A new pattern called the ESSENTIAL WRAP SHIRT is in the works and will be released shortly. The pattern is suitable for light to medium weight fabrics however to test a revised draft of my pattern I cut a sample out of old jeans. Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to show you how I did it. Lets start with the sleeves...
1. Off to the op shop you go. In this case it's the Salvos on Chapel Street. You'll need 2 to 3 pairs of jeans in a similar weight and colour; the larger the sizes the better.
2. Give them a good hot wash and then line dry in the sun if possible.
3. First decide which pair to use for the sleeves. Unpick the hems and both outside leg seams to the waistband. Unpick the inseam as far as you need to and press flat with lots of steam.
4. Overlap the inseams front over back and starting 9cm from the hem edge, stitch along the edge to hold the layers together. For my sleeve I tucked under the front seam allowance following the natural fold left by the seam, while the underneath remained completely flat.
5. Place the sleeve pattern onto the jean leg positioning the sleeve cuff edge at the jeans leg hem and with the jeans inseam running up the sleeve so that it's positioned 2.5cm to the left of center (toward the back of the sleeve). Go ahead and cut it out.
6. Prepare the other jean leg in exactly the same way reversing the overlap direction. Flip the cut sleeve and place it down on the fabric right sides together so that the inseam positions match exactly. Go ahead and cut out the other sleeve.
7. You now have your sleeves cut and ready to go, a mirrored pair cut from exactly the same part of the lower left and right legs.
The creases and worn patches are what make denim one of my favourite fabrics and you can see now why it's so important to cut your pieces from exactly the same position, even in this mirrored pair there is still quite a lot of variation.
In the next update I'll show you how I cut the back.
4. Overlap the inseams front over back and starting 9cm from the hem edge, stitch along the edge to hold the layers together. For my sleeve I tucked under the front seam allowance following the natural fold left by the seam, while the underneath remained completely flat.
5. Place the sleeve pattern onto the jean leg positioning the sleeve cuff edge at the jeans leg hem and with the jeans inseam running up the sleeve so that it's positioned 2.5cm to the left of center (toward the back of the sleeve). Go ahead and cut it out.
In the next update I'll show you how I cut the back.
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