Denim Dancing

So, I decided to make the AlterNation denim skirt - the big fluffy one.  I went to  Salvation Army and bought a bunch of foolishness, including two silk 

ties, three pair of jeans, one pair of seersucker pants, and one pair of very ugly plaid shorts.  

Identifying the right jeans took some time.  If you are going to have grayish blue jeans as your base - the pair that you use for the waistband and zipper - then all the rest of the jeans have to fall into the same basic color family.  At least for my taste, bright blue with a nearly purplish hue doesn’t go with grayish blue denim.  I was looking for three pair of jeans with a similar color base, all dark.  And then I found this embroidery, which made me happy.  

So, with two pair of jeans in, and the idea that I would use the seersucker as an insert - make it lighter, more appropriate for summer.  I got the white bag home and threw everything in the wash.  After everything came out of the dryer, I tried everything on.  One pair of jeans was between one and two sizes too big for me - good for a Sunday.  (Clearly, I’m fond of my Sunday wear.)  The seersucker - while huge - may be wearable in the summer.  As long as I’m ok with looking slightly offbeat.  The plaid shorts…  well, I’ll destroy them for use in something else.  I found an extra pair of jeans in the closet upstairs - dark enough to suit me - and added them to the pile.

So, following directions (I can do that some times, but never exactly as given) I started breaking down the jeans. It’s fairly simple - cut open the inside seams of the jeans that are going to be the ones at your waist.  Make sure they fit first…  Cut the curve on the crotch, front and back, preserving the thick seam, but not so far that you start messing with the zipper.  That thick seam is going to lay on top of the other side of the fabric, and you are going to sew the thick side over the thin, if you can sew in the existing stitching then your new stitches won’t be as noticeable.  

Cut the pant legs off of the spare jeans and use the widest part of them at the bottom to cut two triangles.  Those are going to be sewn into the front and the back  gaps that result from stitching the curve of the crotch over onto the leg of the skirt.  

If you want more fullness, start cutting the seams open and adding more triangles.  In theory, you can do this forever, though denim does get heavy.  Either hem it or leave it raw.  I got my embroidery into the corner of the skirt…

And so I got to wear the skirt today.  It came out exactly as advertised, and I’m happy enough with it.  

So… the review of the instructions: Simple enough.  Results as advertised.