Shoot!

Crappity crapola. Excuse my language.

In an effort to avoid sewing for my children, I cut out my second pair of Jalie jeans. The waistband on the first pair still felt a little flabby, so I figured I would put some twill tape in it this time (I meant to but chickened out last time). I tacked one piece along the top of the waistband (I used a curved waistband from another pattern) and another around the top of the jeans themselves (to be enclosed by the waistband once it was sewn on. I even tried them on to make sure I could still get into them with the stay tape eliminating the stretch in the jeans themselves. Snug, but doable. So I sewed the waistband on. It wound up being about an inch too long (it is from another pattern, after all), so I trimmed it down, turned it, and slipstitched the inside closed. Tried on again.

I could still get into them. No WAY that waistband was going to close. The extra inch that got trimmed off woulda done it, I’m sure.

/cry.

So, I guess I am running into a conflict between my desire for stretch jeans but a non-stretch waistband. I don’t know how it works in my RTW jeans… the waistbands still have some stretch, but it’s like 10% rather than 30% (yes, I’ve been testing these things). I don’t think they’re interfaced or anything, I think it’s just an effect of the heavier denim. Anyway, I guess if I really want a stretch-free waistband, I need to stretch the jeans as I sew them to the waistband (eww) so that I don’t have that extra inch. Otherwise, bite the bullet and deal with a stretchy waistband.

For now, I guess I’ll open up the waistband and see if taking off the stay tapes helps. If not… new waistband time.

Crap.

Update: removing the tapes seems to have done the trick. They are still snug, but no harder to wriggle into than my favourite ready-to-wear, and will definitely close. Tomorrow I’ll hammer them and hopefully pick up more topstitching thread so I can finish them off.