This is where I left the jeans Sunday evening. Yesterday, I had to deal with a computer virus I picked up somewhere/somehow Sunday night so I didn't get back to the sewing room until today.
The jeans are mostly done. All I need to do is finish and sew on the back pockets, do the waistband button/buttonhole, and hem them.
But I think I'm going to ditch them before I get to all of that.
Why, you ask? Well, even though I prewashed this denim in hot temps at least three times, my hands are turning dark blue with even the slightest touch on the denim. I really don't want to put up with that and I'm pretty sure 20 more washes won't cure it. Vinegar and/or salt is an old wives' tale which won't fix this. So, it looks like these were the muslin for my pattern changes. Which worked, BTW — they fit exactly how I like my jeans to fit (yes, tummy wrinkles and all).
Back to the cutting table. At this rate, I may be wearing my old PJs to my son's graduation. ;-)
How about making some pants that are comfortable like yoga pants at the top and a little wide legged at the bottom? I have seen lots of those around in the stores lately. You can make them out of something like t-shirt material but with a little spandex in them. I can't think of that that particular material is called right now..lol. The jeans look pretty good though..I would never be so brave as to make my own!
ReplyDeleteThat's a bummer. Blue hands. Not good. I bought some really nice quality denim from Michaels fabrics. It's Zegna, $12.50yd and only has about 2% lycra, it doesn't say, but it's just a small amount of stretch just what I was looking for. Heavy enough too. I did the wash it 3 times and it softened up gorgeously. Give them an email and ask for the denim and cotton twill samples which are also have just a tad bit of stretch and gorgeous quality. Perfect for winter in Florida.
ReplyDeleteI had this once with jeans, even after pre washing! I even turned the white metal drum of the dryer - BLUE! lol.
ReplyDeleteAnd you've just made me realise, the laptop sleeve I made for my parents to take the mini netbooks overseas, was made from that denim. Woops. Hopefully they had nothing white against that in their bag. I guess I'll find out in 12hrs or so when I get the abusive email ;)
I have one more idea you might try. Wash them in the hottest water with some Dawn dish detergent. Sometimes that will help the rest of that dye let go.
ReplyDeleteWow! You're going to your son's graduation wearing old pjs and showing off your blue hands. LOL I doubt that you are going to keep fiddling with those pants. If you do, a product called Retayne sets the dye. It's worked for my black denim with a similar problem. (Black hands are worse!)
ReplyDeleteIt's almost as bad when you prewash a knit multiple times and the damned thing keeps shrinking, so you end up with a garment that looks like it belongs to your 10 year old kid. I hate when fabric doesn't behave like it's supposed to.
ReplyDeleteOh what a bummer! You aren't having much luck lately are you? I had a pair of RTW jeans like that recently. The dye hadn't been set properly so I had to toss them.
ReplyDeleteYou could use some ratayne - it will fix the dye and then you can wash in cold water there after. You can order it at Dharmatrading.com or probally get it at a local quilt store if you have one. It's cheap ($2.50) and might be worth a try!
ReplyDeleteVinegar isn't an old-wives tale, it's chemistry. But it's only appropriate for animal fibers such as wool and silk and the acid-based dyes which should be used on them. On cotton, what you need is baking soda to bind the (hopefully) fiber-reactive dyes to the fiber.
ReplyDeleteHowever the fabric may just be badly dyed, and you're right to ditch it if that's the case - not worth the trouble.
I recommend the chuck. A friend once made some jeans and every time she sat on the couch the blue rubbed off and ruined her couch. She never could get it out. I'm sorry you put in all that work. There is always the next pair!
ReplyDeleteI just had that happen with some black pindot double knit I'd bought to use on a cream double knit. Not happening. Best laid plans.
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm a long time lurker and learner. You might find this link helpful. http://www.quiltbus.com/retayne.htm
ReplyDeleteIt has info for both Retayne and Synthrapol. Both are for cotton. I've used Synthrapol on some jeans and ist sees to have worked.
Might be cheaper, easier, and quicker than starting over.
Quilt shops and online.
You've helped me so much, hope this helps you.
I'm impressed that you've taken on the task of sewing jeans. It always seems so complex to me. And these are looking good. Too bad about the dye, but it is risky to continue with it rubbing off like that. I like the Color Catcher sheets from, I think, Shout. They are like dryer sheets only they go in the wash and trap dye from colored items so the dye doesn't migrate into other items (as in pink underwear from accidently having a red item in the wash!) But it sounds like this dye problem is beyond solution.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely toss them. I ruined a purse once from some RTW jeans that I used to wear- and wash- all the times. I carried them with a white canvas bag. By the end of the day, the side of my bag had blue dye all over it.
ReplyDeleteDeb, I hope you can salvage them. It seems a shame to have all that work invested.
ReplyDeleteIf you have to wear PJs, rock them with lots of fabulous jewelry - LOL
I know you can do it. I hate when life happens sometimes. Good luck with it!
ReplyDeleteMaybe you can try Peggy Sayers washing the denim in a can of coke.
ReplyDeletehttp://silhouettepatterns.com/html/features/promos/topten/
Go down to #6 Denim.
I have some denim I'd like to try this on, but it won't be this week.
I had some denim like that, too. It did eventually quit rubbing off, tho. I kept washing them w/ the other jeans, so if the color was "contagious" it would at least go onto other pants!! ha ha! They're fine now! What's funny was that I forgot how long it took that denim to rid itself of excess dye and make my baby boy some jeans from the scraps. he had blue legs for a month, from wearing them every week. Ha ha! I think I even posted about my hands at some point during the denim trousers sewing project.
ReplyDelete