Sew Inspirational

SEW ESSENTIAL - Tips for Sewing Jeans

‘Sew Essential’ is just the area to find out all that there is to know to make your unique garment into an up-to-the-minute outfit and there is no easier way to keep ‘on the edge’ of fashion than with beautifully executed topstitching and edgestitching.

Wow, what a difference a stitch makes!

Pattern Choice - McCall’s 5142 view C: Relaxed fit Jeans and View D: Slim fit Jeans.

Fabric Choice
Choosing the right fabric is crucial to the fit of jeans.
Stretch woven fabrics are perfect.

• Cotton / Spandex is a common combination. It produces a flexible, stretchy fabric, which is easy to wear and provides a very comfortable fit. 
• Suede Cloth is a blend of polyester and spandex and is wash and wear. Cotton / Polyester blends are available and also easy to handle.
• Linen / Spandex is another great choice for jeans.   
  Woven non-stretch fabrics also make great jeans. Jeans made from these fabrics produce a firmer fitting pant. 
  

Needle Choice - Jean
Jean needles are for sewing denim and other tightly woven fabrics. These needles have a specially designed spear point which penetrates tight fabrics without pushing the fabric down into the stitching plate slot. Jean needles are normally available in sizes 90, 100 and 110. Jean needles are also excellent for topstitching woven fabrics.

Thread Choice
Robust and hard-wearing jeans seams have to take a lot of strain therefore use the very best tread.
Mettler metrosene Plus is a very thin thread of extreme tensile strength and abrasion resistance, making it the perfect choice for jeans. Use extra strong thread for the contrasting topstitching. Mettler extra strong No. 36 is what you want. Whatever colour your jeans are – stone washed, dyed, new or old and faded – you’re certain to find the matching thread colour in the Mettler metrosene Plus range.

Stitch Choice
With denim, it’s best to use long stitches: stitch length 3 – 4.
Use a 3 wide and 1.5 long zig-zag or a three-thread overlock stitch to neaten the seams.

Best Foot Forward
Jeans Foot
A Jeans Foot is perfect for sewing heavy seams and thick fabrics and is a natural for heavy duty sewing projects like hemming jeans, sewing canvas or making travel bags. Going from a single layer of fabric to several thick layers is no problem with this foot. The single needle hole provides extra stability for the needle even as it crosses thick bulky areas such as flat felled seams. The Jeans Foot is essentially a straight stitch foot and should not be used with wide decorative stitches. The narrow groove or thread indentation on the bottom of the foot allows heavy threads to pass under the foot, preventing skipped stitches when topstitching or sewing reinforced seams.

Edgestitch Foot
An Edgestitch Foot has a blade which acts as a guide when stitching along an edge – as when attaching a pocket or edgestitching a collar, or when adding decorative or reinforcing stitching to a seam. The guide is shorter  allowing greater maneuverability when stitching curved edges and provides more contact with the fabric which is especially helpful when working with lightweight fabrics.

Tissue Fitting is Essential
For those sewers who require more details of tissue fitting, I recommend “ Pants for Real People” by Pati Palmer & Marta Alto” as a great reference. See www.palmerpletsch.com

Giving Jeans the Essential Design Details
Rivets, jeans buttons or studs and topstitching. It is important to study an existing pair of store bought jeans to select those details that interest you.

1. Rivets are small metal reinforcement discs, found on the corner of the fob pocket, on the top corners of the back pockets and usually on the seam where the front pocket joins to the back, on the side seam. Rivets and jeans buttons come in gold, silver and bronze. 
2. Jeans Buttons and rivets are easy to apply and simple instructions are included in each packet. Just be aware, that these products come in packets with applicators and refill packs have NO APPLICATOR.
3. Top Stitching. All brand name jeans have extensive contrast top stitching details. Top stitching usually consists of two rows of contrast stitching. The main function of topstitching is to reinforce seams and add a decorative detail to the garment. The use of topstitching adds a sporty, casual finish to jeans.  It is important to practice your topstitching skills before you start on your jeans.
   

Here are a few rules to follow when top stitching to prevent puckering.

1. A topstitching needle in you sewing machine is essential. This needle has a larger, longer eye which reduces thread friction as the thread passes through the needle, thereby preventing the thread from splitting
2. Use a longer than average stitch length 3.5 - 4.5mm is a good length
3. Using a double thickness of regular thread, on the upper spools, is less problematic than topstitching thread or buttonhole twist.
4. Use an edge stitching foot for the first row of stitching and for the second row, use your needle position button to align the rows. Make a note of your needle positions and stitch lengths and write them on your pattern instruction sheet so you can replicate it for future garments.
5. Do not back stitch at the beginning or the end of the rows of topstitching.  Always tie the ends securely at the back of your work.

Jean Zips verses Polyester Zips
Although metal zips do give an authentic jeans ‘look’ to your jeans, these zips are very difficult to alter. Use a longer than regular zip in the fly front. Once fitting has assessed the waist level, the top of the zip is trimmed off, thus eliminating the stop at the top. Metal zips are hard to trim down and even harder to stitch over once the waistband is applied. Use a regular dress style zip.