I can’t believe I have my first tear in my first pair of handmade jeans! And it took 2 whole years to get here! Is that an accomplishment or a let down? Read my garment story (inspired by the garment stories at Sew Liberated), and you can decide…
Sewn the fall of 2022
It’s been a little over exactly 2 years since I sewed my first Megan Nielson Ash Jeans. The proof lies on the walls of my apartment. We had family photos taken on Remembrance Day of 2022, and I wore my new jeans to the photo op! The fresh indigo almost looks black. I wore these babies often and washed them once every week for those 2 years.
The tear is in the right knee
A unique patina has been growing in these jeans for some time. While both knees are almost white, the right knee is the one that has taken the fall. When I look at my previously mended ready-to-wear jeans, I have always had to mend the right knee first! It has become predictable. This tear is from normal use, when worn on my body. No one else’s.
This first tear in my first pair of handmade jeans is telling its story. These jeans are exclaiming where they have been and what function they have performed for me: climbing playgrounds, sitting cross-legged, kneeling on the floor, crouching, walking, walking and more uphill walking (New Westminster really is a “City on a Hill”).
You give me a back yoke, I’ll add two darts
These were the second pair of pants I ever sewed. I had never sewn a back yoke on a pair of pants before and I definitely didn’t know the purpose of it. I had to grade out 2 sizes at the hips and the pants gaped at the back waist, a lot. Naturally, I pinched this gap out and sewed 2 darts in its stead. Well, well, well…
Turns out, that’s what the back yoke is for. Ya know those angled seams? Yeah, those are for shaping the rear. There is actually information out there on how to change a back yoke into a dart (like what I did on B’s Jedidiah pants) and vice versa! So cool right? Back to my holey jeans…
They were created pre-eureka moment, so I included both back yoke and darts! Not amazing, but interestingly, no one ever asked me why my jeans were like that. And in spite of the darts, I wore them a lot!
Good thing cropped pants are “in”
Technically this pattern was drafted for someone 5’7″…
Well, I’m 5’5″ with very average length legs. Ready-to-wear jeans are ALWAYS the right length. Or at least have been right enough for me.
I didn’t even think to check the pattern’s inseam…
And they came up short.
A strong one inch too short. An obvious one inch too short.
So I label these my “cropped” jeans and wear them as light summer pants with sandals. I also wear them in the winter, mind you. And in the winter, I pull up those boot socks overtop, slide on my runners and who’s the wiser? Since versatility is a quality I seek after, I’ve really hit the jackpot with the one-inch-too-short look. I’m sure there’s a hashtag for that already. I just make sure to not wear them with those socks in my drawer that are a sporty ankle sock gone wrong. They add 1.5 inches to an ankle sock and are just super Yuck!
And the decision is…
Whether you think this first tear in my first pair is an accomplishment or a let down, I don’t actually care. I loved these jeans. Still love them. Will mend them. Will keep wearing them. And will make more in the future.
Next time though, I think I’ll fiddle around with that back yoke.
Til next time, Happy Sewing!
