A Riveting Tutorial

I know you people know how to put on rivets, but I forgot today and I lost my instructions, so this is for me in the future. I figured it out by looking at a picture from an old post where I just happened to catch the back of the riveting tool package. It was a little blurry, but good enough. Moooo!

Take a nail and push it through the spot where you want the rivet. The little black disc that comes with the tool is so you can hammer on it if you want to - put it under the spot where you're hammering. (I figured that out by the tiny nail holes I saw there!) Take the nail out and come back in the opposite direction to make a good hole - it's at the tip of my thumb (not IN it, surprisingly).


Load the rivet "tool." They supply a long cylinder to help you get it seated well - you don't really need it, but you feel more like a machine worker if you use it.


The tool is ready. Inside rivet part on the bottom, outside rivet part on the top.


I've pushed the rivet stem thing through the hole from the inside out - that's the hardest part because there are lots of fabric layers and this isn't sharp like the nail. See the silver bit sticking out near my thumb?


Now lower the top so it sits nicely over the bottom and bang away. It really only takes a couple of blows.


Remove the tool from the inside and outside - voila! One time the seat of the tool came off with the rivet, and when I removed it there was a huge black rubber thing where my rivet should've been. I nearly panicked, then I realized what happened and just pulled it off and stuck it back in the tool.


Oh Spaceman, I'm so sorry!

Skinny Jeans....Done.

I have a beautiful grosgrain ribbon to use inside a waistband on the next pair like Robbie suggested, but I didn't want to hide my spaceman on this pair so I took 6 tiny darts in the waistband.


You can barely see them on the outside, plus I don't tuck.


I practiced a buttonhole using topstitching thread on the right. Yeah, um, that didn't work. I changed to regular thread - it's bright orange but looks exactly the same.


Uh, okay. My Brother doesn't like doing buttonholes on denim layers - the plastic foot doesn't seem to have the pressure to move the fabric. I had to pull it through by hand pretty much. I'll try the Janome next time.


"Howdy! Can I getcha some tartar sauce to go with that fried catfish? Yeehaw!"


Tucking only to show construction details. Note right front pocket wrinkles - pocket bag indeed has too much fabric....nailed permanently in place by rivets.


Note the illusion of a contoured waistband...


which can actually stretch to accommodate a small child. Well...I exaggerate...maybe just an automatic weapon.


The end.



I'll tweak the pattern to get a better fit around the waist, and I'd like to work out that right leg wrinkle on the back, but that one's on every pair of RTW pants I have. I'm happy. Stay tuned for a rivet tutorial...

So Close to Finishing!

I worked on them as much as I could today, but between being on call and having the Pinewood Derby all afternoon, I didn't get finished. So Lucas is a very poor picture taker, but this is what we have. I lightened it up so you can see the left pocket showing through because Vogue doesn't do pocket facings with cotton - just a big denim pocket. Dean noticed the pockets showing through right off the bat. The right one's not QUITE as noticeable because of what I did below.


I got rid of as much denim as I could on the right pocket.


(I love my little spaceship and astronaut!) The other pocket has the coin pocket and would be too involved, so I left it alone. Plus it's the leg with the big run in it, which Dean also noticed.


So I get a little pulling in the pocket, which some of my RTW do as well - I think it's that the pocket bag has more fabric than the leg...or something like that.


And here's the rear. You can't tell these things are skin tight, can you? The legs still look a little generous but they FEEL just fine.


All I have left is putting the carriers on, doing the buttonhole, and hemming, then I'll find a proFESSional photographer to get some pictures.

So Lucas's car set a track record in the first heat, but a wheel popped off with a tiny piece of wood when it slammed into the finish line. Dean worked hard to get it back together, but it didn't go that fast again so he came in 4th place, which means no trophy. He was pretty devastated. (Two Tiger Cubs cried but by the time you're a Webelos, you've learned to hold it in.) I told him that I knew how it felt to work so hard on something and then it doesn't turn out quite like you wanted, because I feel the same way about my jeans. He said, "Yeah, but Mom, your jeans didn't come in first place and then break." He has a point.

Jeans Almost Done

Well, I worked for a couple of hours on these today. I used the Betzina tip of sewing a selvage in the crotch seam so it won't stretch out. I also did a faux flat-fell here a la Pants for Real People.


The inseam and crotch seam matched up perfectly on the first try!


The yoke took 3 attempts and I finally had to offset them slightly so that when the foot climbed over it pushed them into near-perfect alignment. (Drew didn't get that this was 4 pieces of material joined together - he seemed awed that this is how his RTW jeans were put together.)


Crappy iphone pic - I don't have the waistband on yet and they slide down if I let go, so I'm hiding my undies with my top. I look very short from this angle, and you can't see my pockets too well, but they turned out nicely.


So the legs are nice for work but baggy for jeans (especially skinny jeans - hello!), so I took an extra 1/2" seam allowance on the side seams, which made the hips too tight. I'll let those out 1/4" and hope to waistband and belt loop them tomorrow.

I'll probably use Jennifer Stern's instructions from the class on adjusting the rise and make another pair of these for work...we'll see. I really need to figure out what Mardi Gras dress I'm wearing in a couple of weeks. Maybe tomorrow I'll try them all on and ask for a show of hands. It seems like when I post pictures on the blog I can tell which one I should choose - much better than looking in a mirror. I'm sleepy - good night!

Minor Jean Suckage

Okay, Vogue said to interface the pocket then embroider it, then press seam allowances in. Unfortunately I grabbed the sew-in interfacing I guess - it wouldn't fuse. And this was the pocket I already embroidered. This is going to catch on my ring or something when I stick my hand in my pocket. If the point is just to stabilize the pocket, I may use that spaceship cotton fabric. Any other reason you'd interface an entire pocket?


Yikes, why did they place the pattern so high? If I did the top-stitching I wanted to do at the top, it would run into the design. I tried 1/4"-spaced stitching but it looks terrible. I think I'll toss this and move it lower on the next pocket.


And I flubbed the bottom of the fly stitching on the curve - see how it widens out then gets narrower again? My edge-stitching foot just has tiny little markings to line up and not an actual piece of metal to put the fabric against. Oh well, there's that big run in the fabric, right, so I wasn't going to wear these anywhere important anyway...


And these carriers are SO wide! Next time I'll do it Jennifer Stern's way - Vogue actually had me sew a seam, trim it, and TURN the whole thing! Do you know how hard it is to turn a strip of denim? Neither do they!


Now I'm already thinking about what's next when these are done, and I may try some Kwik Sew Boy Short panties. I found a panty plethora at Stitches and Seams and researched some Kwik Sew patterns briefly. I made some lingerie in 1993 - I'll have to dig those up and get a picture. It was a camisole and undies and they were so uncomfortable I never wore them, but they were so PRETTY!

Now that was back when there was a club that sent you several pages each month to put in your 10 binders, and you got a new pattern every month too. I'll take some pictures of it - it's hilarious to see the styles. I actually made a bunch of things but I've tossed most of the patterns now. More on that tomorrow hopefully.

Next up - what Mardi Gras dress will I wear this year? I kind of hate the 2 I made now. Did you read The Help? Remember how they talk about how homemade Elizabeth's clothes looked, but they didn't tell her to her face? I feel like that. But I don't want to buy a new one, so I may recycle the pink one with the broken straps and see what I can do.

Pants Progress Continues; One Gerbil Does Not

Oh, this morning Lucas told me I'd better come look at something. One of his gerbils was lying dead in the food bowl. The other one kept sniffing at his face and putting his paws on him. Lucas said, "I think his brother killed him." I said, "No, he's just trying to wake him up to play." (That would've made my neice burst into tears, but Lucas is tough sometimes.) He finally decided it was his fault somehow, and hey, if that motivates him to be a better pet-owner, who am I to disagree? I did reassure him that their time was officially up last October, so I'm betting on natural causes.

Anyway, he wanted to bury him in the backyard, so after school today we double-bagged him in Ziploc (thanks to Dean for retrieving the body for me) then taped him securely into a box and buried him a foot and a half under a bench in the backyard. Lucas wanted to put some flowers on his grave but didn't think I'd agree to breaking off one of the new pink Taiwan cherry blossoms. When I did, he gave me a big hug - most awesome moment of the day.

In sewing news, I'm learning that you can go your own way with patterns if you know what you're doing. I'm taking Jennifer Stern's jeans class on PR and I paid extra for the videos on how to do it. They're awesome! Here's what Vogue said to do with the coin pocket.


Frankly, I had a Mad Cow moment and forgot how to miter a corner, so I had to pull out a dang book! Then I realized how bulky it was going to be and used Jennifer's suggestions instead - you're not going to see the bottom, after all, and it gets topstitched anyway!


And her fly came out perfect because of an odd way she does the seam allowance using Wonder Tape, but I did it the Vogue way, resulting in a wee bit of wonkiness that I shall photograph tomorrow. Vogue also had me enclose the edges of the fly and fly facing in bias binding! Not sure why exactly, but it's cute.


Anyway, I'm ready to sew seams and place carriers next, so I hope to have some pictures of a final product soon. Off to watch her video on flat-felling...

Taiwan Cherry Tree and Juvenile Pockets

I emailed the newspaper's Gardening Editor 2 or 3 years ago and asked if a Japanese cherry tree would grow here, and he recommended a Taiwan cherry instead. Dean planted it for me, and we thought it was dead because we never saw a leaf or bloom on it. Until now - behold the wonder! (Well, it still looks kinda puny, and so nice with the power lines, but we have BLOOMS, people!)


And this is a random picture of what Jake does while I sew - watch the street for dogs to bark at.


I took the kids to spend the night at the beach, where I tested my pocket-stitching prowess on the Janome. First I traced the pattern I had and pinned it to the denim...


Not too shabby...other than a wonky stitch where I backed the needle up by hand - don't do that.


And here's what the inside of my front pockets will look like. Remember Pammie's fabulous lining fabric with pretty red roses or something that coordinated with her red jeans? Well, this was what I had in the stash.


Yep, I didn't feel like going out to get special lining because this is just not my dream denim. I also found a long run on the fabric after I cut the legs out, so some distressing may be in order....for the fabric, I mean.


Only I will know that I have a tiny spaceship in my pocket.

Jeans...Done!

Hooray! I finished them at 6:45 AM by hammering in rivets in the garage so as not to wake everybody else. The only stinky thing is that I ran over zipper teeth while trying to put the buttonhole in (don't ask why zipper teeth were there; you know my previous zipper problem) so the machine doesn't make a buttonhole anymore - whoops! So a little visit to the store is in order, and I can wear my jeans to show the owner - she's the one who hosted Sandra Betzina last week. And yes, I did wear the jeans to dinner last night without a button...which is actually a good thing when you eat too much moussaka. I may leave it off permanently.

So anyway, off to pack for Spring Break vacation at the beach. I'm making my sister a shirt, so I'll get pictures of her in it hopefully, but won't be able to upload them till I get back. (What do you mean you want to go to the beach? We've got a SHIRT to work on!)

DJ Zipper and Rapper-17

Word to Drew for the videography, and props to my man Rapper-17 (picked the name himself) for joining me on the flo'. Remember my little statement at the top about being odd and sometimes inappropriate? I think it crossed into weird today, but you'll forgive me I hope. I just wanted to show how much talent DJ's need to do that scratching - we had to do a couple of takes because I was off the beat, thus the poorly edited version. Anyway, shows how well these jeans are made that I can play the zippers like that with no popped stitches, huh! (Ignore the carriers that aren't sewn down yet.)

Bye-Bye, Miss American Pie

That does it. I'm moving to Japan. Or Canada. No, it's not Obamacare. It's the fact that Americans love Tim. They sent Didi home tonight (despite the 50-60 phone calls I made on her behalf). And I know it wasn't good last night, but she knows where she belongs and she sang Rihanna tonight for her desperate begging song, but they didn't save her. They're probably saving the save for Crystal or Lee or Casey. So they sent home a cute blonde with such an interesting voice so we could keep watching 2 boring people (Tim and Katie) with no personalities. I mean, even the Ford commercial was boring tonight. And I think they got the memo about how boring everybody is because there was no group song tonight. Just P-Diddy with his gyrating women singing, "Hello. Good morning." Really very catchy. And Usher's song was boring, but at least he can DANCE, so that saved the whole hour.

Alright, off to pack my bag. Oh, and I'm not done yet with the jeans - still have topstitching/carriers/hemming to do, but I sew on them a little every night then wear them till bedtime - so comfortable! And I can even do a little "scratching" (like a DJ on a turntable) with these pocket zippers to go with my dancing - how hip is that? (Yes, very!)

I Love Me Some Sandra Betzina!

I'm heartbroken that this was the last day, and I didn't get there as early as I wanted because of work, and I had to leave early because we're going to the beach, but I had such a nice time anyway. Check out that zippered back pocket. I'll get more pics later because we're literally leaving in 10 minutes, but I was just so jazzed to have a picture with her. I spent a long time on that pocket and ripped out topstitching once, but I finished them both and now just have to waistband/yoke the jeans and baste them together to check fit.

Just to share how helpful she is, another lady spent a long time making a tunic top to wear with leggings, then thought she looked pregnant and didn't want darts or princess seams or anything Sandra came up with to make it look better. So Sandra went through all her patterns to see if there was any bodice she liked, and when there wasn't she went to the Kwik Sew patterns till they found something. She then measured her up and made adjustments to the pattern pieces before the woman left for the night. Now that's just wonderful. She also offered to help us fit any pattern we wanted, didn't have to be Vogue.

So, more pics Sunday night, and dammit I forgot to take my book to get her to sign it! Saaaaannnn-draaaaaaaa!!!!!

Day 2 of Sewing Camp

Giddy with excitement, people! Yesterday was okay with the fitting, but I was nervous about keeping up with everybody and having to make a muslin out of pillowcase fabric, etc. Here's the muslin, which had some issues. I'm holding out the hip area where she widened the seam, and I think you can see the marks on the crotch where we widened the fly.



And if she saw one wrinkle on that left leg I'm impressed, because I see a bunch. But we added to the "hook" on the back crotch seam and extended that to the knee for the wrinkle.



So today I came home from work and cut out everything and interfaced it before I went in so I could get straight to sewing. And just how awesome are my pockets? (Bitchin' pockets, Sister, testify!) She made me hold them up and someone asked if I used a twin needle or was that just some fine stitching (DAMN fine stitchin'). She "encouraged" me to pick out some fun cotton print for the lining instead of the white stuff I brought from my closet, and what a great idea. I had just told my mother I hated that fabric when we were in there the other day, but I think it's the cutest pocket lining for some reason. So I was slow as Christmas doing ALL those pockets, but it was really fun and came out so nice. (I am so hyper right now, sorry!)



So I left at 9:45 PM (I did take 45 minutes to meet Dean and the boys for dinner, during which time they had to hear about how famous she is and how lucky I am and how awesome my pockets were). Tomorrow I'll try to head in about 1 PM and get these bad boys finished. Now could you vote on whether the back pockets should have zippers or not? It calls for a zipper at the top of each back pocket, and I don't know if that's too gimmicky or not. She did tell me that Vogue wanted more jeans patterns from her after her first one, so she stood outside Versace and sketched the pockets on the $900 jeans in their window. Too cool....makes these seem relatively cheap at $350. (Dean said this would be the most expensive jeans I ever had.)

And if you're still here reading my manic ramblings, I actually loosened up more tonight after that beer at dinner (just one), and got to know these women better. They told me the San Fran. retreat is a week long for 10 women, and you stay and sew in a hotel with meals pretty much provided, plus happy hour, so you can drink and sew all night long if you like. Then they fabric-shop all day Saturday and go back to HER HOUSE for dinner. And they might spend the night there before flying home on Sunday, but I could be confused. So cool...this is so awesome...