11.27.2013

1 for you, 50 for me...

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Here in the U.S., tomorrow is our Thanksgiving holiday (as I write this, at least) - the holiday that really starts off the whole holiday season with a bang (or at least with turkey and naps).  I always feel like this time of year we're supposed to reflect on all the things we're grateful for - sort of like a period of meditation before the expected New Years Resolution phase begins.  Honestly I always felt like the whole thing was a bit too... I don't know... Hallmark-y for me. But I do believe, wholeheartedly, in gratitude.  And there is not one thing, and not one soul on this earth that I am more grateful for than this guy right here.

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I could ramble on about all the things I love about my husband (actually, I couldn't, because when it comes to matters of the heart I get a tad bit... what's the word... verklempt) but really, it goes without saying.  So instead I'm just going to skate over that bit, and get right to brass tacks.

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See... Nick asked me to make him pants. Now if your husband asks you to make him pants, what do you do? You might look him straight in the eye, smile, and say, "Of course, Peaches! Just as soon as I finish whatever it is I'm doing right now" And then once you actually finish whatever you're doing right then, you put your selfish-sewing queue on hold and make your husband/wife/gf/bf/partner/whatever a damn pair of pants!! If this scenario describes you, then I say shove it well done you! Now why don't you go over there where I can't see you, mmmkay??

When Nick asked me to make him pants the first 5 times I pretended I didn't hear him. Then the next 15 times I promised he'd have them for his birthday. In June. Once his birthday came and went, and he was still asking, I just put it out there in some nebulous place of "yeaahhhh, I'll do that.... someday." Finally, it took him becoming quite distraught about the fact that his pants wardrobe is slowly dwindling and I promised to make him pants and do I want him to keep wearing the same pair of green shorts for the rest of his life? for me to hold up my end of the bargain. So almost a year later, I looked him straight in the eye, smiled, and said "Of course, Peaches! Just as soon as I finish whatever I'm doing right now." And once I finished whatever I was doing right then, I actually made him pants. Just kidding. I don't call Nick "Peaches"...

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Part of the hold up is to be blamed on the utterly dismal state of men's sewing patterns. I mean... gross you guys.  And because of this, Nick really wanted me to copy a pair of existing Banana Republic trousers that he owns, and, well... that just sounded hard. Not impossible, but like more work, time, and money than I was willing to put into something I wasn't even sure if he would like. Well thank goodness that in the yawning stretch of time from when he first started asking until now I became introduced to Thread Theory via the blog world.  I think all of us ladies who occasionally sew for men (and I'm sure some real live men, too) were rejoicing once we came upon these patterns.  Thank the heavens! Men's sewing patterns that look contemporary, yet classic, and aren't pajama pants! 

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Please excuse the ridiculous amount of dog hair on these... this fabric is seriously like a magnet!
So I decided to make the Jedediah Pants for Nick, which are an interesting design - somewhere between a classic trouser, with the side-slash pockets and waistband finishing - and a jean, with their patch pockets, back yoke, and flat-felled seams.  This made them a perfect pattern to start with, because they will be easy to adapt to a more traditional trouser (just add back welt pockets and convert the yoke to darts) or a jean (just add a curved front pocket).

Nick wasn't sure, from the pictures, if the cut of the pants would suit him, so we decided to have this first pair be more like a 'wearable muslin'.  I made them in a size 38 (my husband is a big man) out of some cheap khaki twill I bought from JoAnne's, which wrinkles like mad and collects animal hair like it's its job.  

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Now, those of you that have been hanging around here for awhile know that this is not my first time at the pants-sewing-rodeo.  But even though I'm pretty familiar with pants construction at this point, any time I work with a new pattern I like to follow their instructions.  The instructions for these pants were a little different than what I was used to, but overall nothing major.  They tell you to do things in a certain order that I found a bit awkward, and I'll probably do it the way I'm comfortable with in the future.  The only place I really hit a roadblock was with the fly.  No matter how many times I sew a zip fly I still need to follow instructions, and I have to say, the instructions for sewing the zip fly on the Jedediah Pants made no sense. Perhaps this was user error (or incompetence), but nevertheless I fussed and fought and couldn't make it work.  In the end I resorted to Grainline's zip-fly tutorial which I've used in the past and I feel like it gives a great result. Actually, I think from here on out I'm just going to stop second guessing and always use Grainline's method, because I just know it's going to work.

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As for the finished product? Well, aside from the fabric, I think we both feel like it's not too bad. It's a little bit big in the waist (my fault, I was being overly cautious and gave an extra half inch at the CB seam. you can see how they're bunching up underneath his belt in these pictures) and Nick feels like the rise is a bit lower than what he's used to.  We also think that the back yoke is a little large, and it makes the back patch pockets sit a little awkwardly low (on him).  I still think I'll use this pattern again to make him another pair of pants, making a few of these minor adjustments along the way. If he's lucky, he just might get a pair of jeans sooner rather than later (I mean... while I'm on a roll here...)

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Nick is incredibly camera-shy (most of the pictures I have of him are just a blur as he dashes out of frame) so getting him to pose for these pictures was a bit of a project! In the end, he was an awesomely good sport about it, even, perhaps, getting into it just a tiny bit. I like to think of the pose above as his "Jcrew-catalogue-man" pose.

Well, coming back to the theme of gratitude, I want to say thank you to all of you, dear readers, fellow sewing bloggers, friends, and (especially) family, for stopping by every now and then, for all your words of encouragement and praise, for letting me be a part of this awesome, supportive community, and for continually inspiring and teaching me, day after day, month after month, and year after year.  If you're celebrating Thanksgiving, I hope you have a lovely, holiday, and if you're not celebrating Thanksgiving, happy Thursday!

xx

35 comments:

  1. Yay for men's pants! And having just bungled another fly front last night, I think I'll give grainline's tutorial a go!

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  2. You are so brave, and you did a great job too!

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  3. I love these, I have great plans to make some for my hubs, after the 89 dresses in my cue for myself...

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  4. Nice looking man you have there, in some seriously nice looking pants! x

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  5. I am totally impressed by the waistband and fly - and the fact that you put down your own sewing and made your gentleman some pants! Aw!

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  6. They do look good. I find that Burda patterns work well for my husband; many patterns don't allow for Judo thighs. Might consider trying that pattern the next time I make him casual trousers.

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  7. These are an incredible make - for so many reasons. Wow they look good and you should be so proud of yourself. Thank YOU for continuing to inspire me and for being so kind with your comments.

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  8. great job, sallie.. i'm promissing to make pants to nikola for ages, thank you for reminding me of that, i just might finally do that, and call them a new years gift for him..

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  9. Fantastic pants Sallie! Don't know what it is, menswear looks so simple but is so darn difficult to make right. Mainly for the fit and there's a whole lot of top stitching! Nick's pants are awesome and he looks pretty pleased! Must make my husband at least one shirt, he's been asking for years!
    Thank you for inspiring us with your beautiful creations and great images.

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  10. Wow. Sallie, your work always brings home sewing to a new level. I'd better not show this to my guy or I will also have to make him pants! (I'm already tasked with making him an annual sweater for Christmas. :)) Keep up the great work.

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  11. Sallie,

    This is my favorite fly insertion method. I have tried many others and Stitch and Seams is the one that always seems to look professional.

    http://stitchesandseams.blogspot.com/2001/04/techniques-jeans-fly.html

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  12. Sallie, these are awesome!!! J has been asking me to make him pants for years. I've come through with a pair of fleece pajama pants (ha!) and that is all. I had not seen this pattern before so I don't really have any excuse now, do I? I don't think I would be able to make them as awesome as these, but I could try. Well done, you.

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  13. Nice pants dude! You did good! And I don't think your love for your husband is proportional to how quickly you jump to make him things. I would probably take even more time if the love of my life (as yet to be found) asked me to stop sewing pretty things FOR ME to make practical things FOR HIM. Ralph Pink also has a free trouser block on ralphpink.com if you wanna check out another option too. Happy Thanksgiving Sallie my love!

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  14. Great pants! They really look professional and the fit really looks pretty good. With those minor alterations your husband may never need to buy pants again... :) My husband wants (and needs) pants too, and I flat out told him a couple weeks ago that I just don't have enough time to sew things for myself and he should get himself to Target or something. Trying the honest approach. Have a happy Thanksgiving!!

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  15. They look brilliant, and I love the posing!

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  16. They look great and such potential for fabulous future pants. Your hubby sounds a lot like mine. My Nick pestered me for 12months before I finally got around to sewing him a business shirt and he has been going on and on about pants lately but I have been a bit wary on messing them up. I would much prefer to continue doing my selfish sewing but how lovely is it to have a partner that is obviously so proud and confident of your skills that they want you to sew for their wardrobes too! I've been looking at the thread theory design too for a while but was a bit worried it would be a bit slim fitting as my Nick is not a small man either. If he is a size 35 usually, would you suggest going with a size 34 based on your experience...I think a loose waist would bother my hubby more than a tight waist. Thanks for the tips on the grainline tutorial too.

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  17. You've made a nice pair of trousers your husband looks good in them! Also, I completely understand being a selfish sewer - as I am one of them. About two years ago, I was constantly being asked to make a pair of jeans or trousers and I kept putting him off - until one day we took a city break to Amsterdam in the Netherlands and by chance, we came across a fabric market, where he spotted a bolt of corduroy and couldn't be dragged away. He only wanted 3 metres of fabric, but the market trader wanted to get rid of the remaining bolt of 5 metres and sold it to him for 12 Euros. The problem was, we were due to return back to the UK later that day and the fabric weight would have resulted in excess baggage charges at the airport, so we posted the fabric back to the UK, which worked out much cheaper.


    Back at home, I read Peter's blog of Malepatternboldness and looked at his previous jeans sewalong, so I used that pattern mentioned there and finally made the garment, which fit quite well. Anyhow, I thought that was the end of that, back to the selfish sewing, but earlier this year, a certain person started squeaking again for another pair. Well this time, I decided he was going to construct his own corduroy jeans for a change - as his second project, even though the very first project he made about two months earlier was a cushion cover. The toile from the previous jeans fit, so used that as a pattern and showed him how to cut the fabric on the grain, and supervised him whilst he stitched the seams, including the flat felled variety, which he did a pretty good job. One thing he did way much better than me, was the fly area, with immaculate accuracy. The end of the story is he doesn't ask me anymore, as he now knows how much work goes into it. Mission accomplished.

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  18. First, your hubby is a babe! We are both #teambigman ;o)


    Next, I think these look awesome for a muslin!! With all you've done with pants/jeans in the past, I know that next pair will rock even harder!!


    I had a slow start to turkey day. Was dead sick yesterday and our day did not include a turkey in the end. But, while I was feeling all thankful for how the kids and hubby helped me out, I was SO thankful for you all. My online-sewing-turned-real-life-friends!

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  19. Amazing job!! How utterly unselfish of you to make PANTS for your man... it must be love!!! :D

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  20. Thanks Debbie! I like that we both have Nick's to sew for! My Nick was very worried that the Jedediah Pants would be too slim-fitting for him based on the pictures that he saw. As I said, I ended up making him a size 38 and I didn't change the legs at all, so I think they might not be AS slim-fitting through the leg as they seem to be on a smaller man. I'm pretty certain that the waist would have fit perfectly had I just made the straight size 38 and not added width (I actually think my Nick usually wears a smaller size - maybe a 36 - in RTW pants). They do have a lower rise, which also might be why he thinks they feel big, because he likes to wear his pants a little higher so he might be pulling them up a little higher than they are meant to be worn. I would say, based on my experience with the pattern, that I would make your Nick his usual pants size (or whatever his measurement reads on the chart). I think I was just being overly cautious because he seemed so worried about them being drafted for a smaller frame.

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  21. Thanks for the tip, Allison! I'll definitely give it a look over the next time I have to sew a fly!

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  22. Why are fly's such a headache? Aargh!! They just never feel intuitive!

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  23. these look great! i haven't done the pant version yet, but i made them up as shorts when the pattern first came out. i do have some corduroy waiting for version two... and sewing for my hubbs (once i sit down to do it) is actually kinda fun because the "will it fit??" stress factor is about nil.

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  24. Thanks Sallie! I'm on holidays for a week visiting my parents, but now very much miss my sewing machine as I am all amped to get home and start on these pants...well, I am going to go with the shorts because it's summer here, and a wearable muslin sounds clever for me too. I will stick with the 36 thanks to your advice.

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  25. Wow, these look great! And look how hunky your dude is! So.... it's been at least a year and a half since my fella asked me to copy a pair of jeans for him. But it's soooo hard! I feel pretty bad since he's so sweet about putting up with me sewing in basically every spare weekend moment, so I definitely owe him a garment or two. This is a great kick in the pants, actually-- Man Friend goes away tomorrow for a week, which is just the right amount of time to sew something for him. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  26. Wonderful job. I love all of the detailing and topstitching, and the pink striped binding! You did your man proud!

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  27. Wow! I'm so glad to see these made up for a guy who doesn't look like a tall lanky hipster (not that there's anything wrong with that :)). I worried about these patterns for the very reason that my man has some meat on him. Yours look great! and you've inspired me to try.

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  28. Happy thanksgiving! From the first picture I was stuck. Man and his dog, sniff sniff. But bravo for finally making him pants. I get requests at least once a week for shirts, pants, vests, so I'm with you. I can't count how many times I've said "as soon as I'm done"! Thanks Nick for posing for us and letting us see!

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  29. You are an amazing wife to sew for him! My husband us begging for me to make him a t-shirt quilt, but I keep putting it off. Now he's getting pissed! hahah

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  30. I love these! Didn't even think they were a wearable muslin until you wrote about it :) The fit looks good from here! I only made my bf one thing so far, but it is a silk kimono so I guess I did gain some major credit points with that one..

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  31. I am so glad that you posted these! I have been eyeing that line, but was unsure if they were too slim-fit for my husband. Thanks so much and I think I might give these a try. I mean, realistically, this won't happen until next year (way too many cute things for me to sew first), but I least I have some sort of plan! :)

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  32. Thank goodness for Threadless Theory!! I have this pattern printed and ready to trace, and have some navy linen and brown corduroy to make them in (TBH I only agreed to making him brown corduroy pants because I didn't think we'd be able to find the fabric.... and the fabric shop had 3 types).
    I've made him the Newcastle cardigan (with another planned) and the t-shirt too.

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  33. Sallie! Can I just say that I've been meaning to comment on this post since, oh, Thanksgiving! Why does December have to be so busy? Why, oh, why?


    This is the first time I've seen Nick and it's great to "meet" the man behind a great woman :) You're a wonderful wife for taking the time to make him pants. I'm such a selfish seamstress. I'm also glad you didn't call him "Peaches!"

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  34. The only "bad" thing about these pants is that they look and fit so incredibly good that you've just backed yourself into a corner when you try to put off making new pants for Nick again in the future. ;-) Thanks also to Nick for agreeing to model for the interwebs.

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  35. There's that handsome Nick! Great pants - though I may have to help niggle on Nicks behalf to make another pair soon in a nice non-wrinkly non-dog hair magnent fabric - it would be a shame not to capitalize on all of your new found knowledge! xoxo can't wait to see you both super soon!

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