California Stitching

Today I'm adding several thoughts about the construction of the Morgan Jeans. I rarely even looked at the instructions for the jeans, preferring to construct the jeans according to Kenneth D King's and Angela Wolf's methods, as shown in their Craftsy classes.

Even with topstiching, the curve can stretch

These jeans are constructed with non stretch denim, however, the front pocket is on the bias, as you can see in the photo above.

Steaming muslin strip into a curve

Prof King suggests cutting a 3/4 inch (2 cm) strip of muslin on the crosswise grain just a bit longer than the arch, and steam it into a curve. Then baste the muslin into the seam allowance of the pocket on the wrong side. He also recommends grading the seam alternately, that is clip the denim, then the facing/muslin, and so on, so you get a smooth curve. Now the pocket will never stretch out of shape.  Do this also on stretch denim, this is one area that you don't want stretch.

I don't have a photo of this, but the Morgan pattern says to sew the front and back crotch seams separately, then sew the inseam in one continuous seam. That is the only time I have ever seen this. Everyone, but everyone, say to sew the leg seams first, then the crotch seam in one continuous seam. Why do the instructions say this? I can't figure it out.

Topstitching: the Morgan pattern has you do the conventional double topstitching. I went with single topstitching with two threads in the needle, except for the hem, on which I've used the triple stitch. I also did not double turn the hem, as it just adds bulk and is not necessary in casual jeans.

Another big change I made was in the fly. The Morgan jeans have the fly as an extension of the center front seam, but this is now on a slight bias. Especially if the jeans were made in a stretch denim, the fly could stretch out over time. So I cut the center front fly off leaving the seam allowance, and cut a new fly on the straight of grain, then inserted the zipper on the new fly.

These changes make just a small difference in each section of the jeans, but overall you have a much higher quality product, which should last much longer than conventional RTW jeans. Over the years as my skills have been growing, I've been much more obsessive about those little things. They are fun to do and you know you are building quality into the garment.

Happy stitching!