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@bren5kids, thanks! I’ll wait to see the upcoming O+S jeans post, but otherwise will invest in the Small Fry pattern.

Thanks, Lightning – I’ve read that post of yours! Very inspirational. However, given the CF I just made of shortening/waistband-adding on the FT cargoes (even if it did work out), I’d probably prefer a straight pattern, as opposed to a mash-up.

Has anyone made the Small Fry jeans Lightning mentioned upthread? I’m looking for a pattern for my little guy, and I like everything about that one EXCEPT that for every pair I’ve seen sewn, the back yoke looks too tall, making the pockets ride really low. My guy has short legs and a big toddler potbelly, so pants already tend to ride low on him…[Read more]

Well, I muddled through – I made life hard on myself by making these out of Taslon (slippery as all get out and hard to iron) and shortening the pattern in two ways (traced length a size down and took an additional half-inch out of the upper pieces. I trimmed the top pieces twice and did it wrong both times (ugh, sewing at night), so they didn’t…[Read more]

This advice worked perfectly – thanks!

Genius! This is why I post things here – you guys have all the best tricks, by which I mean a boatload more sewing experience than me.

(Incidentally, I’m totally taking your advice on my question about the FT Cargoes just as soon as the fabric I ordered for them gets here.)

Thanks! I didn’t think about cutting two facings – that certainly makes sense.

Yet one more reason this site – and you, Liesl – are awesome! Thank you so much!

Thanks, Liesl – makes sense.

Aaand now I’ve fallen down a rabbit hole of denim fabric sources in the US, the difference between US and Japanese denim, the renaissance of American denim – who knew? Apparently Cone Mills is used by some high-end producers, but others feel their denim is boring. I might have to buy a yard or two on ebay and see what…[Read more]

@Liesl – have you ever looked at Mood’s denims (they have a physical store in NYC, right)? If so, are they not a good source for the quality you’re looking for?

(full disclosure – I have no idea what high-end denim feels like. I buy inexpensive jeans because I’m hard on them. Still want them to fit better, though!)

See, I knew you guys would have good suggestions! Thanks so much! I think one of these patterns will work well. Now I just have to take the plunge.

Two-thread rolled hem, then three thread. The fabric is a quilting cotton, and all threads are standard polyester.

Two-thread rolled hem, then three thread:

I played around with blind hems last night. Having never done them before, I’m not sure what the typical overhead for switching a serger into blind hem mode is, but “automatic” is probably a bit of an oversell. Assuming you already have the right number threaded, here’s the process:

Shorten the stitch length. If using the two-thread rolled hem,…[Read more]

Deb, I haven’t. I’m willing to give it a shot tonight (US Mountain time zone) and take some photos of my raw novice attempts!

I’m not an expert in sergers by any means, but I have the SINGER 14CG754, and I really like it. It seems to be roughly equivalent in price and function to the Brother (? maybe? Like I said, not an expert!). For actual garment construction, I’ve only used the four-thread stitch, but I played around with 2 and 3 thread stitches when I was first…[Read more]

I just sewed this recently, and trimmed only from the bottom hem.It worked perfectly.