Repeat: Vogue 2396 Wrap Shirt

April 11, 2017April 11, 2017 ~ Tia Dia ~ 8 Comments

Thanks for weighing in on my Easter ideas in the last post. I was shocked – SHOCKED, I tell you – that the option in the poll “Why make something!?” did not get even one little vote. I guess my DH doesn’t read my blog. 😉 The jumpsuit won hands down, and I’m currently working on that. The wrap dress is done and dusted, as they say, but I haven’t photographed it yet. Hopefully today sometime, so I can show you later this week. And the bouclé is waiting in the wings. I need to make a trip downtown into the Fashion District to find wool for the trim on it, because I’m thinking I’d like to try something like this for the jacket:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/6a/f0/62/6af06216b799bb580c1d27e4560a62b4.jpg — *Chanel, cruise 2017*

Over a dress cut on the bias like this.

Because in 2007, this outfit caught my imagination from the fall haute couture show (2nd from right).

But anyways, in my real world…

I’ve made another ivory version of this oldy-but-goody OOP wrap shirt from Vogue 2396 this time in a heavy linen/cotton blend.

I’m liking it. 🙂

Jalie Jeans x 3

March 1, 2017March 12, 2017 ~ Tia Dia ~ 24 Comments

I’ve made three new pairs of jeans using the unbeatable Jalie 2908 pattern. It’s not the only pattern I’ve used to make jeans in the past, but I think it will be my go-to for now. You see, when I decided I needed new jeans, I had three different styles in my wardrobe: the Jalie’s, a GAP 1969 pair and an unblogged indigo BurdaStyle pair based on this pattern. I love the fit of the GAP and the BurdaStyle pair more than the Jalie pair, mostly because I made the low-waisted version way back when. And in order to decide which I wanted to make three times, I took pictures of myself wearing all three pairs. To see which was the most flattering….

Jalie won, hands down. Maybe it was pocket placement, but I just liked the fit of them from all angles better than the GAP or the BurdaStyle pair.

I made the “mom” style (waistband sits at my natural waist) with the following adjustments:

lengthened them by 4cm so I can wear heels, or mules. Nothing bugs me more than when the back of my jeans catch underneath my heel while I’m wearing mules.
+1.5cm full inner thigh adjustment
lowered the front waist by 1.5cm
1.5cm high hip adjustment on both front/back side seams
add 3cm to side seams as fitting insurance, particularly on the black and purple pair as the denim has less stretch than the teal pair

Just a note on styling: I won’t be wearing them with tucked-in tops, but I wanted to show you what they fit like through the hips/waist for this post.

First pair was made from a glorious Italian black denim from EmmaOneSock.

The denim wasn’t pre-washed, but it hasn’t shrunk and it doesn’t bag out. It’s the most-worn pair so far.

The next was a purple Italian denim, again from EmmaOneSock. It’s a bit on the stiff side, but it doesn’t bag out after a day’s wearing, either. And I love the colour.

But I forgot to lower the CF – you can see the front crotch depth is too long – so I have removed the waistband and will re-attach it later. Thank goodness I didn’t use any rivets on this pair.

Here’s a view of the inside, with some batik (EOS, again!) salvaged from an older project. I love putting these on because of this fabric!

And lastly, a dark teal blue pair using a cotton blend denim from…. you guessed it! Emmaonesock, of course. These are straight legged.

These are the stretchiest of the three, so I didn’t need to make use of the ‘fitting insurance’ 3cm extra width down each side. The fabric is amazingly soft and comfortable.

I love the length of all these new jeans. I have to turn them up when I’m wearing slippers around the house, but they are the perfect length for my heeled boots. So far, so good! The old GAP and BurdaStyle pair were sent off to the thrift store, but I still wear the original brown jeans. The fabric was from EOS again… a designer denim from somewhere in the States. I have worn these jeans constantly since I made them, and they are still looking good, as you’ll see in my next post.

Brown Jeans

May 4, 2014May 2, 2014 ~ Tia Dia ~ 12 Comments

I made another pair.From the Jalie pattern again. And here’s a conundrum perhaps you could help me with: I cut these in a single layer, very carefully, from the very same pattern as my previous pair, and they were too small.

What’s up with that?!?

So I did my unintentional denim rescue trick again, since I had a good yard of fabric left over, and added a 2-inch wide strip down the outside of each leg. At least it looks like an intentional design element. For fun I decided to use hot pink thread in my serger. You can see it just peeking out at you under the belt loop.Apparently this denim-like fabric has less stretch than the cotton-lycra denim I used before. And I totally love this denim-like fabric from EOS. It’s a cotton-poly-lycra blend with a subtle stripe effect in the weave, and it’s super comfortable. And I decided to add a few copper rivets for a different look. Lots of fun pounding fabric and hardware with a hammer!

I cut both the front and the back using the low-rise pattern this time, and it fits very well. Better than the mix of the two I did for the blue pair. I’m actually going to see if I can edit that first pair: lower the back rise and place the back pockets differently. I can totally see myself wearing these to death, not the least because they’re chocolate brown. Let’s hope the fabric blend withstands hard wear.

My first pair of Jalie jeans

May 2, 2014October 2, 2014 ~ Tia Dia ~ 28 Comments

This is my third pair of jeans (the second pair went to live at the thrift shop because I really didn’t like the too-short-for-my-liking length), and I’m really happy with them. I used the famous Jalie jean pattern, and followed along with Angela Wolf in her Craftsy course on making designer jeans.

Well, I wouldn’t call mine designer, but there were many little tricks that were helpful in that course:

using a hammer to flatten many layers of denim
distressing tools, particularly sandpaper
a beautiful fly zip with a fly shield
how to keep your waistband in place against your body
topstitching tricks of the jeans trade

I confess these aren’t distressed very professionally, but it was fun to sandpaper the denim!I kinda overdid this pair on the front. Because it’s a stretch denim, when it’s standpapered, little folds of fabric appear out of nowhere. Hence the slight visual mess. It looks a lot worse in the photo above than when I’m wearing them.

I’ve been wearing these all day, and they are really comfortable. I used the normal rise pattern in the back, and the low rise pattern in the front because I usually need to shorten the front crotch length by one inch anyways. I thought I’d see if I could save myself the hassle and just cut it. I measured first, and it was perfect. It’s supposed to sit below the waist, but it sits at the CF of my short waist. 🙂 You can see the difference in the rises in the picture above.The back yoke was cut using their mid-rise pattern, which is a good inch or so higher than the low-rise pattern. I usually need to add length through the back crotch area, so this worked perfectly. On me, the back waist sits 1″ below my real waist.

I love the fit of these jeans. That crucial POM at 2″ above the bottom of the crotch curve is precisely 6.5″, which is why the back of these jeans fit so well. I mentioned this in my last trouser post, and finally tracked down the blog that made my “aha” moment. The diagram is linked to the original blog post at www.madalynne.com.

The back of my jeans looks pretty good. The topstitching is all precisely marked in chalk everywhere. I have never used so much chalk in one project before.You can see the distressing around the edges of the pockets and seam edges. It’s fun to distress and hammer those multiple layers of denim flat enough to topstitch easily. Great therapy. 😀

I made minimal changes to the Jalie pattern:

using the low-rise in the front and mid-rise in the back
substituting a contoured waistband from my BurdaStyle pair for the bias one they suggested
tapered the boot-cut silhouette in by 1/4″ at each side seam

Has anyone made these jeans with the bias waistband? What did you think? Did it work well? I’m curious about it, but I don’t know if I care to make another pair of jeans with a bias waist if it’s not going to be a good thing. I’m happy with the fit of the contour band. It’s on the straight grain at CF, and I added twill tape along the top edge. It hugs me perfectly, even when sitting or touching my toes.

If I were to change anything on this pair, I’d move the pockets closer to the CB seam and not add 2 inches to the length. The hem can always be changed, and the pockets will have to wait for the next pair.I’m just so excited about that little 6-7″ POM that I’m happy to make up trousers forever. Let’s hope it doesn’t let me down because I get so happy about it I get cocky and forget to measure or make toiles.