SURPRISE! // MATERNITY JEANS

So I promise I make more than jeans, despite what my recent blog posts indicate. It just so happens that these jeans were a total necessity. My last pair actually weren't quite fitting all the way because... I'm pregnant! Jeremy and I are so happy to be expecting a baby boy in August!

I'm now half way through my pregnancy, and I'm finally feeling great. When people tell you you'll feel better in the second trimester - they are not kidding! We actually found out about the baby two days before leaving for Germany and Austria - so that was rather exciting. The only downside was that it limited my beer drinking to the non-alcoholic variety (but there's tons of it - at least one kind at every beer hall and restaurant). I felt pretty good for most of the trip, but started to feel sort of nauseous towards the end - which continued for several weeks. For most of January and February I had a serious lack of sewing motivation - partly because I was burnt out on winter makes, and mainly because I was completely exhausted. It was only a few weeks ago that I started to feel up to sewing again, and my sewjo has now returned with a vengeance!

Pattern: Closet Case Patterns Ginger Jeans
Size: 10, View A (low rise)
Modifications: Added an elastic waist band for maternity!
Fabric: Cone Mills S-Gene Denim in 9oz Indigo, from Threadbare Fabrics and navy ponte knit from the garment district
Worn with: Self drafted tank based on my bodice block made at Camp Workroom Social

While most of my clothes still fit okay, about a month ago, my usual jeans became something I couldn't bear to wear anymore. I decided to take a crack at maternity jeans, and now I've been wearing these nonstop.

For this pair of jeans, I used my trusty Ginger Jeans pattern and our nicely stretchy 9oz S-Gene Cone Mills Denim. I've long admired the pretty blue color of this denim, but for some reason I thought I preferred a heavier weight. Therefore, this is my first crack at the 9oz, and I'm completely in love. It's thinner, but still feels sturdy, and the stretch is a godsend right now. Being the S-Gene denim, I can still wear these multiple times without them bagging out (which is awesome when you only have one pair of wearable jeans).

To maternity-ify these, I took inspiration from several sources - namely Gillian and Katie's pull on Ginger Jeans, and Megan Nielsen's tutorial on adding an elastic waistband to RTW jeans. By the way, Megan Nielsen has a super cute maternity blog - DIY Maternity. I guess I never needed to know about it before, but it's full of cute ideas.

I made my standard size 10 in the low-rise View A version of the pattern, and sewed everything as directed until the waistband. For the fly, I just skipped the zipper and fly shield, and sewed it down rather than basting. You'd think that would be faster, but I found it sort of hard to topstitch without the zipper as a guide and I ended up re-doing it 3 times. Oh well!

Before attaching the waistband, I measured down 1" from the center front of the jeans, and graded to nothing at the sides (this is for belly room). Then I cut along the line I drew... which was a little nerve-wracking because I'd just spent hours making really nice looking jeans that I was just chopping into. But it worked fine! :D

For the actual waistband, I used some ponte de roma knit in navy, and 2" wide elastic. I measured the elastic on my body where I estimated I'd be wearing my jeans, pulling a wee bit tight for a snug fit (but not too tight... I am expanding after all). I cut my ponte the same length and double the width, with a 1/2" seam allowance (rather than 5/8" - no reason). I attached the waistband to the jeans, topstitched the seam allowance down using topstitching thread and I was all done!

I've got a load of spring makes coming down the pipe now that my secret is out - so hopefully things will get a bit more exciting around these parts! I'm pretty excited to share my spring and summer wardrobe plan soon - maternity edition!

Have you sewn for maternity? Any favorite patterns? Any advice on what to do with a newborn once they're here?!

NEW JEANS IN JAPANESE DENIM

Hooray for new fabrics! We recently updated our stock at Threadbare Fabrics with four new arrivals, including our first foray into Japanese denim. And of course, I tested it for myself!

Pattern: Closet Case Patterns Ginger Jeans
Size: 10
Modifications: View A (low rise) at waist, View B (skinny leg) from the hip down
Fabric: Japanese 10.5oz black-on-black denim from Threadbare Fabrics
Worn with: An unblogged Sewaholic Granville in chambray from Michael Levine

Japanese denim is known for its quality, and Jeremy and I were interested in exploring fabric from outside of Cone Mills (which is the majority of our current stock). From reading various blogs and talking to some people, I realized there was a desire for not only Japanese denims by the yard, but also black denim with black threads. What better way to address both of these issues than to stock Japanese 10.5oz black-on-black denim?

Of course, it was important for me to do a test run with this fabric. It's sourced from a different place than what I'm used to (I know I can expect great quality and recovery from Cone Mills denim), so I made up this pair of Ginger Jeans. I've made Ginger so many times, it was really easy to compare the final product to that of my other pairs.

To start, I decided to do something a little different, and I made a low rise version with the skinny leg (View A at the top, View B from the hip down). It was really quick and painless to blend between the sizes, although I'd really love to give Heather Lou's recent mid-rise tutorial a whirl sometime.

The low rise is... very low. But I really do like that I have another option from the high rise. Next time I'll probably raise the front and back rise by about an inch and call it a day. Currently, these really need to be worn with a belt - which I've gotten used to not wearing due to better fitting jeans. Also, I may have accidentally made the waist too big, and was too lazy to unpick everything.

The real test of these jeans, however, is the quality of the denim. To say that this denim is fantastic is an understatement. I easily wore these jeans 4 or 5 times before washing, and they held up just fine. In fact, they almost never seem to "relax" and feel fresh from the wash until about the 4th or 5th wear. That's actually something you may want to keep in mind if you decide to make jeans with this denim... Our S-Gene fabrics relax a bit after one wear, so making them tight is no problem. But the Japanese denim takes longer - so I'd definitely baste before sewing to check the fit (and don't over-fit them).

This denim is getting major love in our house right now, and I'm almost done with a pair for Jeremy to replace his fading black Levi's. So despite the stretch factor (and the lighter weight), I think they make a nice pair of men's jeans. The texture is great, the recovery is great, and the color is uniform and dark. I love them, and everyone needs a great pair of black jeans! :D

Check out this item in our store!

NEW ARRIVALS AT THREADBARE FABRICS!

It's new fabric time at Threadbare Fabrics!! My initial goal was to begin offering more fabrics sooner, but I wanted to choose really carefully. I'm really proud of how our little store has been doing in the last few months, and I didn't want to overrun it with new fabrics just for the sake of having new product. So you can rest assured that I very much love these fabrics, and all are currently/will be a part of my wardrobe.

There are four new fabrics in total (with more planned for spring), and I've included some information below.

10.5oz Cone Mills S-Gene Dark Indigo Denim
Introducing our newest S-Gene denim weight - 10.5 ounces! It's the perfect middle ground between the heavier weight 11.5oz and the lighter 9oz S-Gene denim. This denim will work for low rise skinny jeans (like Ginger and Jamie) as well as other shapes. Be sure to note the spandex percentage, and baste your jeans to test the fit accordingly.

I've had a few trusted jeans makers tell me they prefer stretch denim in this weight range - and we're happy to offer it!

10.5oz Japanese Black-on-black Denim
Another popular request I've heard is for both Japanese denim and black-on-black denim. Japanese denim is considered to be extremely high quality, and I can vouch for it! I recently made my first pair of jeans with this denim, and they hold up just as well as my Cone Mills pairs.

The black-on-black is also new for our shop - this denim boasts only black threads (rather than white), and the fabric is very dark. The reverse side of this denim is a really nice dark charcoal, which could also be used for a slightly lighter pair!

10oz Cone Mills Non-stretch Indigo Denim
Calling all boyfriend jeans! We currently stock 12.5oz rigid non-stretch denim from Cone Mills, and while it's perfect for men's jeans and heavyweight applications (check out Darlene's apron!) - it might be a bit too heavy for most women's taste in jeans making. Enter this 10oz Cone Mills Non-stretch Denim! It's the perfect weight for boyfriend jeans, and other non-stretch patterns. I'm currently making Jeremy a pair in this weight, so it's great for men too!

I think jeans made from this denim would look great distressed or even bleached (like Lauren did here).

4oz Floral Denim Shirting
This gorgeous lightweight floral denim shirting is our first foray into light weight fabrics. It's perfect for collared shirts, popovers, shirt dresses, and even men's shirts. It has a very soft hand, and is completely opaque. It presses, sews and wears like a dream. I've already used this fabric to make a McCalls 6885, which I'll be posting soon.

This fabric is also extremely limited stock (around 20 yards), and can possibly be reordered depending on demand.

As always, if you're making jeans from any of our new denims, please baste together your pieces and try on before committing to permanent stitches and topstitching. All denims are different! Also, if you have any questions, need swatches, or have fabric suggestions - shoot us an email!