Liana Jeans at the eleventh hour

I made jeans you guys!

I’ve never made pants or jeans before, so working through the learning curve of fitting was intimidating as heck and totally frustrating at points.

 

I started sewing my muslin for the Liana Stretch Jeans last December (2015), got stymied with the fitting process, and put them aside for other things. I really wanted to get past my fear of sewing pants though, so completing a pair of jeans was a big sewing goal for this year.

I’ll spare you the fitting trials, but I will let you know that I ended up using a full butt adjustment, taking a 1in wedge out of the back thigh to remove wrinkles, taking in the waist about 1 inch, and adjusting the crotch curve. I’m sure I’ll have to do these adjustments on any pants pattern.

Now that I’ve knocked off one of my major sewing goals, I should be jumping up and down and giddy, but really I felt burnt out by the process.

Pattern: Liana Stretch Jeans from Itch to Stitch. Size 8. Bootcut version, but I straightened out the legs because my fabric was not wide enough. The pattern calls for 25% stretch denim which is tough to find. My muslin fabric barely had 5% stretch and was tough to work with. My final version had 15% stretch and was plenty in my mind. If you’re having trouble finding 25% stretch denim, consider using 10%-15% stretch denim instead and buy enough to make a muslin. Itch to Stitch has a super helpful sew along that expands on the instructions, walks through doing a muslin, and gives tips on distressing your denim.

Fabric: 2yds x 52in wide of 10oz denim with 15% stretch from Girl Charlee (no longer available) and a fat quarter of quilting cotton.

I created a pinterest board with jean details if you’d like some inspiration.

The Liana Stretch Jeans took me 11 hours to complete, plus several hours invested into the fitting muslin. I’m hoping that can be cut that down by a couple hours.

Total Cost: $28.60    Fabric $13        Pattern $9.60      Notions: $6

Eleven hours. That’s a big number… and that’s what has me thinking seriously about if I’ll make jeans again. I’m trying to weigh if the time investment is worth the outcome vs. if I can swallow buying RTW and it’s implications.

Keep watching this space for the decision. A pair of Birkin Jeans was on my original plan, but I’m taking a little time to decide on my course of action.

• I’ve included my Itch to Stitch affiliate links.