This shall evermore be "the saga of the cursed jeans" in my mind. Over the years, I've made several pair of jeans and despite all of the topstitching, don't find them difficult to make. Time consuming, yes. Difficult, no.
That is all in the past, however. I started on the Carlisle jeans by taping my pattern together just before the first of June, and got my muslin cut out, then left for California for a granddaughter's wedding for about 10 days. I foolishly thought I'd just hand baste the muslin together and get it fit before our return. That didn't happen at all.
We did have a glorious time in the LA area, with lots of good food, visits with family, and a little bit of sightseeing. Not nearly what I wanted to see, but driving was difficult at our ages, and my little dog decided if I was sitting, it was so she could be in my lap. She loves road trips, but does get a little bit clingy~
I had forgotten how bad my allergies are in California, and since we stayed at Venice Beach, the dampness really got my arthritis going wild. By the time we got back, I wasn't in much shape to sew. It took about a week and I got going. The muslin was good. Some minor alterations were made, but overall the best fit I've had out of the "envelope" in a long time.
BUT...my expensive Bernina machine did not like the denim, and gave me fits. In addition, I had purchased Gutterman topstitching thread, and it just wasn't going to cooperate. I had three spools, and it shredded so much, probably an entire spool went into the trash in small pieces. That was despite trying jeans needles, and even microtex needles. I took the Bernina in for service and it didn't help at all just left me without the main machine for 2 weeks.
I continued to bungle through. Tore out topstitching multiple times and this pattern calls for a LOT of topstitching. Finally got to the waistband, and the Bernina would not sew it. After the third time of having giant thread nests on the waistband, finally went back to my 20 year old +/- Pfaff and got it sewn on. In a fit of insanity, I thought the Bernina would do a better job on the buttonhole. NOT! First try I got about 3/8 inch along before the thread nests appeared. Long story short, the first waistband went on three times, and was removed three times. It was so bad the waistband got stuck in the feed dogs and by the time I got it loose, I realized that a major hole had developed. I recut the waistband, and sewed it on with the Pfaff, and made the buttonhole with that machine also. It did a better job on the denim.
Meanwhile, without thinking about things, I had joined a local chapter of TOPS or "take off pounds sensibly." My goal is to drop all my excess baggage over the next year. Having the group support and the accountability works for me much better than being out here by myself. I know what to do, but doing it on my own, I get bored, and with no accountability, after a week or a month, just forget about it. However, I do need to be healthy enough to walk and enjoy the rest of my life. The weight was really starting to become an issue with my knees and ankles. I'm very happy to report it is doing what I need it to do and I'm enjoying making new friends and having a place to go once a week to socialize with ladies I'm becoming friends with.
And back to the jeans. I finally had them where they needed to be. Not perfect, but good enough. I put them on to take pictures and they slid right down my body and puddled at my feet! Good news, bad news. The jeans were done, but I had lost enough weight they no longer were anywhere near fitting. And there is no way I was going to take them apart to alter them. I had a lightbulb moment! (Admittedly a dim lightbulb, but a lightbulb!) I washed them in hot water and a hot dryer thinking they might shrink up enough to fit. Well, they did shrink, but only in length, not width.
They have now been relegated to the thrift store pile. I have my muslin and after a few palette cleansing tees, I think I'll get back to it and try again. I do have plenty of fabric to work with!
They look like jeans, so hopefully someone who needs a pair finds them and loves them for a long time!
More later!
