Back to sewing (Jeans, Installment #1)

Christmas Day has come and gone and I was finally able to get back into the sewing room for a while tonight. On Saturday I had cut out another pair of Simplicity 4068 pants which I am again sewing as jeans. I actually like the first pair more now than when I initially finished them. But I don't like the way the stretch denim stretches too much after a day of wearing them. This time I'm trying them using a non-stretch denim, and keeping my fingers crossed.

I thought I'd take pics at each step and share those here as I progress. It might be boring, or it might be helpful. I'll leave the verdict on that up to you. ;-) I didn't get very far tonight because it was already late when I started. But progress is still progress, right?

I started by serging/overlocking the non-seam edge of the yoke piece for the pocket bag and then pressing the piece before sewing it onto the pocket fabric using a medium zig-zag over top of the serged stitching.

Next was sewing the pocket facing to the pants front. I trimmed the seam allowances with pinking shears, pressed the seam open and then pressed the facing to the inside of the pants, rolling the edge just a bit. This pic shows the pants wrong side and the front inside of the pocket-to-be.

Topstitching the pocket edge was the next step. I'm using two strands of poly sewing thread in the topstitching needle instead of topstitching-specific thread.

The next step was to serge/overlock the pocket facing and bag together along the curved bottom edge of the pocket.

I then basted the pants and pocket pieces together at the waist and hip so they will act as one piece when I'm sewing the pants together. I also basted the pocket closed so that the pocket will not distort during all the handling/trying on to come.

Next, I fused interfacing to the fly extensions and basted them together, returning to regular stitches along the front crotch curve. At this point, I'm ready to sew in the zipper. Again.

Yes, again. I had the whole dang thing sewn in, topstitched, and basting ripped out. Only then did I see that I had sewn the zipper in WRONG SIDE OUT. ARghhhhh! Obviously, I'm more tired than I realized. I gritted my teeth and ripped it all out so that when I start again tomorrow, everything is back to being ready to go.