Babies, my dem jeans sew-a-long is underway. Posted here:
yellow Japanese selvedge denim with a monster-tentacle back pocket detail and articulated knees!
Brass findings: rivets and buttons. Four-button button-fly. Crossgrain and steam-shaped waistband (i.e. the most comfortable, long-lasting, and great-looking jean waistband you’ll ever wear!).
The interior of my button fly. You won’t find a better-looking button fly. I would invite you to look at the interior of your own designer jeans, but it might make you sad.
My favorite bit: while designing these jeans I’d been watching kaiju films, so I had this sort of seaweed-tentacle motif banging around in my brain. By the way, denim pocket topstitching is really soothing.
Uber-closeup of the back yoke at side seam, finished with triple-stitch. The waistband is finished by “stitching in the ditch” with an invisible-stitch result, as we see here.
OK, maybe THIS is my favorite bit? Articulated knees as formed by small darts in the inseam and outseam of the front leg. If you haven’t worn jeans with this detail, you will be amazed how much more comfortable they are!
And the selvedge outseam – Japanese selvedge denim, and people pay about $200 to $800 for a pair of jeans made with this detail.
I have come to realize that sewing is as much about design as it is technical savvy. One can master technical sewing skills far faster than develop a design sense and acumen. If you’re reading here, know that for most of us, it takes time, patience, blood, sweat, and tears to develop a design voice. Don’t let the amount of work, time, and yes – failures (or misfires) deter you from stepping on the path. It is a very special feeling to be able to create something – in my case, one-of-a-kind custom garments – that no one else has made, and that stands the test of time.
Happy stitching, lovelies!
