Sparkly Jamie Jeans

Today was so sunny that I had to put on my new sparkly jeans by Named, Jamie Jeans. This is my second take on the pattern. The first pair was made from cheap denim and looked like it.

This fabric, 120cm-wide stretch denim with lurex, came from McCulloch & Wallis. According to the Named fabric requirements chart, I should have needed 175cm but I used only 140cm. A gold lurex thread woven into the fabric gives it a healthy amount of sparkle which I like.

I sewed the Jamie Jean in a size 40 without any major alterations: I only tweaked the crotch seam a little bit, adjusting it to the size of my bum. I did not add belt loops because the waistband ran around my waist perfectly, without gaping. It may expand after a few wears, but for the moment I'll wait and see.

I could not be happier with the fit. Although I still may improve the crotch. On the photos the Jamie Jeans look wrinkly, but they do fit me rather well. On the other hand, it was impossible to re-create a natural pose for the photos without showing some wrinkles. I wonder how models do it  (•ิ_•ิ)?

For this pair of jeans, I used flat felled seams to give them a special finish.

When I studied at ESMOD Tokyo, we used this seam for shirts and blouses but, if you examine your jeans, you will notice that they are treated with exactly the same seam. Some people even call this seam "the jeans seam".

The idea of the flat felled seam is somehow similar to the French seam but they differ in the execution. While the French seam will enclose both raw edges inside the stitching, with the flat felled seam you place one raw edge X inside the folded edge of fabric Y, then wrap the edge Y one more time and topstitch. If this is confusing, the diagram below may be more helpful. If not, I will blog a short tutorial on how to sew a flat felled seam next week.

Photo credit: source

The flat felled seam is super strong and that is why it's used for sewing jeans, shirts and children's clothes. If you watched The Great British Sewing Bee, the competitors had to use this seam when sewing a pair of children's dungarees.

Here's another advantage of this seam. When I turn my jeans inside out, they look as neat as they do normally. Isn't it amazing? 

I have to confess, the flat felled seam requires a lot of patience, precision and concentration. You have to pay very close attention to which seam goes where, otherwise you'll end up like me, unpicking two entire seams instead of one! But, seriously, the results are worth it!

After sewing the Alpi Chinos and the Jamie Jeans, I prefer the latter. As much as I like the relaxed style of the chinos, the Jamie Jeans give a more "dressed" look with interesting lines.

Expect to see more Jamie's in the future ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ