Brown Denim Pants by PenaLynn

About two years ago, I was in a fitting room of one of the stores at the mall looking at the stack of pants I just tried.  Not one of them fit me.  The khaki pants I was wearing did not fit me either but had to be replaced, its hems and waistband fraying, with faint stains from a yellow shirt on one leg.  Frustrated and wiping the sweat off my nose, I decided then to make my own pair of pants.  

So, I bought several books on sewing, one had a pants pattern and instructions that looked easy but as it turned out, making a pair of pants was harder than I thought. I made a pair that looked like two long bags because I could not figure out the instructions.  I gave up.  Put the cover on my sewing machine and used my sewing table for storage.  

Last month, I decided to go for it again after being to the mall many more times and going home with two pairs that did not fit me.  Again.  I could get pants made to order through the internet but I had said I will make my own.

And I already have what I need in my studio: the sewing machine Dave gave me for my birthday 3 years ago;  muslin for practice; real pants materials; pattern and book of instructions; several sewing books for reference; cutting table; scissors pins, tape measure, thread, zippers, buttons, etc.

It was still hard, I was a beginner tackling an intermediate project. But I was a more motivated beginner.

It took 7 weekends of concentrated work to get to this first pair of real pants.  I had 3 sewing books opened at one time to clarify instructions. I watched video instructions on line to figure out zipper placement.    

I made many mistakes.  The three muslin practice pants I made before the denim, showed different mistakes on the the zipper placement, yoke placement, and waistband assembly. Used the seam ripper to rip off yards of thread. 

Through many trials and errors, I understood the how the different parts of pants work and how to put the puzzle pieces together.  I felt satisfaction from the power of the creative process. 

I felt satisfaction from finally doing what I had wanted to do and have been putting off for years. 

So here it is! 

The pants could use a little less fabric.  So for my next pair, I will use the smaller pattern size. 

The button hole was tricky because the feed dog could not handle the thick doubled up fabric on the waistband.  I found a way to make it by combining different techniques in the button hole making process.  It was crude but it worked.

The zipper placement, the hardest part for me, still needed refinement. I had to rip and hand sew the zipper and hope to get it better for my next pair.

This is not the perfect pair I had hoped it would be. But it is perfect for what it is- my first pair of pants.  I gained patience and satisfaction from doing something I've wanted to do. 

Here's to more projects and to getting the right fit.  

So proud of myself!