I am at a point in my sewing journey that I make almost everything that I wear. The only exception to this rule has been jeans. I have been so intimidated by them, and honestly, when I go to buy them in the store, I try on a dozen pairs before I find one that is OK. I think it made me dread making them because I thought… “Will I need to make a dozen pairs before I make one that fits just right?” Even so, I don’t find a lot of my jeans very comfortable. I pull them up randomly throughout the day, feel the zipper pushing into my stomach, and can’t wait to just put on a pair of joggers or leggings!

I also know that to keep sewing fun, I need to make stuff that I enjoy. Seems like a no-brainer, right? Well, I still couldn’t shake that I still haven’t even tried to sew an item that is kind of a wardrobe essential! If I failed, I could just throw my hands up and just admit it was too much.

The Pattern + Fabric + Supplies

For my first pair of jeans, I chose the DIBY Dauphine Skinny Jeans*. This is a pattern that requires stretch denim or bottomweight fabrics with at least 30% horizontal stretch. I used a stretchy denim that I found locally at Wherehouse Fabric. It has 45% stretch.

The Dauphine Jeans pattern is a skinny jean and is intended to be very fitted and end at your ankle in the full length. There is also a capri length option. The rise comes in mid or high.

Before I get into the fit of the pant, I want to chat about the actual sewing part. I surprisingly felt that this part was much easier than I imagined. Most of the steps in the pattern had a link to watch a video to show exactly how to do it. I found myself using the videos for most steps just because they were really reassuring and made it seem easy. I made the jeans over a several week period because I found I liked to tackle one part at a time, and it felt good to step back and look at that perfectly installed zipper or at that nice pocket.

When I was completely finished, I was so nervous to install rivets. I bought this kit and these rivets from Wawak and used my hammer. It was pretty quick, and I think they turned out great!

For topstitching, I used this thread in color #444. It goes so well with the brass colors of the rivets and zipper. I also used a stretch stitch on my regular sewing machine for all my seams and topstitching. I used a jeans needle size 16, and it really helped with the bulkier seams.

I made the high rise, which requires a 6 inch zipper. I only had 7 inch zippers at the time, so I used a pair of pliers to remove the teeth and shorten it. This is the type of zipper I used. Make sure to order the right length (4 inch for mid rise and 6 inch for high rise) so that you don’t have to remove teeth like I did!

Whoops

Yes,  of course I messed up at one point. I somehow got it backwards as to which part to put the buttonhole on. Thankfully, this is not obvious when worn, but I will show you so you can laugh with me.

Fit + Sizing + Adjustments

I made a size 0 and graded to a size 8 at my calves. I also removed 3 inches of length. I am 5’2″ with a 27 inch inseam, expect I use a 26 inch inseam if I am measuring to my ankle. Even though I graded out to an 8 on my calves, I had to grade back in to a 0 underneath the bulkier part because I guess my ankles match the size of my hips.

I wasn’t sure on where to start grading  underneath my calves so I made a size 8 from the top of my calf down and then tried them on and made a mark on the pants right where my calf ends, and then, I adjusted the pattern and my pants to grade back to a 0. I did not have to make any other adjustments.

The fit is spectacular and actually comfortable. I absolutely cannot believe I waited so long to make jeans. I have worn these multiple times and I do not have to pull them up AT ALL throughout the day. They stay put. The high rise hits perfectly at my belly button and makes all of my mom-tummy feel secure.

Looking Ahead

I think some of this success has to do with the fabric. It is 45% stretch and has wonderful recovery. I hope I can find more stretch denim like this again. The store I bought it at was hit by a tornado many months ago, and now, it has reopened in a new temporary location, but alas, the city is now on lock down due to COVID-19.  Do you know of good online sources for VERY stretchy denim?

I did not distress my denim. I really was torn on this, but I already felt like I had bit off more than I could chew with how big of a project this was for me. I don’t mean that it was difficult. It was just more time intensive. I was so nervous to have this perfect fitting pair of jeans and then to just rip it up. GASP! So, I need to figure this part out because I really do prefer distressed denim.

Thanks for stopping by today!  I would love to stay connected with you. You can find me on Instagram. If you want to take a look into the things that inspire me, you can follow me on Pinterest. You may also follow my blog with Bloglovin.

*Disclosures

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small compensation when you purchase via my link. This does not cost you anything, and I genuinely appreciate the support. Any and all opinions expressed are still my own.

Random Life

When I initially posted this outfit on the blog a few weeks ago, I told ya’ll that I would blog about the jeans that week. Well, that didn’t quite happen, and it is because I just felt absolutely distracted by the COVID-19 pandemic. No matter what country you live in, I am sure you are in the thick of it. I felt like I spent an entire week just trying to wrap my head around the events happening in the world, how to explain them to my children, and how to live my life. As of yesterday, the governor in our state refuses to do much and is leaving it up to the county to enforce any kind of restriction on daily life. Thankfully, Dallas County, which is the county to the south of us have taken appropriate measures and has ordered people to stay home for non-essential outtings. My county has yet to follow suit, but I really hope they do.

What have I been doing? I am sewing some, reading more, and working out from home. Homeschooling is continuing, but it is honestly not much what a normal day in homeschool is like. We like to get out, go to the park, to the zoo, to the library, and out to see friends. I am stocked up on food for now and thankfully have grocery delivery services still available. I made tee tee towels yesterday to conserve on toilet paper. My kitchen is already reusable/cloth so this will not be much of a difference in routine. Let me know if you would like to see tutorials for my routine, opinion, or how to on cloth products.

What I am reading: Sarah Donati Into the Wilderness Series. I am on book 2. With the kids, I am reading Caddie Woodlawn out loud. They love it! It is a great book to read aloud for boys and girls ages 4 and up.

What I am listening to: Christina Lauren Roomies. I just finished this a few days ago, and it made me laugh and was such a good love story. Google tells me a movie is in the making, and I hope it is so.

What I am watching: Outlander’s 5th season on Starz. I binge watched the first four seasons, and now am having to slowly watch each episode as it comes out late Saturday nights. From what I remember from the books, the next few episodes will be pretty intense. I need a new Netflix series to watch.

What I am sewing: Swimsuits! I will have a blogpost up on the suits I made this Wednesday.

What I am eating and drinking: Lots of hot tea and guacamole. My favorite meal is usually plain kefir with love crunch granola. I am out of Kombucha and either need to start making my own or stock up on the next grocery delivery.

My Favorite Detail 

I was instantly drawn to the split side and hem detail on this pattern. The bottom bands overlap at the side, and the pattern has such a genius way of going about it. During construction, I watched the video on how to do the split hem on the DIBY website (You can watch it here.). It made this part super easy. 

Pattern Options 

The Adrianne Sweater* has the option of three necklines: crew, boat, or cowl. I chose the crew neckline. The pattern has the option for short, 3/4, or long sleeves and all sleeve options are finished with a cuff. This means that no hemming is required on this pattern! I am 5’2″ but have a “normal” torso, which means my lack of height is mostly in my legs. I didn’t remove any length in the body or sleeves. 

For my second sweater, I removed one inch from the sleeves, but due to my fabric choice, they are even longer than my first!! So, let’s talk about fabric choice. 

Fabric

The pattern requires knit fabric that stretches from side to side and up and down by at least 40%. This means that if you grab a section of fabric that is 4 inches in length, you should be able to stretch that section to be at least 5.6 inches. The pattern also requires that the fabric have a “very soft hand.” This means that it has wonderful drape and is not stiff or structured. When I think of fabrics with a soft hand, I imagine rib knit, sweater knit, bamboo spandex, and some double brushed polyesters. Fabric that would not work would be double knit, medium to heavy weight cotton lycra, and ponte. If you use fabric that is too structured, I think it will make your hips look bigger because of the extra ease through the hips.

I chose to use sweater knit and a ribbed sweater knit. The cream/white is a sweater knit with 50% horizontal stretch and 20% vertical stretch. It is pretty much right at what the pattern envisioned. It has nice recovery but not too firm. It was perfect for this pattern. It is slightly see through so I make sure to wear a nude bra underneath and may wear a nude tank if I need a layer underneath.

The fuchsia ribbed knit, on the other hand, has 150% stretch widthwise and 50% stretch lengthwise!!! It has an incredibly soft hand is brushed on the right side. Since this fabric has so much more stretch than the pattern requires and has poorer recovery, I should have sized down one, but alas, I didn’t so it is just extra cozy and looks bigger on me than the same exact pattern in a fabric that isn’t so stretchy. 

Can you see the difference in how the two fabrics behave?! Do you have a preference in which one you prefer? Is it because of the color or because of how the fit of the sweater looks? I am not sure I regret that I didn’t size down because I have been wearing this fuchsia sweater so much, and it’s so cozy, forgiving, comfortable, and goes great with a pair of leggings!

Pattern Review

I really liked how easily everything came together. Since there is a video on how to do the bottom band, a beginner could tackle this project and come out very proud with what they make. The instructions are so thorough that at times I would need to search for what I was looking for. Thankfully, there is a table of contents to help me quickly locate what I needed. 

There is a lot of information on fitting in the pattern, and if you are new to doing FBAs or needing adjustments, I think it is very nice to have all of that information in one pattern. Thankfully, the only adjustment I needed was to size down in the hips, which also meant I had to adjust my band pattern piece slightly.  I also recalculated my neckbands to 85% because the pattern piece was shorter than what I needed for this fabric.

The back is a two-piece back which I LOVE. I find that two-piece backs are just so much more flattering, and fabric just sits better on the back with the added shape. It makes doing a sway back adjustment so much easier, and even if you don’t have a sway back or a full butt for fabric to shelve on, a two-piece back just looks good!! I have a few store bought shirts with a two-piece back but very few sewing patterns that do!

Resources

1. You can find the DIBY Adrianne Sweater HERE*. You can find the gallery of testers’ photos HERE. I always find those helpful to browse while I am narrowing down fabric and options. 
2. I bought the fabric I used for both sweaters in the Dallas Fabric District, most likely at Wherehouse Fabrics. It was hit by a tornado the next day after I went shopping and bought this fabric, though 🙁 I am hoping they are able to come back from the destruction and the sad loss. 

Thanks for stopping by today!  I would love to stay connected with you. You can find me on Instagram. If you want to take a look into the things that inspire me, you can follow me on Pinterest. You may also follow my blog with Bloglovin.

*Disclosures

This post is my honest opinion using a pattern that I received for free from the Do It Better Yourself Club. Also, this post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small compensation when you purchase via my link. This does not cost you anything, and I genuinely appreciate the support. Any and all opinions expressed are still my own.

Random Life

We are deep into homeschooling and are attending a homeschool coop this year. This semester I am teaching SEWING!! Ah! It has been a lot of work and a blast. The girls are 4th, 5th, and 6th graders and all brought their own machines. The first day wast mostly just setting each girl up on her machine, showing her how to thread it, and getting her comfortable with basics.

Our first project was a basic pillow, and the second project was a scrunchie. For the scrunchie, I had the girls cut out strips of fabric that were 4 inches wide by 16 inches long, sew the long ends right sides together, while leaving a gap at the beginning and end. Then, they turned it right side out. Next, they sewed the short ends right side together. Then, they threaded a 6.5 inch length of 1/4″ elastic through and sewed the elastic into a loop. Finally, they turned the raw ends of the opening in and sewed it shut. They were ecstatic that they could make scrunchies!!! If you haven’t made scrunchies before, and need photos to demonstrate, just let me know and I can update this post with photos. I was too busy jumping from girl to girl to document the process. Thank God for 2 amazing assistants!

I also am enjoying lots of audiobooks while I sew. I just finished The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Greggory this morning, and it was fantastic. It is the 9th book in her Plantagenet and Tudor Novels series. I tried to read the first book in the series, The Lady of the Rivers, but I just could not get into it. After the first few chapters, I had no idea what was going on so I just skipped to book 9, which was the book I really wanted to read anyways. 

I love historical fiction. I feel like I learn so much history in such a fun way. I always try to go back and check on which part of the book is historical and which part is fiction, but it can be such an inspiring way to dig into the historical aspects while being entertained. 

I will give you three random things that came to mind in this book. These are *spoilers* so don’t read this part if that is going to ruin the book for you.

First, agenda. This book was an extreme example of a family with agenda and how they used the people they controlled to further their self-serving desires. I am amazed each time I read historical books about how women and marriage in general were used to further agendas. Marriage for the sake of love didn’t seem to be the normal??? Do you think that was true or maybe just the way it was for the mid to upper class? Or maybe just for those who are so eager to advance in power or finances? 

Second, Ann Boleyn and her brother were executed for incest!! This was part of history class that I missed. I only remembered Henry VIII killing or dismissing wives due to failure to produce a male heir. I didn’t know that she was trying to do exactly that for him, ummm just through her brother!

Third, at times I was slightly annoyed at the depressing nature of the sibling relationship between Ann and Mary. It was so strange how much Mary loved Ann despite how nasty she was to her. There never were those soft times or times where words or circumstances made up for the cruelty. Well, except they would sleep in the same bed and she would brush her hair, but their words were never really what I would call kind. She really seemed like a monster. I think Mary felt sorry and somewhat at fault for having had the King first or maybe because she knew the lack of choice that they both had. 

XO

Hi friends! Do you ever put on a piece of clothing and instantly feel pretty? I tried my first pattern from the Do It Better Yourself Club (DIBY Club) recently, and I am excited to review it for you today in this post! I am also going to include some words of encouragement at the end so if you have had a rough season or day, hopefully my post will encourage you!

The Pattern

I chose the Mae Poncho Sweater* as my first DIBY pattern to try out. I have been eyeing it since I saw the beautiful version that Sarah Connell sewed when the pattern released last fall. I didn’t get to it last year before the cooler season ended, so I had it at the top of my list for this fall.

Sizing and Fit

The Mae* comes in sizes 00-36, which covers full busts ranging from 31 to 63 inches. I made size 00 based on my overbust. My full bust, waist, and hips were in the next size up, but I knew that the sweater has a lot of ease, so I did not bother doing an FBA or grading. Picking based on my overbust means that the neckline, shoulders, and arms fit well.

I LOVE the oversized look, but I think oversized can look sloppy when it is falling off your shoulders or sliding back and choking you! Look at all this comfy and cozy ease!

I think the fit is really comfortable. It feels like I am wearing a blanket that has sleeves and stays perfectly on me. After I took photos, I went out to grab burgers with the family for dinner. My daughter told me that I needed to wear this to Thanksgiving because plaid is perfect for the holiday. I agreed, thinking about all the pie and turkey that this will hide for me. 

Once we got the kids in bed, I stayed up catching up on Outlander, and this sweater was so cozy to wear while snuggling up to my hubby on the couch! If you have been following my blog recently, I have been talking about slowing down, spending more time resting (and watching Outlander!!) and taking on quicker projects. This one really fit the bill. I cut it out one evening and sewed it the next. I think in total that it took 2 hours. There wasn’t anything particularly complicated or not straightforward about it. If you are a beginner, this is a great project to get your feet wet, and if you consider yourself more advanced, you will find this project satisfying to make.  

The Fabric

Since this pattern has so much ease, you really need a fabric with a soft drape. Sweater knit and fabrics like bamboo or rayon with spandex will give you the right amount of drape. I used the black and heathered grey buffalo plaid Hacci from Raspberry Creek Fabric for my version. Hacci is a type of sweater knit, and I would describe this one as a medium weight that is very stable to sew. Some of the more light or overly stretchy sweater knits take a lot more patience and skill to work with. 

This fabric is really soft and cozy and has nice drape so it is just perfect. I have been obsessed with plaid lately and do not have any in my stash, so I was so glad to find they had this one in stock. I even started a Pinterest board just for plaid. Maybe I have watched too much Outlander?? My jaw was wide open half of season 2 because the French fashion was absolutely stunning. I had to pause it so many times just to admire sleeves!! I need to make more things with impressive sleeves.

I love that the buffalo plaid is printed on the grey Hacci that Raspberry Creek carries, it means that my wrong side is still pretty and matches when I have my hood down. It also means that their grey Hacci is a great coordinate if you want to use it for cuffs or a cowl.

I received 2 yards of this fabric, and it was just enough to make the Mae Poncho Sweater. I considered doing the cowl, but the cowl takes up so much more fabric, so I would have needed 3 yards to get in a cowl. I am loving the way it looks with the hood, though, so I am glad I did not order the extra!

I did buttonholes on my hood but did not run a drawstring through it. I don’t plan on using the drawstring, but I still wanted to have the option in the future just in case I change my mind. Here is my best hood-loving pose. Romantic, right?

My daughter asked me how I felt in my poncho when she was taking photos, and I told her I felt super pretty and like a bat. She asked me what I meant by that, and this was my response.

And, because you can’t take yourself so seriously, here is a blooper of me pushing the wall. Not sure what that has to do with anything, but I was thinking that maybe we bloggers need to show more dance moves to liven the place up a bit?

Words of Encouragement

Sewing is my hobby, and as such, I find it great therapy. It is amazing even in the busiest of seasons what a few minutes in my sewing room will do for me (and for my attitude!), especially when the whole house is quiet. I put on an audiobook or a podcast and just lose myself in my personal space.

SO I told you at the beginning of this post that hopefully I could encourage you. If you have made it to this post, I am sure you happened upon it because you wanted to read my sewing tidbits or you were looking for inspiration to figure out what to do with some sweater knit. I hope that I also leave you with more than just seeing the project I made, but also feeling hopeful for whatever circumstance you are in.

I don’t think you will ever meet a person who “has arrived.” Even before the digital age, you would meet people who had the family, the car, the money, or whatever you found valuable and think “wow, I would really be happy if I had what they had.” I think this attitude grows even worse in the digital age because we are constantly shown a newsreel of everyone’s highlights and what they want us to see from their lives. It’s so easy to compare yourself to how you imagine others. DON’T fall for it. I think comparison is a trick to make us feel not enough. That somehow when God made us that he forgot to give us gifts or forgot to give us the features that we want. It’s a trap!!! There is only one you. You are the only one who will ever take your journey and have the particular nuances you have.

I spent so much time despising my freckles, crazy hair, short self, and even though I sewed for quite some time, it took me so long before I had half the guts to take a photo and show everyone. I am still amazed at my lack of photos of myself for such a chunk of my life. I finally got over myself (or at least still try to) because I realized making connections, having memories, and being grateful for who I am and where I am at are so much more important than my pride of where I wished I was.

I want you to see that happiness will never come by some station in life. Yes, you should push yourself towards your goals, not give up, and go for whatever it is that makes you feel passionate, but don’t let your insecurities hold you back. You never know what is waiting on the other side of your biggest fear. God has a purpose for you, and it’s big. Only you can do it. What you are passionate about may look silly and like a waste of time to others, but that is just because that it is not for them. It’s for YOU!

Resources

• DIBY Mae Poncho Sweater* and you can find a gallery of testers photos specifically for the Mae here.
• Raspberry Creek Buffalo Plaid Hacci

Thanks for stopping by today! I would love to stay connected with you. You can find me on Instagram. If you want to take a look into the things that inspire me, you can follow me on Pinterest. You may also follow my blog with Bloglovin.

*Disclosures

I received this pattern for free so that I could post a review on it. I also received this fabric for free so that I could show you how it looks sewn up. Furthermore, this post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small compensation when you purchase via my link. This does not cost you anything, and I genuinely appreciate the support. Any and all opinions expressed are still my own.

XO