I have a pair of jeans that don't fit anymore because i had a baby, and I'd like to sew in some patchwork panels. I needa good tutorial or advice on how to do this. I've never done patchwork before, so any advice is appreciated. Thanks guys, Alicia
easiest version using bolcks that are not at angles or anything: (I did this for my son a lot) measure the outer seam, waistband to hem. add, oh two inches, (see what your waistband and hem are & use that plus a smidge for turning the raw egdes might want to make the waist thicker with more folding over, just make that patch "taller"). also figure out the added width you want: 3 inches, more? And halve that: two panels, so if you want 6 inches of finished room, the panels will need to be three inches each. figure out the size you want the patches to be, based on the width plus hem allowance (again) usually squares, but a mix of squares and rectangles might go faster. cut the requisite number of patches, if you are grabbing new fabric and are new-ish at color theory, consider a quilters' fat squares bundle so the colors work together. I cannabalized old clothes and the odd fabric remnant. I made the strips of patches first and then put that in as a single panel. To do this on denim or cords with lighter weight patch fabric, I would use a backing strip of heavier fabric today because the waist and along the knee liked to blow out, and the drape would be similar. any quilting tute will have how to put patchwork together. I like to have the patch strip first, then get to the trousers. to prep the original trousers, cut the seam on jeans as close as possible to the seam. Lightweight fabrics, use a seam ripper. Now it's just like finishing the trousers:turn everything inside out, line the strips up (some people want the two panels to be identical, so make yours however you want) and sew them to the first old trouser seam. fold the hem/waist and baste them in now while still flat. (I know people who can do this first: I think they are magicians) then close the leg with the other seam. repeat on other leg, then reinforce the basted hems/ waistbands. then dance around the house in your new creation, you frugal goddess, you!
Hahaha...Im copying your explaination and saving it so when i get ready i will know what to do. Thanks mama! I'll post pics when im done!
Yeah, I did that! I got real sick and shrunk down to a size 5 from an 11 so I had to buy all new pants. Then I got healthy and went up to a 12-14 so I had alot of pants that were now way small. But the style is so cute and cool in smaller jeans so I wanted to keep wearing them, so I cut 'em up and added panels! Here's one pair that happened to get into a pic, hehe, I had to add like 4inches to each side!! First I measured the length I needed and cut out squares of corduroy and sewed them end to end until they were the right length. Then I cut the seam out of the jeans and sewed the panel in. I didn't do anything special with the waistband. One thing you have to watch out for is that the extra space between belt loops will cause your belt not to sit right in your jeans.... like the jeans will slouch down under your belt.... I can't describe it (-_-) But you may want to add a belt loop to the center of your top panel if your panels will be wide like mine!
