Jeans Sewing: Skirting the Issue , Resources

 M6361 is a good basic pattern for
many styles of skirt- No back yoke,
but I have enough sewing challenges working
with the heavy weight denim without a back yoke!

~ ~ ~

Below are a few resources I've been using while working on my denim jeans-style skirt, using the Palmer and Pletsch pattern, M6361

These will continue to be Useful Resources for me as I move into traditional jeans sewing as well

How to Sew Denim

http://www.kollabora.com/q-a/sewing-denim-and-thick-fabric

Thread Type

http://www.burdastyle.com/discussions/someone-help-me/topics/denim-and-machine-tension-help-for-a-newbie--2 ... use a size 90 JEANS needle. And only use the topstitching thread in the needle: use standard polyester or cotton thread in the bobbin.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070129120900AAv78qj

Depends on the weight of the denim, but if you're using jeans weight denim, a cotton thread in a heavier weight like size 40 is good. Or a topstitching thread for finishing the seams - the gold coloured thread that is stitched on the top of the seam.

I generally use a polyester core thread with a cotton wrapping. Coats and Clarkmakes one brand, check out a sewing store. A denim needle is about size 16 - 18, specially for sewing with heavy thread.

Coats Denim Thread is great to have on hand for all your denim sewing needs. Its great color will blend right into the project's fabric.125 yards on spool. Denim Blue

Fly Front Zippers
I always need to review how to sew fly-front zippers, and I found a marvelous fly-front zipper tutorial on Youtube. The hostess is Colleen, of Fashion Sewing TV.

Here's the link ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91gO3iE7YOU )

I used to use Trudy's Hot Patterns fly front zipper tutorial, but for some reason I can't get that to run now.

Attaching Rivets to Jeans

Brian Remlinger - Two Part tutorial
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSaycOEOuyw

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qAHmyluVTo

Jeans Sewing: Skirting the Issue, When Zippers Fly (Progress)

Working with a mock-up of the waistband,
I found that I need to re-baste the side seams
It fit fine before I added that new dimension,
but now it's a whole new ballgame
The basting stitch has been my friend in
this project

I blogged recently about the denim jeans-style skirt ( using the Palmer and Pletsch pattern, M6361)  that I'm making in preparation for learning to sew jeans, but without the fit challenges I'll be working through when it comes to making those jeans. There's so much   for me to learn about working with 11 oz weight (heavy) denim, sewing techniques and jeans-style hardware that this project is plenty challenging. But it is, as I hoped, achievable.


Fly Front Zippers
I always need to review how to sew fly-front zippers, and I found a marvelous fly-front zipper tutorial on Youtube. The hostess is Colleen, of Fashion Sewing TV.

Here's the link ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91gO3iE7YOU )

I used to use Trudy's Hot Patterns fly front zipper tutorial, but for some reason I can't get that to run now.

 I used masking tape to get my topstitching lines in place for the topstitching around my fly-front, and a little chalk for the rounded part. I ended up doing a few tiny hand stitches as well. Would I do a few things differently next time? You betcha! But I'm relatively happy with it. I may still add another line of topstitching coming up from the center seam below. What do you think?

Absolutely Riveting


I've kinda, sorta arrived at the point where I'm ready to put the rivets on my denim skirt. And I've already found the samples I've tried, with three layers of scrap denim, to be plenty challenging! I'll let you know more when I get them figured out.

I've spent a lot of time dealing with fitting, to get this skirt to hang just right. The basting stitch is definitely my friend when it comes to fitting. Today, I basted  a mock-up waistband  (cut out of the teal blue fitting/muslin/poplin fabric you can see in the illustration here) and found that having a waistband greatly altered the fit and hang of the skirt. So, I was quite glad that I gave that a baste on sample fabric before committing. Also I was glad I had only basted the side seams and not yet done the (faux/mock) flat-felling on their seams.

I've decided to do a mock flat-felled seam for this project. I'm doing the traditional topstitching in golden orange thread typical of classic jeans, and it holds things tightly in place.  For my mock flat-fells, I'm just sewing right sides together with an interior seam, not the wrong-sides together then wrap one raw edge over another, that makes a true flat-fell. Somewhere I saw that right sides together is also a legitimate way to flat-fell, though I think whoever said that, did the regular wrap-around with the raw edges.  I'm just faux-serging the raw edges (I don't have a serger, but I use a decorative stitch intended to look and behave somewhat like serging) and topstitching right through the seam allowance. Frankly, it seems like it would be an awfully hard little roll otherwise, but clearly it's done that way on a lot of jeans. Once I get this done and wear it to a sewing class, I'm going to ask around about true flat-felling on this heavy-weight denim. Also I can ask in a sewing forum for jeans, but I'm glad I'm just going ahead and doing my best with this first project before I fuss around with anymore with flat-felling on this heavy, heavy fabric. When I work with a mid-weight denim, like some of the 7 oz I saw, I'll probably try out some more sample flat-felling.

I keep a postIt on top of my machine reminding me to check that I have 'heavy' stitch selected as well as the 'seam' setting and a special tension setting of  7. On the three layers points, I set my tension to 8. I spent quite a bit of time figuring out that these were, apparently the best settings for this particular project. I just had to do a lot of sample stitching through various numbers of layers of the 11 oz denim scrap to get my tension settings. Also I had to fool around for awhile with the heavy weight thread. At first I was running it in both the top and the bobbin, but that gave me a lot of back side of the project problems. I'm now using the heavy weight in the top and regular type indigo blue thread in the bobbin. Of course I have a jeans needle in my machine. Does that go without saying? I use a stitch length of 3 for the seams and 3.5 for the topstitching. Also backstitching to lock seams often jams up the lower thread. I've been hand tying threads to knot.

The side seams where the top-stitched front hip pockets meet, is turning out to be a very challenging area, with the three thick layers. Again, I'm just doing my best to get things to lay flat and hang right. It doesn't have to be perfection, it just needs to get done and be something I enjoy wearing. I will certainly be learning things to try for next time with this skirt.

I like the way it's turning out out, no matter what challenges I'm having, and  I'm looking forward to wearing it a lot. Sewing classes start next week and that is a real motivation to finish it. Also I'm really tired of the pants and shorts I've been wearing this summer. It's good to have pants I've made myself that make my happy, but a little variety is good too. I'm even getting tired of my No. 1 Lady's Detective Agency and Mille Fleur shirts, as I've been wearing them so much. It's good to have garments to turn to that fit well and look nice, but I'm looking forward to getting some more pretty shirts done. That lilac gingham with the Liberty accents (I blogged about that project in Kit1: Progress Shirt Sewing)  is another thing I hope to get done in time for sewing class startup, and if not I hope to finish it in the near future.

Being able to pep up my wardrobe using my own skills,  is something that keeps me enchanted by sewing!

Jeans Sewing: Skirting the Issue

My new amiga Colette,
is a big help when
it comes to creating a fitting muslin/toile
for the M6261 pattern.
Plus I get to use up this poplin for the fit garment.
I wonder what I thought I'd make out
of this when I bought it? :-)

I've blogged and podcasted before about my determination to  learn to sew jeans.

Until i had an actual project to sew, just doing sample sewing didn't motivate me enough, to work on my jeans sewing techniques. I sat down a couple of times this summer, and worked on denim flat-felled seams. Mostly what I learned is that when I stitch a heavy denim (11 oz), it's much more challenging to fell straight lines , than lighter weight cotton such as the ones i felled in my intermediate sewing construction class, or the scraps of 7 oz mid-weight denim, leftover from last summer's shorts and cap project. I fussed around thinking about different things to try,  and wondered if maybe I would even need a heavier duty machine, as was mentioned in a couple of different sewing forums.

I also thought a lot about simply getting straight lines of topstitching. I've located jeans needles and a variety of threads (topstitching and heavy for the seams) . In my sample sewing, I'd already run into tension issues. How could I expect to do the contrasting colored topstitching on pockets, waistband, and hems if I don't work that out?

And have I mentioned learning to install rivets and those special jeans buttons? I want to know how to do those too.

In addition to the challenges of jeans sewing skills, like flat-felling, and special embellishments, there's the whole issue of getting a jeans pattern to fit. Who among us doesn't find that a challenge?

I was determined to be really ready to sew jeans, but I was too intimidated to simply jump in and starting sewing them.

So how about a sewing project where i just sit down and work through some of the jeans techniques and special embellishments, as best as I can, but i don't actually sew jeans?

No I'm not talking about a cute cushion or a fetching tote bag, we're talking a denim jeans-style skirt. This skirt will still require fit-work too, which is a great opportunity to use my new dress form, Colette, whom I brought to life in summer school. Fitting a skirt to Collette, seems like less of a fit challenge than jeans (Colette isn't bi-forcated so I can't fully fit jeans on her, though she can help with some aspects).

M6361 is my idea of a good, basic
jeans-style skirt

I've chosen Palmer and Pletsch M6361, a  skirt and trouser pattern that suits my idea of what a jeans-skirt should look like. Here it is http://sewing.patternreview.com/patterns/47923

So far I spent about six hours fitting the skirt in this mid-weight teal blue poplin fabric, and several more hours cutting out the denim and getting going on my actual skirt. I've already realized that I'm not going to make real-true flat-fellled seams, but I'm still hoping I'll get a faux flat-felled look going. I'm relatively happy with the fit at this stage, though I haven't gotten far enough with the real skirt yet to be sure. I've also decided to wait to fit and cut out the curved waistband until I'm farther along with the project. So I'm crossing my fingers that I'll get a look and fit I"m happy with.

I'm really glad I'm getting going with my jeans sewing skills - even though I'm creating a different kind of garment. I'm looking forward to  blogging more about how the project goes.

Getting going with my jeans-sewing skills (and getting a skirt out of the deal!) keeps me enchanted by sewing!