Verdict on the smartPATTERN barrel leg jeans

 

And here are the completed jeans. TADA!

The strong sun lets you see the details but also made me squint, so it's a mixed blessing.

The fit is super comfy. They are not tight but snug through the hips and waist. 

Despite my taking in the pants through the hips I applied the waistband without any change.

It's a curved waistband, so partly on the bias. But it is totally stable, because I applied a weft insertion fusible interfacing "backwards" so that the straight grain end of the interfacing is applied to the bias end of the waistband. (There is a separate interfacing piece which, unlike the waistband itself, is cut in 2 pieces.)

As I mentioned in my first post about these jeans, the smartPATTERN site allows you to configure the jeans for custom style as well as fit.

My options are shown on the front of the PDF that I received with the pattern. It's labelled "instructions" but does not cover the sewing of these jeans. For that, as previously mentioned, you go to the website, which has copious and well illustrated instructions on how to sew jeans. These are generic jeans sewing instructions and not style-specific, although there is a specific page on how to sew the darts in the barrel leg jeans. 

I chose a medium barrel shape, full (regular) length rather than cropped, and one leg dart. Other options included knee darts and two types of side panel inserts to get the barrel shape. 

I could have chosen a front yoke or angled front pockets, and a differently shaped back yoke and pockets. 

I could have picked a straight waistband or a button fly.

You need to supply your body measurements, including hip circumference, total height, inseam and outseam lengths, waist, and leg measurements at the thigh, mid-thigh, knee, calf and heel instep. Finally, you need to rate the roundness of your butt on a scale of 1-5 (I picked 2). 

I'm impressed with the fit, although I had to tweak the side seams because my fabric has some stretch, which isn't called for.

(Here is where you get to rate the flatness of my butt.)

Considering that I did nothing to check the fit before cutting out, smartPATTERN has kind of nailed the lengths, front and back, that I need for good fit.

I think they are well balanced on my body. While there's a bit of pooling under my (flat, as previously mentioned) butt, I don't think it's unacceptable. You do need some fabric length for ordinary moving around.

I like the leg shape. They are barrel shaped without being clownish.

The length is good. I turned up a bit more length than called for (4 cm) and if they shrink up too much I can re-do the hems if needed. 

I used this crazy print cotton for my pocket bags and waistband facing. 

I made sure to sew it inside out so that the right side of the print would show. I like a bit of crazy in my custom made jeans.

I think I'll try a rigid denim pair next. 

So what do you think? Want to try your own custom jeans? I think you should!

Making the smartPATTERN Barrel Leg Jeans

I am making these jeans up exactly per the pattern and as instructed on the rather good pages of instructions on the smartPATTERN website. You start here with a general overview. Each page, once you have finished, leads on with a link to the next one. So you read on about preparing the pattern, cutting out and sewing the front pockets. Then it's on to the fun stuff - the fly front and the back yoke. 

BUT they interrupt the progressing instructions to remind you that it would be a good idea to check the fit before finalizing the back. So there's a detour to a page instructing how to prep the pattern for a fitting. 

I'm impressed by the details and precision of the pattern and instructions. 

For example, the instructions say to position the back patch pocket template with a view to visually centering the pockets on the back seam topstitching rather than on the seam itself. You place the edge of the template that aligns with the CB seam against a line of topstitching rather than the actual seam - the rightmost for the left pocket, and the leftmost for the right pocket. 

Yes I am aware that it's almost impossible to see this very subtle detail in the photo at left. 

The fly front came together perfectly. The outseam of the pants has a 2 cm wide seam allowance so that if you need more width, you can let them out (I had speculated it was for flat felling purposes - it isn't). 

The waistband is precisely the right length for the unadjusted pattern, but also has plenty of extra length if you need more room. 

The fit was very close but as I'm using fabric with a bit of lycra, they are too loose. I think the pattern in rigid denim (which is what is called for) would fit me perfectly. 

I ended up sewing about 1 cm out at the waist, 2 cm out over the hips and 1 cm between hips and hem. 

While making these jeans, my serger decided that it had reached the end of its rope and it refused to cut through the layers of denim needed to neaten the leg seams. I'm going to take it off to the spa ... soon. In the interim I had to manually cut the seam allowances down to size before serging up to the raw edge.

The other mechanical problem I had was with my Pfaff sewing machine (a very big Quilt Expression 4.0, probably about 25 years old), which was having fits sewing through the multiple layers of denim, especially for the topstitching that is needed for jeans sewing. I was using the 3-stitch straight stitch (two forward, one back, two forward, etc.) for beefy stitches using ordinary thread and a new jeans needle that's plenty strong. Nevertheless, I had to stop sooooo many times because my machine got "overloaded" if the needle didn't instantly pierce all the layers. Honestly, for its size, this machine is gutless.

What an idiot I am! I finally got out my far older and tiny Singer Featherweight out and threaded it up with some topstitching thread and a jeans needle and it sewed through everything I threw at it like the little champ it is. I should have used it for the entire project. 

Now I've done all the topstitching, including the waistband, attaching the tops of the belt loops (8 layers, plus 2 of interfacing) and the hems and I've come back to my laptop to research (again, because I always forget between projects) how to use my Prym Vario pliers. I even searched my blog to see if I had a useful link - no, although I had some info on how to use other snap applying tools. 

So, for posterity, here is a pretty clear photo tutorial on how to apply anorak snaps using the Prym Vario pliers.

Once I put this info into practice, they will be done. And then there will be photos.

Some observations about the smartPATTERN pattern

1. All the seam allowances are printed. 

2. There are different seam allowances on different edges. For example, the inseam of the pants have a 1.5 cm seam allowance, but the side seam is 2 cm wide. I think this is probably for flat felling purposes. Pocket seam allowances are 1 cm. The curved edge of the fly facing is 8 mm. 

3. The pieces are tiled very tightly. My full length pants pattern occupies only 24 pages. This is possible because each smartPATTERN is a one-off, individually prepared file. Print-at-home patterns are generally tiled for multiple sizes and if you want one of the smaller sizes, there is usually a lot of blank paper around each piece. 

4. Due to the above (one-off, individually prepared file), you don't get your smartPATTERN instantly after clicking "buy". I ordered my pattern in the evening of the eastern time zone and I didn't get the pattern until about 11 hours later. After, I suppose, the smartPATTERN-makers had had a couple of working hours to prepare my file according to my specifications.

5. In addition to actual pattern pieces, there are templates. For the back patch pocket there are two. One to guide the topstitching and the other to aid in precise placement on the back of the pants. There is a template for placing the coin pocket. There is a template for the length of the belt loops and where to fold them. There is a template for placing the buttonhole on the waistband. And finally there is a template for the topstitching on the fly.

6. The details are quite beautiful. The sides and bottom edge of the back pocket are slightly curved, for example. I guess I should cut that template out of cardboard and use it as a pressing aid!

I am supposed to use denim with no lycra for this pattern, but the only denim I have on hand has a small amount of stretch (1% lycra). I'm throwing caution to the winds.

Well, they're comfy

I finished the free Unfettered Patterns Barrel Leg Pants last night when it was already too dark to take photos.

As a reminder, here's the UP drawing of this pattern.

Here's my version.

I cut these out of mystery stash fabric. It's a navy blue woven, probably some cotton with maybe some rayon in it - this guess based on drape and weight. Provenance completely lost in the mists of time. I'm treating these as a wearable muslin.

The verdict is that they are supremely comfy. But maybe not so fashionable? Does fashion even matter? 

Asking for a friend.

I am glad I added 1.2 cm to the rise, which puts them at just the right height to sit at my natural waist. 

However, I did not need the extra room in the front and back leg seams, or at the inseam. Whoops. I sewed some of this out. The finished hip measurement seems to be about 112 cm whereas the pattern says it should be 108 cm. I kind of like the volume in this fabric. But it would be too much in anything heavier or stiffer.

The back, meh. Flat bum, too much fabric there. 

But I can definitely see making these again.

I have some lightweight synthetic fabric with lengthwise stretch, meant for hiking pants, that I bought from Core Fabrics last year. I think this pattern would make dandy pants for summer walks in the woods. Long pants are a must even on the hottest days due to the increasing prevalence of ticks, which carry some nasty diseases. 

I will cut size S/M with the extra length in the rise but no extra width. I may add cargo pockets or a zipper pocket in the right side seam. And I could see making additional darts in the lower leg. The barrel shape is pretty subtle as it is. This would not only emphasize the shape, but make the pants more tick-resistant by narrowing the ankle. 

Final assessment - a pretty good pattern, especially given that it's 100% free!

And next up: my custom barrel leg jeans project! I'm going to make them up 100% as per the pattern, no second-guessing. Can't wait to see how they work out.

New pants in progress

But not "those" pants. I got distracted by another barrel leg pants pattern. This one is free! And it's another new-to-me pattern source - Unfettered Patterns.

The website has a variety of confusing click-bait buttons. Like the "free PDF" button in the image above. That is NOT the download link. 

Stash diving revealed a length of navy blue cotton (?) - maybe it's a blend. It's nice and drapy and not totally rigid. So I figure it will cover for a variety of possible fitting snafus. If it works out I may make several pairs including one for summer hikes/walks in the woods. 

For future reference, I have cut size S/M based on my hip measurement. However, based on some comments including one that mentioned these were low rise, I added some extra fabric insurance in the form of 1.2 cm in the rise on all pieces and an extra cm along the vertical leg seams. I also cut size M on the inner leg on both front and back. I can always sew out this extra fabric!

Thanks for the comments on my last post! I want to resurrect my blog via shorter and less detailed posts (not so daunting) because other platforms have become such a swamp of ads and AI nonsense. If you leave a comment, I'd love it if you included your name because so many comments just show up as "anonymous" and I feel like I know so many of my readers. 

I'm kind of excited about this

Yesterday, I came across a new-to-me sewing pattern source - smartPATTERN - have you heard of it?

Mostly they offer jeans patterns. So many styles of jeans. I need new jeans. I was looking for a barrel leg shape, and theirs is intriguing. 

Notice it's "made-to-measure". Like a couple of other sites I'm aware of, you input key body measurements before clicking "buy". But that's not all. You also go through a series of menus that literally customize the pattern to your preferences, as well as sizing it for your body. 

Do you want that waistband up high or low? How much ease do you want in the crotch? How much oomph do you want in the barrel shaping? How should the barrel shaping be accomplished (side panels, darts at the knees, darts at the hem, or any combination of these)? Do you want them full length or cropped? What about the back yoke shape? The pockets? Zipper or button fly? The questions are numerous. 

So interesting!

I clicked to buy (will detail my styling choices later) and as I write, my order is still processing. 

Stay tuned.

Oh yeah, no promises I'll blog regularly, but there is so little information in English about this German pattern purveyor, that I want feedback. Who is still reading this?

Can I post retroactively? Filling in a gap from 2021

A friend told me she couldn't find the post on my blog about an epic machine knitting project that I completed on Christmas day in 2021. Nor could I, because it didn't exist! Poor, poor neglected blog.

To recap, one day in late summer of 2021 I got the totally idiotic idea to knit my husband a vest using left over bits of sock yarn in my (ahem) extensive stash. In intarsia. Based on a hand knitting pattern by Kaffe Fassett. 

Here is the photo from the original pattern (Ravelry link), which is in a book I happen to own. 

Of course, all the yarn that was originally recommended is long since discontinued. However, this is the type of project that practically begs you to use whatever you have on hand. 

I had so much miscellaneous fingering weight yarn, even including some orphan discontinued Rowan skeins sourced by my husband at thrift shops. How fitting to include them in my project.

Husband and I went stash diving and came up with a palette that worked.

I ended up using most/all of these yarns in the finished vest.

The pattern looks complicated but breaks down into understandable chunks. 

If you squint at the pattern photo, it resolves into a quilt-ish looking pattern of hexagons against a neutral background. The hexagons are comprised of 6 triangles each and the background is also triangles. Each triangle is 16 stitches wide at its horizontal side (base or top, depending on whether it is point up or point down) and 16 rows high. 

I decided that each hexagon needed to have two dark triangles, two warm coloured triangles, and two cool coloured triangles. I had two different neutrals (a warmer and a cooler beige). Other than that, my only colour rule was not to repeat the same colour in the same orientation too closely together. It had to look kind of random, but kind of ordered at the same time. 

This is what intarsia knitting looks like while on the machine. 

I used "butterflies" of yarn wound on my left hand - a butterfly wrapped about 20 times was more than enough for one triangle. Plus, the dangling butterfly was about the right amount of weight on the yarn to keep it from jumping off the needles during knitting. The clothes pins are holding down the end of the yarn at the very beginning of each triangle; the butterfly hangs from the last knitted stitch in each colour. The other things hanging off the knitting are claw weights, which help keep the entire knitted piece on the machine. 

And here's a video on how to knit intarsia on a machine. It's not rocket science, but it does take concentration. I started with the fronts on the theory that they would ease me into the process (half the width, half the number of different colours in a single row). The photo above is of the back. Even after knitting both fronts without serious incident (that I now recall), I found I could only knit two rows of triangles (total of 32 intarsia rows) at a time before needing a break. 

Long story short, Ravelry tells me that I started this project on August 29 and finished it on December 25, 2021. 

It took forever to weave in all the ends on the back of the knitting. 

Once the ends are woven in, the back is almost as neat as the front.

And now for some finished photos.

With a pipe. Because male models in knitting patterns are often holding a pipe, if not a gun of some kind. 

You can readily see the hexagon quilt-like pattern in the back. 

It has pockets!

I made a wedding dress!

It's a few days after the wedding - of my only son to his long-time sweetie - who wore the dress I made for her. Actually, she wore both dresses that I made - the "practice dress" (she changed for the reception) and the "real thing". So I am giving myself full marks for client satisfaction.

I am still processing the whole experience. But you only want to know about the sewing, right?

Initially, when I signed up for this project after finding out that future DIL was going to be 30 weeks pregnant on her wedding day, we were thinking that an easy to wear knit dress would possibly work. I made a number of inquiries and found out that The Fabric Room had white silk jersey in stock. So that's why we went there. Also (confession) I had wanted to visit this store for many years and had never had an opportunity or an excuse to do so. 

Of course, the jersey wasn't quite right, but we found this interesting silk-viscose blend, very drapey but with a bit of body. Up close, it is almost a tiny mesh and I would say it is semi-sheer. It would clearly need to be lined and initially we thought a coloured China silk could work. We bought some pretty red fabric. But to be safe, we also bought some fine white cotton batiste, which ended up in the lining of this dress. 

I'll make her something else out of the many metres of red silk!

To make this dress a bit more fancy, I used a tiny remnant of silk (Shantung? - from a friend's stash) for the bodice insert, topped by a pretty lace (from the same friend's stash) applied to a skin-tone mesh. There is also a band of lace on the "waist" band. 

I didn't even try to pad my dress form for the baby bump, as you can see.

I decided to use the same cotton/lycra knit fabric as in the practice dress as the underlayer for the bodice front. Because I was confident about the pattern (thank you practice dress) I thought I could construct the bodice in a more straightforward way.

However, this dress is both lined and partly underlined, which put all the complexity back into the sewing procedure.

I underlined the back bodice and the waistband with silk organza from stash. This added stability to the dress fabric in areas that would be stressed due to close fit. 

The entire dress, except the bodice front, is lined with cotton batiste. At DIL's request, I again made in-seam pockets, which I cut out of the cotton and inserted through an opening in the lining so that they ended up on the inside of the lining. If left between the fashion fabric and lining, they would have showed through. 

I had initially sewn exactly the same dimensions as the practice dress and had inserted some 2.5cm elastic in the front of the waistband. On a fitting a few weeks before the wedding, it was obvious I needed to let it out as much as possible, and the elastic was deemed uncomfortable. Out it came! (Her wish was my command.) 

My last technical challenge was the hem. I had added height to the front panels as well as width, but based on my experience with the practice dress I had cut all panels about 8cm shorter than the pattern. DIL was planning to wear flat shoes and the skirt was just too long. 

However, as a result of a combination of factors (very shifty fabric and the growing baby bump being the most important), when I finally had the opportunity to figure out the hem, I found I had only about 2cm to turn up in front and close to 10cm in the back. I was hemming this dress in the few days before the wedding at my mom's place, having brought a sewing machine, my serger and a good iron as well as all the tools I could imagine using. Luckily I had also thrown in the remainder of the fashion fabric.

My hem solution was to tear 10cm wide strips of the fabric and use them to face the hem. If I do say so myself, this worked brilliantly (although it took me an entire day).

This view is perfect to illustrate the back (back neck lowered a bit) and show that the hem has real heft and is quite even. I was very relieved to see this, I can tell you!

This ends the saga of the dress, but not all the wedding-related sewing. 

DIL had asked for a bib if there was fabric left over (there was!), explaining she was worried about the dress during the dinner. I didn't think it was fair for her to be the only one, so I made a bib for the groom as well. I found a free pattern on the internet. The bibs are structured due to a lining of the batiste fused to light batting. I decorated them with silk organza and a couple of buttons and they close with velcro. I think they turned out really cute.

Not sure what I'm going to make next but it might be for a small human. 

Mother-of-the-groom - that's me!

In between working on THE DRESS, I've also been making the dress I will wear to the wedding. It's my version of an OOP Vogue pattern designed by the late Patricia Jeanne Keay. 

I first saw this dress in 2010 in a Threads Magazine article. A version of that article (written by the designer) is on her website. The full article is on the magazine's website, if you have access to it. 

I instantly thought that the pictured celadon green linen dress was just about the most beautiful creation I had ever seen. Those embellishments! So unique.

Anyhow I didn't forget about the dress and when I saw this Vogue pattern published seven years later, I bought it instantly. But it has been languishing in my collection unused since then, waiting for a suitable occasion.

I decided that my son's wedding would qualify, so I got it out and did a muslin. The pattern has lining pieces that end in a level hem (at a high mini-skirt level) and I used them to check the fit. 

I found that the pattern, unlike the red version on the pattern envelope, but very much like the green version in the article, had an extremely wide and open neckline, with the shoulder "straps" set so wide that they would be of no use in actually holding the dress on the wearer's body. It was far too wide and open to fit me properly, or to be comfortable. 

I was able to adjust the front and back neck by different amounts to fix this problem. I took the back in more because it was generally too wide to fit me properly. The front only needed the neckline adjusted. 

Here's a snap of the adjusted pattern pieces. 

You can see the deeper "dart" reducing the overall width of the upper back piece on the left. 

I bought linen from Core Fabrics, plus matching Bemberg lining, and I'm very impressed with the quality of both. 

Looking at the photo of the back, I could have narrowed the back bodice a bit more, but it is OK.

This adjustment slightly changed the angle where the shoulder "straps" would attach. I had to further adjust this a tiny bit in the back. 

I'm calling them "straps" because they are way more interesting than the usual 2 dimensional strap found in a pattern. 

The bias piece (see photo at left) is sewn into a tube and then pleats are formed at different angles in the front and back. The result is a nicely 3D piece that cups the top of the shoulder. 

With my adjustments to narrow the neckline, the dress will be securely bra friendly. Win!

The other change I made to the pattern was to line the flounce, which Vogue instructs to leave unlined. I think the lining adds the right weight to the piece, which might have been flimsy in comparison to the rest of the dress. The upper part of the dress is lined with a mini-length version of the dress pieces. It also has a facing for the upper edges, which is applied to the top of the lining pieces. I found this a bit surprising, but it works.

I had lengthened the flounce slightly (about 2.5 cm) and cut the flounce lining a tiny bit shorter. Then I seamed the flounce lining to the flounce at the hem, and attached the upper edge at the dress/flounce seam by hand. This makes for a very smooth and completely invisible hem. 

Finally, you ask, what about the bodice embellishment? Isn't this the most important and interesting part of the entire garment?

Why yes of course it is! The Threads article focuses on how to make the skinny bias tendrils and make them curl, and to sew the 3D leaves/petals. I was interested to see that the pattern has a good amount of detail on this too, and in fact the pattern pieces for the leaves were slightly simplified. 

Kay's secret to sewing the tubes and turning them right side out is:

(1) To ensure the correct tube dimension, don't focus on the seam allowance width while sewing. Pay attention instead to the width of the tube itself. Simple but critical. 

(2) After sewing the seam use your serger to beef up the seam allowance with a narrow 3 thread stitch.

(3) Fasten the end of a good length of very strong thread to the seam allowance at one end of the tube piece with a secure knot. 

(4) Thread a darning needle with the other end of the thread and draw it through the tube.

(5) Pull on the thread while helping the end of the tube where the knot is tied to fold inside. Keep pulling gently until the knotted end appears at the other end of the tube. 

No further corsage needed!

Wedding prep - second instalment

So I made the "practice" dress based on my adjusted pattern. Short story - it needed a bit of adjustment, but basically worked very well.

The fabric is rayon challis. The "real" dress would be made from a silk/rayon blend that's very drapey, with a lining that was at that time still undetermined. We had bought some china silk in a rosy red, but also white cotton. 

Future DIL didn't want the crossover bodice of the original pattern so I adjusted the bodice to have two draped halves that would meet just above the underbust band, with a V shaped panel behind. 

It was a challenge to figure out the draped piece. I based it on the original pattern but adjusted it to remove the shoulder seam gathers as well as for the altered bodice configuration. 

The pattern has a princess seamed bodice under the draped front. In fact, it called for two layers under the draping - one is a base for the draping and the other is lining. I decided to use just one layer of fabric under the draped front, but made it as lining, that is with the wrong sides together.

I cut this under-bodice out of stretch knit on the theory that this, coupled with the draping, would adjust for bust expansion, if needed. 

I didn't have to change these pieces too much - the CF pieces only had to be altered to change the angle of the front neck.

I puzzled for far too long over construction steps. It's hard when nobody has figured this out for you ahead of time! I ended up finishing the bodice front neck and arm edges and attaching the V panel (which I figured might need adjustment) with hand stitching. I stupidly attached the back skirt panels to the back bodice and waistband before I attached the front bodice to the back, but I was smart enough to realize I had to wait to insert the zipper until after I sewed the shoulder seams (topology!). I hoped at the time to remember not to do the same with the real dress). 

As you can see in the above photos, the draped front was a bit too long (better than too short!) for the princess seamed bodice pieces once pleated into place. The excess was trimmed off later. 

The hugely expanded skirt front was pleated into the lower edge of the underbust band to match (sort of) the pleated bodice. I made the front of the underbust band into a casing for some elastic in case needed for future sizing issues. 

Also to assist in adjustments later, if needed, I did the side seams last. 

We hadn't seen the happy couple for a few weeks and things had evidently progressed by early May - the bump was a bit more than I was expecting for that point, to be honest. Luckily, there was still plenty of room in the front of the dress for further expansion, so it was all good.

We found that the V panel was too wide and too high. Thanks to my forward planning, it was easy to unpick and adjust. 

I did the hem while they waited, and waited, and waited! Yikes, the skirt hem is LONG (no extra cm were added below hip level). With the practice dress approved and delivered, I could move on to the real thing. 

To be continued ...