That was some good advice.

Thanks for all the comments on my last post. I decided to hem the jeans and finish the waistband with a shank jeans button. I always have trouble getting the shank and the base to stay together while I hammer at it. My hack trick is to put the shank in the base and then step on it (of course, while wearing hard soled shoes), which gets the two pieces to stick just well enough so that I can hammer it.
Here are some photos of the finished deal. These jeans are so comfortable. I'm glad that I didn't get rid of them.
As I mentioned, I wanted a pair of jeans so badly that I didn't plan ahead. Luckily I had denim and a jeans zipper in my stash, but I didn't have enough of any one color of topstitching thread. I had beige, brown, rust, and white left over from past jeans projects... I used the beige and brown on the patch pockets and fly, the rust (which ended up looking red against this denim) on the waistband and inseams... and then ran out so stitched two lines of normal weight red thread to finish the topstitching. I think that throwing the white topstitching thread would have been too much going on.

Here's a closeup. You can see the different colors on the yokes, pockets, and waistband. I always stitch the pocketbag to the back of the leg with topstitching.

I used leftover seersucker from the sundress I made in January for the waistband and pockets. I like using a lighter weight fabric to line jeans waistbands. It's more comfortable to wear and the turn of cloth is easier to stitch. Win win, I think. I also always stitch twill tape at the waistband seam to keep the waistband from stretching from wear.

Here are the inseams and hems. Unlike the red pants, these didn't turn out skin tight (which is a good thing, I think) -- maybe it's the change in fabric, and I'm pretty happy to have a slim fit jeans pattern in my stash now!

Longest crotch in the east

After my 3 month ordeal with the lined wool pants, I decided I wanted something quick and easy. Like a new pair of jeans. I decided to reprise my skinny pants from the Burda 8/2009 issue, but in denim with jeans style topstitching and patch pockets. You'd think this would be a slam dunk. I'd think so too. I am so desperate for a new pair of jeans that I decided to just sew with what is at hand, so there are three different colors of topstitching as I ran out of thread and decided to try to make it look like a design element... Aside from the beige, dark brown, and rust topstitching, and the fact that I haven't finished the hems yet, there is a bigger problem.

The shape of the legs is good. Back looks okay.

Front is okay... kind of.

Promise not to laugh? Here's what it looks like if you can actually see the front.
Longest crotch ever! I don't think the zip is supposed to be the length of the entire pant front, though this is how the pattern is marked... it looks so Busy-Hands-At-Home-y... At this point, I think I might just toss these. What a waste of otherwise good fabric!

A huge difference in 1"

I wore the gray pants to work on Thursday, and on Friday and decided not to make any changes to them or the black pants. Here are photos (the far right are the black pair), of Burda 07-2009-102 in daylight... Can you tell the difference between what I'm doing differently today from Thursday? I'm wearing 3" instead of 2" heels. It's amazing how much better the pant legs fit with a little more length to drape!
And so you can see the pocket and waistband detail (photographing dark gray and black are tricky!) here is an overexposed view.
I am considering making a jacket to match the black pair (there's enough extra fabric left to do so) but the fabric was so fussy that I think it might be better to use it for something simpler, like a skirt or a sheath dress...

Aw, shucks.

Thanks Andrea!

I'm supposed to tell you 7 things about me and nominate 7 of you to do this too... I'm actually not going to nominate anyone, but I would love to hear from someone who's never commented before. Tell me about yourself! Do you have a blog? I'll add you back!

1. I was born in the 70s, not the 80s. For some reason, this always surprises people.
2. I enjoy traveling alone. I've taken road trips in California and Australia by myself and met a lot of interesting people along the way.
3. The very first thing I bought when I got my first job after college was a used Singer sewing machine for $80, because I always wanted to learn how to sew.
   
4. I love bikinis, because it means beach to me... and I love swimming in the ocean.
5. I am a doctor, but not the kind that works in a hospital.
6. Apples are my favorite fruit. If you want to get specific, I'll take a Pink Lady or a Honeycrisp, please.
7. The first thing I did with my first sewing machine (see #3) was reupholster a love seat and 3-seat sectional. Believe it or not, that was much easier than learning how to fit clothing to my lumpy little body.
   

A big step outside the box

I finally finished the two pairs of wool pants I've wanted since December. This is the Burda trouser pattern I mentioned about a month ago. I'm not sure how I like them. I made a short muslin (ended at the knee) so I didn't get a good idea of how the full leg looked. This pair is gray stretch flannel, the other pair is a wool/poly stretch that for whatever reason (different fabric?) feel bigger than this pair. My muslin was made from stretch corduroy and felt more fitted in the thighs than these do.

I took these pictures this morning because I plan to wear them to work. I wanted suitable office wear pants, but these feel really frumpy to me. Believe it or not, this is the brightest spot in my house -- I'll take better photos outside this weekend when the porch isn't covered in shade. I am trying to remind myself that the day is coming where I can't go to work in skinny jeans so I should get used to dressing like this, but the fit of these pants just feel so off to me. After doing the flat seat alteration, I'm somewhat satisfied with how this fits in the butt but the legs feel way too big and baggy in the thigh. I'm wondering whether I should have gone down a size in cutting the leg. Because I never put belt loops on my pants (and more importantly, I hate wearing belts) I am pretty sure that these will be saggy and even more frumpy by the end of the day.

click to enlarge

Sewing and running don't mix

Hi! This is what I've been doing instead of sewing the ever growing list of things I want to sew.
This is a photo of me around mile 13 in a 30K (18.64 mile) race that I did on Sunday. Despite my humble goals in my upcoming marathon (finish without crying like a little girl), training for this race is really taking it out of me. At this point, I'm running 60 miles per week, which means getting out on the pavement at 6:15 in the morning, and another short run in the evening. When I'm not doing that, I'm working, or trying to keep my stomach full. It's amazing how expensive marathon training is -- I'm always eating!

And I'm always tired. Like, I have a hard enough time keeping my eye on the goal at work, never mind at my sewing machine. On Saturday, I needed a good sit-on-my-ass-and-drink-lots of water activity... sewing! I am almost done with my wool pants (that I wanted in December) and probably would have finished them but for spacing out after every other seam. I've also decided that I can't go to the Lowell textile museum meetup after all; I have a 20 mile run planned for that morning and the last time I tried to go to a museum after a long training run I spent most of it sitting on a bench outside the exhibition... not so great for hanging out when everyone else is actually looking at the exhibits!

Given the rate at which I'll be sewing until this marathon, I really need to prioritize what I'm going to sew. I want some new skirts, jeans, and shirts for Spring. However, I think that I need a suit or some other grownup attire for upcoming interviews and the like. Tomorrow I have a Big Presentation to give and no idea what to wear. I had an interview for a job a few weeks ago and freaked out for a few days over what to wear... and was relieved when it was a phone interview. So this is where I ask for your help -- what do grownups wear to work? I think that I can possibly make a long term project of a suit of some sort. I have plenty of suitings in my stash. What color is "professional"? Gray? Black? Is it "more" (whatever that means) professional to wear a skirt suit or pant suit (I'd prefer pant suit, I think)?

Slow pants

I've been working on pants for the last month. After like, 14 muslins, I've finally figured out how to make Burda pants fit my stumpy limbed, flat-assed (never thought I was deficient there!) self. I also learned that really, you can't go back. I have Burda back issues from 2005 and 2006 with pants with adorable details (these are both from the February 2006 issue):
You would think that this would be my best bet. Classic cut, Burda's petite design. While this fit, it was so high waisted that it was saggy in weird places around my hips.


This one had such a cute waistband... but in 2006 I guess Burda was all about the matronly look because these were so long in the crotch and big around my hips and thighs I felt like I'd aged 15 years.

I decided to go with a more recent Burda design, though I was a little leery of doing so. It seems to me that Burda's all about skinny pants lately and as much as I love me my skinny pants and jeans I do need some variety. July 2009 had these, and I made them fit, flat seat alteration and all. I've already cut out fabric for two pairs of lined wool pants, and hope to sew them up this week.