off my machine for repair) but didnβt browse fabrics or anything because it just felt a bit weird… π€
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I think your jeans look great and none of the issues you mention are obvious in the photos. However, A Gentleman in Moscow as βmehβ? It is up there in my top 5 and it we lived in different times, Iβd challenge you to a duel to defend its honour!
If youβre looking for recommendations, Iβd suggest The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak.
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Haha! I think it was just a little lost on me – I donβt really know *too* much about what was happening in the country during the time the book was set (I mean just like the bare basics, maybe not even that!) so that went over my head. I feel that was a big part of the story, and I just missed it π€·π»ββοΈ
Thanks for the recommendation – Iβve added it to the Amazon basket! (Itβs got such good reviews on there!)
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Feel your pain about the fit of RTW jeans. I have the opposite fitting problem to you, being somewhere between men’s and women’s hip/waist ratio. In women’s if the hips fit I can’t do the waist up. In terms of the black thread on the inside, the times I’ve tried matching bobbin thread to inside fabric colour, little dots of the bobbin thread would be visible on the right side of the fabric. No good if there is a large colour contrast. Now I stick to colours that match the side that will show.
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Ah itβs so frustrating isnβt it… I think Iβll just stick to stretchy jeggings from now on! π Problem solved haha.
You just canβt win with the bobbin threads can you! I think youβre right though… pink maybe would have been better than black there. Iβll remember that for next time! π
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It can be very expensive to get started quilting. No idea why the various rulers are so expensive. But it is a good way to use up your cotton and linen sewing scraps, plus also to repurpose the fabric you love from a dress that didnβt turn out as expected. Art Gallery does have some nice free patterns, but you donβt need to buy their recommended fabrics. Thatβs where your creativity comes into play.
Happy quilting!
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I got a set of rulers off Amazon for about Β£20 (ish), though Iβve quickly come to realise that there are all sorts of different shapes out there and not just rectangular and square ones π Thankfully I kept all my cotton scraps from dressmaking, but they donβt seem to coordinate with each other very well π Until I get a bit more confidence I worry that anything I make from scraps will look a bloody mish-mash-mess!π€ͺ
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Ok, I absolutely understand how you can feel meh about these due to all the little niggles but you look AMAZING in them and CAT ASTRONAUT POCKET BAGS π This was another great read and I really love the way you advise to just “do your best and move on”. I really struggle with this as I hate anything that isn’t perfect! Sewing clothes (especially knit) is sooooo challenging for me. Perhaps I should start quilting π
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ITβS ALL ABOUT THE CATS πππ Haha. Thank you for your lovely comments π
So glad to hear that you enjoyed the blog! Iβm such a perfectionist and it bothers me too when things look a bit shabby… but I try to chalk it up as a learning experience and try to do better next time π
In a way Iβd actually say sewing clothing is easier than quilting – trying to get seams and joins to match up in quilts is like some kind of witchery π
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I think you are a bit hard on yourself, but then most of us are our own worst critic. The jeans look great, love the added sparkle. I agree with you about the whiteness of Spoonflower fabrics. I often use some of their performance knits and find the white showing when stretched. Oh well, at least I can make something no one else has.
Quilting can become an obsession. I just finished a Doctor Who quilt for my daughter, many hours spent on that. That said, Iβm ready for the next one.
Stay safe, and hopefully we all will return to some semblance of normal.
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Yeah, itβs frustrating to see that white showing through… especially when youβve got dark fabrics. I love that Spoonflower gives you the option to get pretty much any fabric you want, but itβs a bit underwhelming when the design is clearly βprinted onβ. I guess you canβt win βem all hey.
Oh wow a Dr Who quilt sounds amazing! Iβm trying to get ideas for quilting that arenβt just huge quilts, because we only have so many walls/beds/sofas in the house to put them on, so please feel free to swing any suggestions my way! π
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Your jeans look fab but totally understand why you were not 100% happy with the fabric. At that price you want perfection. I have some denim waiting for some Dawn jeans and you have definitely encouraged me to get it out from my stash and have a go. If they look as good as yours Iβll be well chuffed.
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Ahhh thank you π The fabric looked good from the right side, but just not so great from the back. It looked and felt βprinted onβ.
The Dawns is an excellent pattern though and I thoroughly recommend you give it a try! πͺπ»
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Those jeans are awesome on you! As for your frustration about the lack of choice in denim colors, have you tried dyeing white denim? You could get really creative with this, even tie-dye is an option! Check out Dharma Tradingβs website for help.
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OMG I HAD NOT THOUGHT OF THIS π€―
What an excellent idea! Wow think of the crazy tie-dye colours I could go for!
You may have just sparked an idea… π
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Hi, great jeans, but, yeah, that white line would bother me too – get a sharpie or fabric dye pen and run it over the seams- youβll sleep better, I promise! I use a 1.5mm hole punch for the rivets instead of the awl, donβt save it til the end, but itβs much easier on the hands!
LOVED The Goldfinch! (Except the last chapter when felt like I was in a lecture about the book, but I forgive!) have you read Secret History yet – itβs great!
Take care x
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Ooh yes a fabric dye pen – that’s a good shout, thanks! And a hole punch – is there like a special one for fabric? I’ve seen leather ones for belts, they look like pens – is that what you mean? The Goldfinch was BRILLIANT wasn’t it! I wasn’t expecting to love it but I so did. Have you seen the film? I’ve got it recorded on Sky but I hear it’s nowhere near as good as the book. The Secret History book has been bought! I hope you are keeping safe now that you are back to work π
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So relieved to read that you had a problem with these jeans poofing out over your stomach. I had this too and not sure why as others seem to find the pattern pretty perfect. I’m also not sure how to fix it. I won’t make these jeans again until I figure that out. I’ll stick to my tried and trusted Morgan jeans which are v comfy. That said, yours look amazing and any fit flaws are invisible! The white fabric would bug me too… So annoying. But you do have a cracking pair of jeans.
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Ah I’m so glad I’m not the only one with that stomach issue! I just couldn’t figure it out… I mean, I’m not particularly slim in that area, so I definitely have enough to fill the jeans, which is why I couldn’t figure out the cause of the bagging! Strange. I might make them with a stretch denim or jegging material (I know they’re not meant for that, so I hope sizing down would maybe help there?!) and see if that makes any difference. I feel like I really like looking at the jeans, but not so much wearing them π€·π»ββοΈπ
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https://www.stofflykke.no/products/berry-jeans-jersey
Here you go, jeans jersey for you from this shop in Norway. Probably expensive in UK prices but the products they sell are first class!ππ
Buy the way, your jeans are really great on you !
Love from Lee-Anne in Norway ππ
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Lee-Anne this is AMAZING! Just what I was looking for! I really like the rust orange, and the berry, and even the ochre. Delivery is really reasonable too! I think I might give these a shot for another pair of Dawns… Can I order samples from them, do you know? I can just about figure out how to buy meterage of fabrics (I can’t get a version of the site in English) but I cannot see if they send out fabric samples so that I can see the colours before making my choice π
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Plush addict have a nice looking burnt orange stretch denim
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Ooh do they… thanks! Off to look now! π
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They look great from here but I totally get why youβre feeling the mehβs. Iβd definitely risk chucking them in a washing machine full of hot pink RIT dye once you feel the white wearing is becoming unbearable…
Iβve had issues with washing denim before and getting lines, and I remember someone telling me never to use powder detergent – it can abrade and cause those lines in the prewash…. maybe you could learn to block print and make your own awesome printed denim? Xx
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Thanks Sarah! Yeah, I think a dye bath is a good idea… I mean, what’s the worst that can happen – the black goes slightly pinkish?! I’ve used liquid detergent both times my denim has come out with lines on π€ I’ve read it can be due to temperature of the wash, or whether there’s other things in the machine too, I just don’t know π€·π»ββοΈ Block printing denim is an AWESOME idea! π€©
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It’s surprising just what fabrics can be put together in a crazy quilt, with the addition of a couple of solids. There are several videos on You Tube, but basically you start with a 5 sided shape, then work around anti-clockwise, adding strips of fabric. Some will be short, others longer, working out until you have a piece large enough to square up to the size block you want. The blocks don’t even have to be the same size, as long as you are able to fit them together. The bits you cut off when you square up can start the next block. Some people use a foundation fabric, others don’t. For really wacky crazy quilts check out Carlos and Arne on You Tube.
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Ah, I see! I looked at a couple of videos on YouTube and it makes sense now π Seems like an awesome way to use up scraps, I might give this a try! Iβve definitely got enough scraps to make at least a few quilts π
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The rulers for “ruler quilting” are usually thicker than the ones used for cutting. That’s so that if you’re using a hopping foot or other type of free-motion quilting foot, the ruler won’t slip under the foot.
I haven’t read the other comments yet, but I’m wondering if you could still pop the jeans in the washer with some dye? It might not be good with the sequin stars and gold label, though. One note about the white side: if you HAD used white thread, there is the possibility of it showing through along the topstitching. So be glad you stuck with the black!
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Okay, ruler quilting is totally NOT what I thought it was! And it has blown my mind… it looks really amazing, but I can just imagine me getting it all wrong and the needle smashing down on the foot π³π
The topstitching thread just feels like a minefield – but yes youβre right the white might have shone through on the front!
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