gregornz

Kia'ora Ande and what up CHCH

Get well soon! Though I heard it's going to be 20 years...

Here's to 20 years of rebuilding CHCH and more building The Flying Jean

Looking good! But those aren't for sale yet? Is that a sample pair?

New in May 'R400 H'. The H is for Hemp. I think the denim is a combination of xinjiang cotton and xinjiang hemp. This is going to be a 17oz blended weft.

Details and pictures here (in Chinese).

The result is two pieces with increased rigidity and strength. As far as Ray knows, he's the only jeansmith what does it like this...

Finally a fold in half and an iron creates the right shape, and then they are marked against the pattern:

Up next... the sewing machines!

The fly of the jeans goes here:

The fly has two pieces:

Ray places them on a netted material:

As you can see it's kind of like muslin cloth... it's stretchy and strong...

This gets irons onto the pocket bag cotton:

Now lets make the fly and the coin pocket:

Again around the pattern. You can see that the cutting phase doesn't need to be crazy-accurate because the final shape comes from bending the denim around these patterns...

The top will be folded over to produce the 'peeking selvedge'

Now use the pattern and soap again for marking:

The two pieces for the hip/coin pocket

Steam!

pump up the volume

Steam!

And the finished product, for your consideration:

Next cut the 'ears' into the back-pockets. The cardboard pattern shows you where to make the cut:

Then you end up with this. These ears are where the hidden rivets are going to go when the pocket is attached to the leg...

Now shape the pocket... score, fold, iron; score, fold, iron:

@Bonghollywood I don't know about that denim specifically, but as a general rule with red cloud I'd say don't size down!!

Back to making the jeans... This is where Red Cloud press the various parts into shape before sewing:

Take the cardboard pattern and use this tool to score the material where it is going to be folded:

This is the construction of the top of a back pocket. This part is folded over several time like this to create the ridge on top of the pocket which will later be sewn shut.

Folding like this combined with the right stitch creates those nice top pocket fadez:

People will like looking at your bum:

Incase you guys missed it, I just came across a couple of great articles saintKeats blog. saintKeat is a member of sufu and has a really interesting and beautifully presented fashion blog.

Here is an article he wrote about Red Cloud at Tuck Shop. Here is an article about Xinjiang cotton.

These two parts of denim are sewn together with the pocket bag and the leg and these rivets:

The new rivets that say "Red Cloud MFG" on them, plus some of the hidden rivets:

The effect of (rays arse and) the hidden rivets:

Ray spent a lot of time explaining why he only uses Japanese hardware - Chinese rivets he used a few years ago just weren't tough enough and would break. He spent some time explaining how the rivets work... something like this:

Then...

This photo explains a bit better than I can.... you can see inside the hardware (this is a fly button). The two prongs have been bent down when they contact with the heavy metal centre of the button. The broken part on the right is very flimsy, like an aluminium can - this is the part that is stamped with logos or writing.

Some thread (also Japanese):

Bonus shot #1 a roll of denim:

Bonus shot #2, whenever we took a break for a minute Ray would always start fiddling with his machines. It was amazing to me how slight adjustments in the machines would make all the difference in what the produced... this process reminded me of a musician tuning a gituar.

Next up in the photo blog; thread, rivets and pocket bags.

This is a roll of heavy white cotton that Ray was using for the pocket bags:

First he traces around his pattern:

Here's the result:

Then cut it off

Fold it in half and cut:

And then cut around the pattern:

Usually layers upon layers would be on the table, cut through at the same time, and then each part would be sent to a specific machinist. In this case Ray is making the whole schbang by himself... it takes approximately 10 hours and exactly 23 cigarettes to make one pair or Red Cloud 424's.

This strip is going to be belt loops

Ray cuts a rough triangle into the denim to make feeding the machine easier...

The selvedge coin pocket:

By the way, this denim is Red Clouds new 14.5 ounce denim, which Ray had just received in a few weeks prior. It's the culmination of his experience crafting soft and smooth denims that age gracefully like a woman should. It's pretty much the antithesis of the blended weft 17oz - where the 17oz is slubby, rigid and hard on the hand, this 14.5oz is soft and smooth and has a flowing hand. Ray is all about comfort over everything, and he called this his best denim yet. This pair being made is the first and therefore the oldest pair of overalls made from this new denim.

"me so happy"

Cutting denim is dirty work!

The pattern for the yoke, and the two sides...

And the two parts as they will be sewn together...

Don't cry over spilt denim:

But do cry at cut selfedge!

This is from the very top of the leg, if memory serves. I quickly pocketed the offcut

It's cutting time!

We'll start at the top of the leg...

And around...

And back to the other end (just to get a better angle at the cutting...)

Gregornz thanks for sharing. I met ray while he was here for an event weeks back. He was generously giving away door gifts and explaining how the jeans were made.

Unfortunately there wasnt a live demo since we are not over at his factory/workshop. I can understand how interesting it'll be and would have taken many photos too! Congrats on your new pair! Keep the updates coming.

Hopefully this photo-blog-thing will fill in the experience for you!

Gregonz, Nice pics! Some fit pics of the pair?

I left one day earlier, Raymon wanted me to extend another day to meet you in person, but schedule was tight.

I did witness his work during 2011 winter launch, he made 2 pair on the spot for a friend in Guangzhou, was pretty impressive with the freehand stitching of the R425 wukong arc.

Mr Black, we miss out this batch of stocks, only 20 were made for their counterparts in China, was too late to order them. But we are checking for his 2nd batch.

Hey, what a shame you couldn't stick round for another day! Maybe we can compare fadez next time you're in zhong guo I've got some good fit pics and fade pics of the new pair, but you'll have to wait untill the end of the 'making of' to see!

A clearer shot of using the 'soap'

Thou shalt not waste denim

Boo ya

And again...

The triangles at the top of this shot will make the waist band:

Red Cloud R424XX 32"

This is the leg, and the two holes on the pattern are for marking where the back pocket joins.

He uses this white pencil to draw the pattern on

And this is something which was translated as 'soap', but to me seemed to be a kind of wax. He uses the pencil on the edges, but where he needs to mark on places that will be visible on the finished product he uses this stuff because it comes off easier. I guess the penciled edges are going to be cut along so those markings wont be seen.

Hey Guys

Last summer I had a chance to go up to Shenyang and visit Raymond and his factory. I emailed him and told him I was coming and asked if I'd be able to see some jeans being made. When we got there the factory was empty - all the workers had the day off. Raymond surprised me by pulling out the denim and making a one pair from scratch while I watched. It was an awesome experience, he talked away the whole time and all the details and ins and outs of the process, and I took literally hundreds of photos... at the end he gave the pair he made to me for free! I was pretty stoked!

I've been pretty busy since then finishing a thesis for university, but thats wrapped up now and I've got some time to revisit all those photos. I thought I'd post some up here so you can follow along. There are about 800 photos for me to go through, chuck the useless ones and resize and stuff so it's going to take a while, but I'll make a start now.

He starts off by laying the pattern down on the denim and tracing around it

The wooden block holds he pattern down, but Ray says it doesnt need to be super accurate because the accuracy comes in the stitching not the cutting.

^ Oh yeah. I think you have to email them for orders though.

I'm going up to visit Red Cloud in Shenyang this weekend. I'm going to interview the Raymon the owner so if you've got any questions you'd like asked of him let me know by PM and I'll ask him.

Plus I'm trying to convince him to let me help sell his product internationally through a normal website, so hopefully they will be more easily available and with all the necessary info soon! Cross your fingers!

^Ande Whall's

Damn domu, those sda's take some fading huh? 9 months?

China only for the moment I think...

Odd it is, interesting it is not. Just get wearing them. Its what this thread is about after all

Well, I am wearing them

Don't see how it's not interesting though. Maybe they are Japanese versions or something - perhaps the 9016 is different colours in different places... but I'm sure that's not the case. Maybe it's the way the leather has aged over time in the box... I'm pretty sure they aren't as red as a black cherry.

I'm going to talk to the vendor and I'll report back. Maybe the sheer boredom of reading it will give you a brain aneurysm big_truck

sigh... it has something to do with the lighning. first pic is overexposed, second looks like direct sunlight. its not easy to catch the true colour. if you are still not sure you have to compare it with another pair.

Also: leather is a natural product and i have seen 9016's in all shades of cigar but never any coming even close to black cherry.

Yeah, that must be it. Maybe I'll go compare them to some in a retail store. Thanks!

Stop caring too much about them? Umm... what?

Don't you think that it is odd that they are clearly genuine, labelled 9016 and, as you say, are black cherry?

Got a good mystery for you RW aficionados out there!

What colour is this Gentleman Traveler? Black Cherry or Cigar?

The reason I ask is because I bought the 9016, which is the cigar colour. I also got them cheap (for China). I am suspecting that they are seconds or something because I'm pretty damn sure that the above is not 9016 CIGAR.

Here is a pic from the redwing store, black cherry on the left, cigar on the right. There is no way mine are like the ones on the right, right?

Mine do have 9016 on the tongue though... Strange!

Other than that, I am loving these boots! Got a 41.5 where I wear a 43 in sneakers. The fit is spot on. Got a packet of bandages on my feet, but the break in is going pretty well!

Thanks!