Liana jeans, finally

Me-Made May made painfully obvious that it was time for me to make some new jeans. As I had put the Liana Stretch Jeans pattern (affiliate link) from Itch to Stitch on my 2019 Make Nine, it was clear what had to be done.

This is the size 10 as indicated by my measurements (32-41.5).  I cut out the front and back legs and the back yoke with a wide 1" seam allowance to allow for fitting, and basted them together for a fit test. I was so pleasantly surprised to discover that they needed only minimal fit adjustments.

I ended up adding 1/2" to the front inseam and added 1/2" to the back inseam about 8" down the thigh, tapering to 0" at the top of the back inseam, and tapering back to 0" down around the knee.  But after wearing them for a day, I found I needed to take in the side seams a bit to deal with the fabric relaxing.  I will make my next pair a straight size 10.

I cut the back pockets in the largest size after reading reviews that they were a bit small.  This is the perfect size, so I'm glad I didn't cut the size 10 pocket.  I didn't put on the pocket flaps; I'm not sure how I feel about pocket flaps on skinny jeans, but I might try them on a future pair.

The back thigh is a bit wrinkly. It was a lot worse before I took the thighs in, but it does still need a bit of work. I think the back inseam is a bit too long, so I will shorten it next time.

I  took a wedge out of the back rise and yoke - the wedge was 3/4" at the top, tapering to nothing about four inches down the back rise.  I shortened the waistband to match, and sewed it on with a 3/8" seam allowance instead of a 1/2" allowance to make it slightly wider.  Surprisingly, I didn't need to shorten the front rise at all.  I have needed to shorten it 3/4"-1" on every other pants or shorts pattern I've ever made, but the front crotch on these jeans fit just fine.

Though that's probably why these jeans hit my belly button, despite supposedly being mid-rise.  I do have a short rise, and my waistband adjustment added 1/4" to the front rise.  I like this height, though, so I'm not complaining.  I don't often wear tops tucked into jeans, but as these do not create muffin top, I've been tucking everything in with them.

I did not add any length (I am 5'8") and I hemmed them at 3/4" for an ankle-length jean. If I try the straight leg view in the future I'll need to add a little length.

One thing I noticed straightaway after trying these on, is that the inseam and side seams are centered on my leg and perfectly straight. I have struggled a lot with the position of these seams on my Gingers. I had some really bad leg twist on two of my pairs, and even on the non-twisty legs, I find that the inseam is much closer to the front of my legs than the back. It always bothered me but I couldn't figure out how to fix it.  No such problem on these jeans.

I made these jeans out of Kaufman Laredo stretch denim, bought about a year ago. I couldn't find it in many places when I looked on the Internet for a link, which is a shame as it is very nice stuff.

This is the first pair of jeans I've made that have a pocket stay. I never used the pocket stay option on my Gingers because I felt like it would be too restricting; however, I find that in these jeans, the stay gives just the right amount of support. I also did not stabilize the waistband seam with twill tape as instructed in this pattern because I like some give on the waist of skinny jeans.  End result - these are super-comfy, both standing and sitting.

I'm not sure that I did the fly exactly right. I messed it up the first time and had to take out the zipper and fly shield and start over.  I think I did it correctly the second time, but I'm not sure that the bottom of the zipper is supposed to be peeking out beneath the fly shield like that.

I'm definitely planning a couple more pairs of these.  I have some black Cone Mills stretch denim in my stash that has been reserved for a second pair of skinnies (I already made them, stay tuned for another post about that), and after that I might try the straight leg version.

My jeans button came from Taylor Tailor. The buttons themselves are great, but I have had a really hard time in the past getting them to stay on the included tack, which has no ridges.  I bought some cheap Dritz buttons from Amazon which come with the screw-type tack, and I now use those with these buttons.

So happy to have a well-fitting pair of jeans back in my closet! Stay tuned for more pairs.  As always, thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!