Actually sewed something! Boyfriend jeans refashion

before & after

Well, actually it was not really sewing something from scratch, but after watching the British Sewing Bee contest I felt like I had to sew something. Anything. So decided to refashion something for quick results.

Boyfriend jeans have been around for almost a year now. They look great with a short, fitted jacket and must-have heels or ankle boots for the cold days.
I prefer this year's 'new' version of the BF jeans: the 'slim' one. These look less baggy, like Jennifer Aniston's or Gwen Stefani's below.
According to my internet research these jeans are:
- slouchy yet feminine
- have a relaxed fit
- have tapered legs
(I don't prefer the distressed patches)
 

The tapered legs form a huge problem for someone with quite muscular calves like myself. Usually all those jeans that are sitting a bit comfortable around my calves (not even talking about a loose fit!) are quite saggy looking above the knees an certainly not fitting around the waist.

So I turned to my BF's closet and pulled out a pair of quite expensive Versace jeans which were hidden there for about 7 years. (He used to spend money on  stuff like that before we met) In a slightly 'disturbed' moment (and much to my horror) he took the jeans to his mom to have the legs shortened and after chopping the bottom parts of she hemmed them with a plain, thin grey thread!!!
I mean, first of all, everybody knows that is not the way you should shorten a pair of jeans, and especially not such an overexpensive pair!

 

Besides that, the thread used on these pair of jeans has a very distinctive golden sheen to it which can't be reproduced without cutting and reattaching the original hem. Not only is the original hem stitched with the right thread but it is often distressed together with the jeans, so you won't destroy the original design by cutting the hem off.
Read my tutorial of how to do it the right way here!

 Anyway, after I told BF that his jeans were in my opinion ruined, I've never seen him wearing those jeans (not once!). Because since then he gained some weight I know for sure he is not going to wear them in the future either.
Much to my luck, those jeans are just about the 'right' size and fit to become my (first) pair of boyfriend jeans!

Actually, the fit around the thighs and above that is just roomy enough, especially when worn with the must have accessory, a belt:
 

All I needed to do is to slightly taper the legs to make them sit comfortably but not overly loose around my calves. the destroyed hemline wasn't an issue since these jeans are worn with rolled up cuffs:

On top is a pair of Levi's 'bold curve' jeans. There is more room for the hips and thighs and below that it is tapered. It fits just right around my calves, without much room, so I choose to make the boyfriend jeans slightly wider along the leg line. I only took some fabric out of the outer seam which is not topstitched and straightened the curved line of the Levi's pair.
To avoid bulkiness I finished the bottom edge by a simple zigzag stitch.

 

And here are the 'after' pics:

Great British Sewing Bee - episode 2 tonight on BBC2!

For all who have BBC 2, episode 2 of the Great British Sewing Bee contest airs tonight at 21.00 Central European Time! (GMT/UTC 20.00)
Trousers an slippery silk? I want to know everything about!

Episode 2 of 4
Claudia Winkleman hosts a series in which some of the country's best home sewers are tested on their sewing and dressmaking skills in order to be crowned best amateur sewer by judges May Martin of the Women's Institute and Savile Row's Patrick Grant.
In this edition, the six remaining contestants face three more challenges, including following a pattern for a pair of men's trousers. Tackling a fly fastening leaves most of the sewers baffled, but the second challenge - to add patch pockets to a high street skirt - produces some imaginative results.
Finally the sewers create a made-to-measure silk blouse for their model. The slippery fabric is too much for two competitors, and they are eliminated from the programme.

Update

Really, not much is happening right now and I feel guilty about it. We have a potential buyer for our old house, but the price is subject of a discussion. My BF has landed at the point of just sell it at any reasonable price, while I'm busy to figure out the details on how to play it right so at the end of the ay we lose the house and not gain any financial trouble. Pfff...
The constant thinking makes me tired and I feel like I'm not doing much with my free time either. Except cleaning the house and working my way through a huge pile of clothes that need to be washed and ironed. Boring, huh? I just keep thinking, like the past few days I could have make a muslin for the Alma blouse or could have finish some painting jobs or done tons of other USEFUL things in the new house but I just didn't feel like.
Yesterday was the first sunny day in weeks, so I took my running shoes out of the closet and went for a 7.5 km run. It was good and it made me feel better about myself. No matter how much I hate it but due to a period of low levels thyroid hormones I still can't get rid of the extra pounds and as a result I can't fit in all of my clothes. Of course, I guess, this is one of the reasons why I'm not starting any new sewing projects right now.
Anyway, this week is a new week, there are new chances! Getting ready to finish some walls today and to get rid of even more dust (which somehow just keep coming back...)

In the meanwhile I watch things on the tv and wonder why they don't have series like this here? The British home, cooking and craft series are top!
Here there is a lot of explanation of basic sewing terms, a bit of history and it just makes you want to sew perfect, with an eye for details. Worth of watching! Hopefully the next episodes will land on youTube as well!

Heritage

Recently I've spent a short week in Hungary. As I'm always looking for stuff for our new house I spotted a few 'new' old things at my grandma's house. The old scale with a coupe of the original iron weights above was my great-grandmother's, just like the old wedding picture and the 30's Singer I've already got. the little oily was made by my grandma and the lamp shade was a gift to her from my mum about 50 years ago.

Kitchen almost ready

Finally, our Piet Zwart kitchen is almost ready! The countertops were installed today and in the meantime the downstairs toilet is finished as well. Soon we are 'moving' upstairs with the renovation project to get on with the bathroom...

Making a greeting card from scratch - involves sewing a button...

Well, this post at least involves sewing, as far as sewing a button goes.
Since there is not much time to sew I try to use my creative energy for other things. I made this card to send to our friends who just became parents of a baby boy.
There seems to be a baby boom amongst our friends and colleagues. I was bored with the store bought, expensive cards and wanted to find a way to produce a lot of pretty, but not too expensive cards to send. Something pretty, different and suited for both baby boys and girls. So I came up with these. By using two buttons it can even be used for twins.
(I've done the outlines almost free-handed, but made up a neat PDF pattern for the stroller and the heart. Scroll down to download it)

Materials needed: 
- a set of blank greeting cards with envelopes (doesn't have to be the best quality since they will be covered with wallpaper which gives more thickness)
- structured wallpaper (is much cheaper than structured craft paper!)
- gift wrapping paper (I've got one with small red and blue flowers)
- a thin, brown cardboard box (I picked up mine at the greenery)
- cute small buttons - pink or blue
- a thicker white or other colored thread
- double sided tape
- craft glue

How to:
- cut a stroke of the wallpaper that measures the height of the card. Then fold and tear the shorter sides to size
- glue the wallpaper to the outside of the card
- cut the outlines of the stroller from the gift wrapping paper and glue it onto the wallpaper
- cut the heart from the cardboard
- using a needle sew the blue or pink button onto the heart with the thread (the ends can be left as they are)
- attach the heart on top of the stroller with double sided tape
- done!

 



To download the stroller and heart outlines click on the arrow next to 'Scribd.' below:

Welcome Baby Card by doortje05

Dirty hands

Last week in a hurry we've managed to finish the downstairs toilet and the kitchen floor just in time! Yesterday I've done a morning shift in the hospital and after that I have crawled on my hands and knees on the floor for 4 hours to grout the kitchen tiles... Mr. X was very motivated to finish everything but all I wanted is to get some rest. My hands were swollen and dirty, pfffff.....
The toilet is not fully ready though, only the back wall is finished for 80%. I still have to grout the side walls, but you get the idea. Love the little black row of tiles!



Here is what the kitchen floor looked like today in the morning. We used dark grey grouting, hence my dirty looking hands in the first picture. I quickly cleaned everything one more time before the kitchen-guy got started:



And here it is, our 50's style 'Piet Zwart' kitchen! Actually, this design was the standard kitchen from the late 20's till the '60's in every Dutch home. We choose a brand new one. There is one kitchen maker who currently holds the licenses since most parts are handmade and painted in one particular fabric in the country. The sizing of these cabinets is still different from the standard sizing of the other cabinets, but everything is modified to fit built-in appliances, which was not the case 60-70 years ago.  I love the pale pastel green color!!!
(For once, after a bit of cleaning I don't have to do anything here today, just watch someone else doing the hard work! In the evening I start again with 4 nightshifts in a row, so that's enough for now.)