First, I made a bottom to go with the tunic/sweater that I made earlier. I decided to make a pair of "skinny jeans," although I hesitate to call anything that I wear "skinny." I had ordered some stretch denim when it was a "Deal of the Day" at Fabric.com. One of the pieces was a very dark gray, almost black. It was much thinner and much stretchier than I normally use for jeans. Therefore I just set it aside until a project came along that it would be right for. Fortunately, with the extra stretch it was appropriate for this project.
I do not have patten for skinny jeans, and certainly did not relish having to alter another jeans pattern, so for these pants I started with the Jalie Stretch Jeans (2908), and traced the pattern down to the knee level. Then I just flipped through my stack of Burdas until I found a narrow leg pant, and used that to trace from the knees down. This way I didn't have to worry about alterations to a new pattern, since I had made the Jalies twice before. Since the denim was nearly black, I used grey thread to topstitch...which is admittedly a touch wobbly:
Second I made a blue turtleneck from rayon slub knit jersey from Fabric.com. I had made this turtleneck before, so no surprises there.
Both the pants and the turtleneck coordinate with the tunic sweater, so this give me three items to build off of for the contest. Here are the finished items, the turtleneck and jeans:
And both coordinate with the original piece, the striped sweater tunic:
I don't really have anything to add about the construction of these pieces, since both are from patterns that were made before. The stretchier denim works well for these jeans given the close fit, especially through the thighs. The close fit, though, it was makes them work well in lieu of leggings.
Next up will be either a shirt to go with the jeans, or a jacket to go with the turtleneck. The turtleneck is a great pattern that will most likely be used again and again.
17 comments:
Did you have to stretch your waistband to fit? I measured everything carefully and found that my waist seam was much longer than my waistband.
I do stretch the waistband, but I also don't cut mine on the bias the way they direct. Since I want it to be fairly firm, on my first pair I just cut it about 2 inches longer and cut it along the grain (so no stretch on the crossgrain because of the lycra, and no stretch from being cut on the bias). But, so it doesn't get floppy during the day I always stretch my waistbands, even if I have extra that I am going to cut off.
Very nice. I have made 0 out of 4 pieces for the contest, so am impressed on your timliness, co-ordination and outfit creatingness!
Wow! You are really getting a lot done. My hat's off to anyone who manages to sew jeans!
I sewed the same Burda funnel neck with some slub rayon from fabric.com and I got a terrible result. Yours looks good- no fair! lol
I did try a second time in a beefier cotton jersey with better results, for me.
I didn't cut my waistband on the bias either. It's the yoke part that appeared to have stretched out. My waistband was short by about 2.5 inches so I added this amount in the middle in an attempt to make it fit. When I sewed it on, the waistband gaped horribly away from my back by several inches. I had to take it off. I contoured the waistband a bit to accommodate my swayback, but that didn't help the gaping. It was a hot mess!
I have a new waistband attached right now, but I had to do some serious stretching - so much that the front pockets have ripples =(.
Great pieces and great outfits!! I love the turtleneck + tunic look (I was wearing it today!). I like the way you slimmed down the jeans, too. Good method.
Love all your pieces. Great way to change out the legs of jeans. You're right - once you've spent time fitting one jeans pattern, you don't want to do it all over again.
One of Tim Gunn's ten wardrobe necessities is a "sweat pant alternative," In NZ, that translates to a "leggings alternative" since sweat pants are not worn a lot here, but leggings are, with the same dire consequences. Looks like you've got yourself a great "leggings alternative" for winter.
Thank you, everyone, for the comments!! Lynnelle, I wonder if it would help to stay-stitch the top of yoke? My denim was super-stretchy, and I had to steam it back into shape a couple of times. I wonder if yours got stretched out?
I love the tunic. It looks great with the turtleneck under it!
Love the combo you have made. Great tunic!
You are so productive & I love your pieces!! I especially love the cowl neck look when you add your scarf to your tunic. Beautiful colors!
Yes, I think you're right. On the next pair, I will stay the waist seam either with twill tape or staystitching. Thank you for addressing my issue in you blog comments. =) I follow your blog often and admire your style. I am working on the same pattern and was going to post on PR when I saw your blog post first.
That is a fantastic outfit. I love the scarf/tunic combo. Have a good Thanksgiving!
Great outfits! I love the sweater with the scarf.
These are two great pieces and work so well with the tunic! You are just plowing through these wardrobe pieces now. I'm so proud...*LOL*
Love the skinny leg jeans - the whole combo is really working for you!
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