Jalie Jeans DONE! LOVE EM!

I love 'em so much I'm planning on doing a few more for my daughters and myself... definitely. Now... I have to find more stretch denim in my stash since I promised not to buy more fabric for a while. Either that or I have to sew more stash and make all those other projects I have fabric for. And here they are!


These fit wonderfully. If I were tall and leggy, they'd look like the picture on the pattern... but for my shape (petite and big thighed), they are very flattering! After adding the extra to the side seams for my saddlebaggy thighs, I added even more (1") for fitting insurance. I'm so glad I did because these definitely would be unflattering for my fat thighs without the extra space. I like snug jeans, but I'd rather they glide over the bulges than hug them. I also added an extra 1" at the top of the waist in case they were too low. Which I felt they were when I tried them on before applying the waistband.

Once I put the waistband on, it was fine. I love this pattern! I think if I had chosen a bigger size, and made view B, I would've had a better fit to start with.

The gaposis problem I had with the jeans. Instead of making darts, I just redid the CB seam. I think when I retrace the pattern, I'll trace a bigger size in view B and make some other adjustments to the CB seam and the yoke piece.I used Rocketboy's tutorial on waistbands (you can find it on page 31 of the jeans sew along at Patternreview), but had cut the lining on the straight grain. Next time, I'll cut on the bias. I don't mind the straight band, rather than contoured, but I would like a little more give when I eat...

And that wonderful waistband application:

I have the McCalls pattern to do. I don't know if I'll like this one... it was much shorter in the back and I don't like to have anything showing back there... ewwwww... I did make adjustments, adding more to the back crotch length. And it also has 1" extra fitting insurance, so we'll see.

Jalie or McCalls jeans? Alterations to both patterns

I'm so glad Spring break is over and I can finally get back to my sewing! Now that all the kids are back in school, and my workload is still very minimal, I can work on my jeans again.

Alterations have been finished on both pattern. Here's what I did after comparing each pattern to my favorite pair of Levis.

Jalie was the same in crotch measurements, so I'll start with this one first. I wanted a little more width in the upper legs and hip and considered tracing another pattern. Instead, I just added the extra generous 1/8" to the side seam from waist tapering to the knee. Most of my baggage is unfortunately located in the outer thigh, so that's where I added the space. If you click on the pictures, you can see the addition of blue alteration lines.


I also decreased the length by chopping off 4 inches from the botton. When I measured it out, the distance from crotchline to knee was pretty close to my measurements, so I made no length changes above the knee. I also made the adjustments necessary for the yoke/pocket/waistband pieces.

McCalls alterations are a little trickier. First I retraced a size 10 since 14 seemed way to big for stretch jeans. 10 was much closer in measurements to my Levis. After lopping off 4" from the hemline, I adjusted the back crotch length, adding 1 1/2" to make it a little closer in length to my Levis. I also tapered in 3/4" on both sides at the knee to add some shaping. This alteration was tapered from 2" below the crotchline to the knee, then back out to 0 at the hem. I added a generous 1/8" to the sideseams for a little extra space at the hip to waist. Thigh measurements were actually close enough that I didn't feel I needed to make any adjustments. Again, if any adjustments affected the pocket pieces and yoke, I made those as well. Click on the pics below and you'll be able to see the blue adjustment lines.


Yippee! We're getting to the good part.

Ready.... set..... CUT!

Jalie Jeans or McCalls?

The new Jalie Stretch jeans pattern just came out and I've been wanting to sew a new pair of jeans. I had started tracing the McCalls pattern a few weeks ago, but decided to wait on cutting them out when I heard about the new Jalie pattern.

Here's a look at the front and back pieces of both patterns. If you click on the picture, you'll have a better view of the differences between the two patterns. The McCalls patterns have 1" seam allowances, but even after tracing those in, you can see a significant difference in size. This is before any alterations were done. I went with the size charts and tried to trace the one that matched my measurements closest. Jalie pattern size T matched waist and hip measurements perfectly, while McCalls size 14 pattern was within 1/2" of my waist and hip. However, after tracing the two patterns and laying the Jalie pattern on top the McCalls one, you can see there's a significant difference not only in style, but in sizing! And yes, both require STRETCH DENIM. For a minute, I thought the McCalls pattern was for non-stretch denim... but nope, it lists both regular denim and Stretch denim, and there is a stretch meter on the side of the package. Hmmm...

In comparison, the Jalie pattern is much more fitted from waist to knee. The rise is a bit lower in front, and the center front slants at a slightly greater angle. It is also much closer in angle to my favorite pair of jeans.
The CB seams on both appear to have a bigger wedge cut out than my favorite pair of jeans, though both angles are very close.

Okay. So then I compared the measurements from both patterns to my favorite pair of jeans, and because the McCalls pattern seemed way too big, I included size 10 and 12 as well... here's how they fared (Favorite jeans, area measured, Jalie, McCalls 10, McCalls 12, McCalls 14):

7 3/4" (Front crotch:) 6 3/4" , 7 3/4", 8 1/8", 8 1/4"

12 3/4" (Back crotch:) 12 3/4", 10 1/4", 10 1/2", 11 1/8"

37 3/4" ( Hip:) 37", 37", 38 1/2", 40"

23 1/4" (Thigh around crotch line:) 23 1/4", 23 1/2", 24", 25 3/4"

22 1/4" (2" below crotch line - around the saddlebag): 21 1/2", 22 1/2", 23 3/8, 24 1/2"

15" (knee): 15 1/4", 19", almost the same as size 10

17" (leg opening): 20 1/4", 19 -20" for McCalls sizes

I did NOT take into consideration basic length measurements as those can easily be adjusted. So far, Jalie seems to be closer to what I'd want to wear.

Next post: Alterations