The second day

Yesterday, I talked about the first day of my four day weekend, when I finished three quilts and made a pair of pillows. 

Well, when I was looking for denim for the pillows, I found a very nice piece of tan denim.  And, I decided I needed a new pair of pants.  So, I pulled out my Burda 3406 pattern, which I’d made once before as a pair of shorts, and forgot the the instructions are almost unintelligible (it’s like they were written by a third grader who didn’t know how to sew and whose first language was not english), and I started to cut. 

And, I cut until my hands hurt, using scissors instead of my rotary cutter because in my sewing room cleanup, the one mistake I made was underestimating the amount of access I needed at my cutting table. 

Multiple layers of denim are hard to cut with even the best scissors. 

I tried on my pair of shorts from this pattern before I started, so I had high expectations of how these were going to fit.  Perfectly.

So, I started to put them together.  I got hung up at the zipper (I already mentioned the instructions are stupid, right?).  I finally pulled out an old pair of jeans with a hole in the knee, that I knew I could take apart if I needed to, just to see how they were put together.  I spent a couple of hours, just getting the zipper to go in right.  And, even at that, it isn’t perfect, but it is good enough that no one can see the mess from the outside and I’m not showing you a picture of it from the inside.  Anyway, getting the front assembled was all I was up to in a single day, so I basted the sides and center seams together, just before dinner, and I tried them on.  Slightly large, but okay, no reason to stop working, they’ll fit on at least the days I feel big.

Anyway, the morning of the third day, I ripped out the basting and put them together for real.  I struggled and struggled with the Singer 401 to get the top stitching right and it just was not cooperating.  So, I’ve decided; I’m using the Bernina 930 to make clothes from now on.  Where I struggled and struggled to get good top stitching out of the Singer 401 (and have struggled to make clothes with several of my other vintage machines) the Bernina sailed through up to 8 layers of denim, and hardly slowed down.  Even the belt loops went in perfectly and I was really worried I was going to have to do them by hand.  I even plan to take my bathrobe from last spring and re-do some of what I did there because it can be better.

So, here, without any formal introduction, are my new pants.

 

And, yes, after laundering, that is the perfect fit. 

So, guess who’s feeling both hot and successful today? 

Me.  I am. 

I decided to wear them today, because today, I have the preliminary interview for the new job.  And, nothing is making me feel more successful right now than my success at making a pair of tan jeans.  Look good, feel good.

And, no one will know that the inner seams are all serged with red thread because that was in the serger and I didn’t feel like re-threading.

Nor will they know that the zipper is blue and recycled from a pair of worn out jeans that are in the quilt pile (necessary after ruining one zipper in the process)

Just like in a job interview, you keep some secrets to yourself.

Except with y’all.  Y’all can know my secrets.  But, don’t tell.

That’s it for me today.  Tomorrow, I’ll share how I spent the second half of day three, starting another project that I’ve wanted to do for a long time.  I am so excited that my sewing room is so organized.  I can actually find stuff I’m looking for to complete some of these projects, where supplies were collected over many years and stowed here, there and yonder. 

Be well.  Have a great Wednesday.  Smile every chance you get, especially at 11am central, please.

Lane