Monday, May 19, 2008

The NQR Jeans

I have rung up all my friends, and issued them with the following order: If ever I decide to make jeans again, and start to shoot my mouth off about it, can they please slap me until I come to my senses.
It felt like everything that could go wrong did go wrong. The number of times my machine just grunted at me in exasperation, as if to say "How the heck am I meant to sew through THIS thick el cheapo denim?" soon reached double digits (there's a good reason the stuff was only $5 per metre, and trust me to find out why the hard way). I couldn't even put the buttonhole in, as the fabric on the waistband was too thick to even sit under the machine's foot! All my topstitching seemed to be crooked, and required unpicking, and then to be unpicked some more, and the zip - oh, it simply doesn't bear thinking about how agonisingly awful it was to put that in. And to top it all off the bloody things didn't even fit properly, so I had to unpick the waistband and put some elastic in the back. GAAAAAAAAAAH! If I managed to sew a seam without hauling out the quick unpick/stabbing my finger with the pin/jamming the feed dog on the machine/breaking a needle I quietly sat there, waiting for the herald angels to burst into celestial arias because it felt like a @%#$ing miracle.
Still, Grumbles thinks that they are pretty sweet, and happily tells everybody within earshot that her mummy made them. I guess that's all that really matters (although can you really trust the views of a kid who runs about pretending to be a rabbit? See second pic below)
But seriously - SERIOUSLY - next time the kid needs pants, I'm going to make like a normal parent and go and buy them. These may have only cost $8 each to make (yes, stupid me made two pairs), but they also cost me my SANITY. If anybody wants me I'll be recovering in the winged area for acutely afflicted sewers.



8 comments:

  1. Oh but she looks so darn cute in them!!! Hope your recovery is quick:)

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  2. only $8, but did you count your time?
    Brave effort - well done!

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  3. Those are amazing! well done! And, best of all your little princess looks so pleased with them.

    But it does remind me of my recent Quince Paste Experiment. $8 worth of Quinces made 24 serves of paste but with 4 hours of stirring that darned stuff I'm not sure it was worth it!

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  4. Tip for the next time you make them..cause, like labor, eventually the memory will fade, and you actually think you can do this again: Take a hammer to the thick areas, like jeans hems, where the seams meet. The needle will go through like BUTTER. :p

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  5. Anonymous12:19 pm

    well, they look pretty fantastic from here!
    i do like that hammer tip.
    [although, i am having visions of hammer-wielding mid-sewing disaster... probably not a good idea]

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  6. oh but those are some dang cute pants. you totally win mum of the year award. totally.

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  7. Anonymous2:04 pm

    Cute jeans on a little cutie. Congratulations.

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  8. They may have been hell to make, but they look so cute! It might be the very cute hair style!?! If you were me, they wouldn't have been finished. I might have stamped on them on the floor.
    I hope you have recovered well.

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