30 January 2012

Pattern Review: B5682 - First pair of jeans

Let me first say this was my very first pair of jeans/pants I've ever made so I'm happy to have completed them. 


Pattern Description: MISSES' JEANS AND TROUSERS: At waist, fitted jeans (A,B,C,D) and semi fitted trouser (E), have contoured waistband and fly zipper. A: Slim leg, ankle length. B: Straight leg. C: Boot cut. D: Flared leg. E: Straight leg, hook and eye closure. I made the trousers

Pattern Sizing:6-14.  I cut the 14 but I could have gone down to a 12 as I have a bit of sagginess in the hips & bootay.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?Pretty close for the most part.

Were the instructions easy to follow?There's really not a whole lot of pattern pieces so it seemed it would be pretty straight forward. However I was SUPER CONFUSED on the instructions for inserting the fly zipper. I couldn't make any sense whatsoever out of what they were asking me to do. I just left it sit on the table in the craftroom for about a week. Every day I'd walk in there and look at the instructions, look at my fabric and turn the light off and walk out. LOL! Via the message board on here I found a tutorial and a video which SOMEWHAT helped. But given that my pattern pieces were not shaped the same as the pattern pieces in the tuts, I still had to fudge it a little bit. But it WAS enough to get me passed that step. But my fly zipper didn't look very "fly" - meaning the zipper was just barely covered. Once I got beyond that, the rest went relatively smoothly.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?I loved that I could potentially get so many cuts of jeans from one pattern.
After having consulting some tutorials, I didn't really like the shape of the fly part. I wish it was all one piece and the same shape on both sides. Not sure if any such pattern exists but I will be on the hunt for one. Also the little piece that covers the zipper was not as long as it is in ready-to-wear jeans.

Fabric Used:Denim I caught on clearance from fabric mart for $1.19/yard. For the pocket linings I used cotton scraps leftover from making a purse.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:As this was my first pair of pants/jeans I've ever made, I didn't want to make any alterations to the pattern. I considered adding a couple of inches as I prefer a 33-inch inseam when I wear heels but I can wear this version with flats.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?I don't know that I would sew these again. Maybe with a bit more experience I would be able to make this pattern work for me. But as for now, the fly zipper part is a bit confusing. I don't know that I would recommend this to beginners as their first pair of pants.

Conclusion: I wanted a great pair of trouser jeans and I think I'm STILL on the hunt for a great pattern. I'm calling these a wearable muslin. They need a bit of fitting but at less than $5 for the project, I'm not upset if I don't work out all the bugs on this one. I will be attempting to do some fitting in the butt/hips. Here are pics of how they fit as of now.




 

5 comments:

  1. Hi Inez! Sorry to coopt your post but I am still interested in your feedback re:dress that Kate Middleton wore. Couldn't find your email address.

    So how does it fit? My email is lakaribane AT gmail DOT com if you want to do this less publicly, LOL!

    And to answer your question, I usually buy Petite in RTW or, more likely these days, shorten patterns all over. I'm 5'05" and that's a challenge sometimes.

    Read you soon!

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  2. They look great, how come you don't post more often? lol

    xoxo

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    1. Thanks Mimi G. They were ok for a first effort but definitely need some work lol. I don't know. I can't seem to find that much time to sew and then it takes me forever to finish a garment. And then I have the nerve to forget to take a pic when I'm wearing the item lol.

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  3. Hi and help if you're still around :). I did ok with the fly but I'm having a terrible time with the waistband. It doesn't seem to be long enough and the notches/squares/circles aren't matching up. Any ideas? Thx!

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    1. Hi Kelsey. It's been a while sense I sewed this pattern. I can't remember if the waistband is straight or curved. Off the top of my head I would suggest first making sure that you cut the waistband the right size. Also, did you make any fitting adjustments to the pants that would change your finished waist length? If the waistband is curved, you will need to ease it along the top of the pants and it may be necessary to clip it in places. Try lining up the ends and the notches/markings and then pin very close together to see if you can get the slack out. Hope that helps.

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