Mood:
a-okTopic: The Kreative Kat
It's been a busy day so far an it is only 9:30. I went to the market with my mom and dad. I'm surprising Steve's family with a big fat long summer sausage and a bunch of mushrooms from the St Jacob's market. I can't think of a better gift than summer sausage and mushrooms, can you? And if the Mushroom Guy has found my blog and is reading this: HI! 
How ya doin? Do you have a blog or website? Where is it? Let me know, okay? And this is called my litterbox, not pretty place where little linda makes nicey nice with the world and we all know what goes in the litterbox!
I have an hour or two now for fun a frolic on the inter-web, but then it's back to work. We're doing something very impulsive for us and heading out for the Thanksgiving weekend. The trees are all in full blazing cinemascope panavision wide screen Technicolour, so I'll have lots of pictures. As a bonus, there should be a whole bunch of fall mushrooms in the forest. I need a trip to the forest for pictures and inspiration.
Art is funny sometimes. Sometimes I can sit down with brush and paint and everything comes flowing out with little effort while other times it feels like my fingers are three feet thick and I'm trying to paint with mushed down super thick sharpies. Lately I've been going through a phase where everything comes easily with little effort. Anyone who knows me will point out that I'm always most artistic in the fall. Good thing too; it's when the trees are brightest. Think there's a relationship? Ya Think?
I'm also putting the finishing touches on an update to my "How to Alter Jeans" piece. I'll place a rough copy here for anyone finding my blog through About.com, YahooAnswers, BurdaStyle or The authentic jeans forum message board. (and whoever linked back on the authentic jeans forum: thanks. I don't mind sharing as long as credit is given where credit is due.)
A lot of people are whining "why can't I sew up one side only? Sewing both sides is hard and takes time. It's doesn't make that much of a difference, does it? There are instructions on ehow and diywiki that say its okay to do the outseam only." My answer: You can't because it's wrong and your jeans will look stupid. It's not hard, it's the right way. There are two ways to do it, the correct way and the lazy way. Attention to detail takes longer but looks and fits better in the long run. And yes, doing one side only makes a huge difference, especially if you are turning flare leg jeans into skinny jeans. And finally, many of the people who post sewing instruction on places like that have no business giving anyone sewing instructions. There's a lot of really bad sewing information out there. What I am telling you is how pros do it. If you take your jeans to the tailor, this is the method that they use.
This is how jeans are supposed to fit in the leg, no matter what the cut. The fabric grain runs parallel and perpendicular to the floor, they hang straight from the hips. The side seams are at the side in a straight line while the inseam end right at the bony part of the ankle. If you fold these jeans seam together the center of the leg is on the straight grain. The fit is neat, close to the body and give a long, lean line even if the person wearing them isn't long or lean.
This is what happens when you alter only the outseam, the easy way. The center of the leg is no longer on grain so it's impossible for the jeans to hang straight. The outseam will twist to the front and you will get bunching at the inner thighs and pulling across the upper thigh. Because the grain-lines are distorted the pants also become difficult to move in. If you go from flare leg to skinny, then the distortion renders the jeans un-wearable.
Here is the basic jean block pattern. The dashed black lines are the guide lines used for relating body measures to the pattern, the upper thigh, knee, ankle and center leg. The solid black line is a basic slim fit or Skinny jean. The red line is a basic boot-cut, the blue line is a basic wide straight leg, and the green is a flare leg or bell bottom. As we can easily see they are all made on the same principle, that the seams are balanced equidistant from the center leg line from the upper thigh line down. This gives you the best fit and the best range of movement. When a professional alters pants -jeans or otherwise -they know and understand the importance of balancing the adjustment on both sides of the center leg line. They know that if they alter on both sides the pants will fit and hang correctly. He or she knows the difference between a job well done and taking the easy way. One is quality, the other is a hack job.
Here's what happens when you alter only one seam, the outseam. The dashed black line is the center leg. The solid red line is the original seam-lines. The dashed red line in the correct alteration. The solid black line is the seams you end up with when you take in the outseam. As you can see, the leg is suddenly slanted inwards and the knee and center leg are off grain. These pants will bunch up and pull across at the knee. bending the knee will become a challenge as it will feel like the jeans are always twisting.
When you do this to a flare leg jean the distortion is more noticeable. The heavy black line is the new seams and as we can easily see the outseam cut off the center line at the knee and terminates beyond the location of the correct alteration line. Unless you have severely bowed legs, this jeans will be impossible to wear. Since the effect desired is a skinny leg, it will bunch, twist and your leg movements will be severely restricted.
So do it right the first time. It may seem like more work and it may take longer, but there's a big pay off in the end. you jeans will look like you took them to the finest tailor shop in town or even bought them that way. People will ask "Where did you get those great fitting skinnies?" If you do it the wrong way you've save maybe ten minutes of time, but if the jeans are ever wearable people will see them and say "oh you took a scissors to your jeans." Considering the price of premium denim and premium brands, and the attention to detail that sets them above ordinary jeans, doesn't it just make sense to alter them with the same care, quality, and attention to detail that went into them when they were made? Premium jeans are a fashion investment, continue the investment by spending the time and effort to alter them correctly right from the start.
So that's all for today and for a while. I've been complaining lately about how I have a whole bunch of things that need to get done but getting them done has been almost impossible. It's been the bane of my existence, I try to do things but everyone needs me for a thousand other things. my to-do list seems to always take a backseat. For the past five weeks I've been trying to change that. Now today I'm so caught up with everything that I can relax and not worry and make time to do something impulsive. So this means I'll be gone for a while, until next week. Any questions or comments will be taken care of starting wed. next week. Later guys!
