12 Top Tips For Sewing Jeans
Jeans 101
Do you find sewing jeans intimidating? Have you tried before & struggled with the fit or does your machine struggle to give you the ready to wear finish that you dreamed of? Join us on our 3 day workshop in April to achieve the fit & finish but in the meantime here’s some tips to help you.
General:
Ensure that your denim has been pre-washed before starting your project - preferably twice. This will ensure that any shrinkage occurs before sewing but also there will be less chance of the dye transferring onto your furniture or shoes - (especially if you wear white trainers - ask me how I know!)
Please make a toile 1st - we cover this in the workshop but if you are using a different weight of denim, have made some design alterations, gained or lost weight or are sewing them for someone else, it is worth the extra hour or 2 to get things right before investing time & money on a pair of jeans.
Where lots of seams intersect, such as at the yoke or crotch seam , you may find that your machine struggles to sew through all thicknesses of denim. You can try to reduce the bulk by using a hammer to flatten the seams before sewing. (A rubber mallet is ideal & make sure you have a flat, solid, unbreakable surface beneath).
Another trick is to try & level up your presser foot from behind. It’s because of the angle of the presser foot that causes problems, such as skipped or uneven stitches & nesting underneath. By placing something under the back of presser foot, you will level it up & make it horizontal again - you could use folded fabric or card or buy a humper jumper, a piece of plastic designed to level the presser foot (aka bulky seam aid/height compensation tool).
If you find the machine is struggling to backstitch at the beginning & end of sewing - decrease stitch length or turn the work & sew back over your starting stitches.
If you find that it’s difficult to pin through all the thicknesses of fabric, especially when you come to the belt loops, try using quilters clips.
Similarly, you can use double sided to tape to position the zip in place, to stop it shifting when you sew
Always test your buttonhole 1st on double thickness of denim with interfacing. If you find your machine is struggling, try lengthening the stitch, as the topstitch thread is thicker than regular thread, the stitches will require more room, this should help the machine to keep the fabric feeding through more evenly.
To help work flow - do your topstitching in batches. Construct as much of the front & back as you can, along with the belt loops, (if using) & back pockets & do as much of the topstitching that you can before moving on.
The same applies for overlocking, applying interfacing & seam sewing. Once you’ve made one pair of jeans & you’re familiar with the process, you can batch as many of the jobs together as you can, that way you’re not having to change over to topstitching thread & the needle & adjusting the stitch length. It will make the process a lot more streamlined.
Have plenty of thread on hand & pre-wind a couple of bobbins to keep your work flowing - Top stitch thread doesn’t last as long as general purpose, so maybe order an extra spool - just in case.
You can personalise your jeans by using a fun fabric for the interior pocket lining & interior waistband - only you will know that you’ve got Wonder Woman pocket linings!
Secret Wonder Woman Pockets
