The Perfect Jean

I made the most perfect pair of jeans for myself in the past 2 weeks, after the selfish seamstress have posted multiple jean teasers just to tempt me into making another pair of jeans for myself. (OK, I do have multiple other seamstresses/seamsters I stalk over the internet, she is just a temporary fixation that I cant seem to shake).

I love it! I used the awesome Anita Jean pattern from the awesome Burdastyle once again:

For those who knows me, I tend to not re-use a pattern after I have made something from it. I also almost never read instructions for any of the patterns I use. I think the reason is because I get a thrill from figuring out how to piece patterns together blindly, and once I have made one and figured it out, I lose interest and move onto the next puzzle.

However, Selfish Seamstress really know how to tease me with her 5ft figure (but unproven, who knows, maybe she is only 4’10, I have never met her in person!) looking good in her jeans, and there were a few flaws from my last year’s jeans that I would like to correct. Here is my last year’s jeans with its flaws:

• I may have not pre-shrunk my denim. I had no concept of preshrinking fabric until recently, as a result of not RTFM. The jeans have became a little too short for me.
• I did not interface my waist band. Now it is a little scrunched up.
• The fit around my butt was great, but now I wish the waist ended higher.
• the one i made was boot-legged, but now I wish for a flared one!
• The denim I chose had some elasticity in it and i wore it A LOT. after over 40 washes in my washer and dryer, it is a little… crumbly. It shows pantie lines, and I am trying to move away from thongs!

So I went off and made a new pair! Here it is, I hope you like! I will be posting an entry on how I altered the Anita pattern to get it looking like that and any tips I can think of for the jean makers in the next 2weeks, so please look out for it!

Material list:

• 1.5 yards of Trouser Denim City Weave Grey  from fabric.com. It is sold out, and it isnt Grey. But it is 100% cotton with no stretch and a pretty light-medium weight. Its wrong side is light colored, which i think may be good if you want your jeans to have that faded look after multiple washes.
• 2 spools of beige(E8) HEAVY thread from coats and clark for both normal and top stitching, and a little bit of goldish(E8) thread of the same kind for part of the top stiching
• 1 spool of normal, thinner thread, beige, for some of the reinforcing stitches
• two jean buttons (it says easy jean repair, needs no hammering, i dont remember where i bought mine, but i think these are pretty good)
• 8″ metal zipper
• a pack of rivets from ebay (thanks for the tip SS!)
• size 16 sewing machine needle (did not break once!)
• thickest twin needle you can find(optional) mine broke right when it is finishing its last stitches!

Denim, $12. Zipper, $1. Buttons, $2. Rivets, $4. threads, $3. Anita pattern, $4.  Jeans that fit like a dream? priceless!