Denim is our fashion staple. As a sewist I have begun to embrace
this fabric as one of my favorites (the other being wool). Some history,
denim was first made in France but came to America in 1492 with Columbus on the
ship Santa Maria (source: All
About Cotton by Julie Parker. see Rain City Publishing).
Sew...when I wear denim, I like to think I am '"dressing like the
French!"
From the runway to
the farm to the assembly line, denim is everywhere and sewn into everything. I
used large pieces of denim as a cover for my couch to protect it from my crazy
dogs. It looked nice and resisted tears. Despite it's simplicity and
ruggedness, sewing with denim can pose challenges
especially knowing how to determine the correct denim fabric for the desired garment.
Denim is simply plain old cotton fibers woven into a twill weave.
In classic blue denim, the warp (lengthwise) yarns are dyed indigo blue
and the weft (crosswise) fill yarns are white. These white and blue yarn fibers
give denim its characteristic look. Any fiber woven into a twill fabric has the
classic twill diagonal lines on the reverse side.
The steeper the diagonal lines the greater the number of warp
yarns per inch. The steeper the diagonal, the higher the quality of the denim.
This is a sign of a tight, compact weave that is resistant to tearing and wears
well.
DENIM WEIGHT RULES OF THUMB
Take it from me if you try to make a fitted pair of jeans from a
lightweight, drapey denim or a drapey pair of trouser jeans from a heavier
weight denim, you will be unhappy. I've "been there, done that"
a couple of times, which is how I taught myself to understand the significance
of pairing the correct denim weight with the correct garment style.
Recommended
non-stretch 'classic' jeans sewing patterns:
J Stern Designs
0037 Misses' and Women's Jeans available through Pattern Review
For trouser jeans,
try Colette Patterns
1024 Juniper
To Stretch or Not
Too Stretch....
Stretch denim has jumped onto the fashion scene.
Why? Because the fit is a bit more forgiving. Everyone laments about not
finding jeans that fit and struggling to fit themselves when sewing jeans (self
included). This is a topic for a later blog post. Here are a few
understandings I have gathered on the subject of stretch denim. (And, it is
possible that as I learn more, this may change.)
Choose Your Spandex Wisely
These are two different species of denim and I
have observed many people using the term 'stretch denim' to mean denim with a
little bit of stretch. Here more than ever it is critically important to
understand how to read a fiber content label and apply the right fabric with
the pattern.
The wrong pattern paired with the wrong stretch fabric can lead to
a garment that is either way too small or sags in all the wrong places.
Recommended jeans
patterns for denim with 2-3% spandex:
Recommended jeans patterns for denim with 4-5% spandex:
Stretch Pants from Kwik Sew 3807
The March, 2013 issue of Lucky Magazine offered this color-blocking style suggestion for denim. I suppose it's a good way to use up leftover pieces of denim from past projects.
Happy Denim!!
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