Foxy2

they probably cut all the back patch pockets from one block in one or two sizes and wouldn't worry too much about color shading. the operator had time, scissors and a template to match, trim and make the pocket fit right at the sewing machine. with increased sewing operator costs, increased line output/efficiencies and the rise of automatic pocket setting machines things got streamlined, "optimized" and standardized.

not the worst. looking forward to see the fades...

Eagles are massive - probably not one...

Backside...

And here’s how they came out:

After that trip they were ready for another wash...before the wash:

Yup - damn autocorrect... the lake is beautiful and big, really big. we were told it’s just a little bit of sunny sailing and very warm - turns out that due to the size of the lake it’s open water sailing and terribly cold. as soon as you go ashore the mites and mosquitos will eat you alive. still - amazing scenery!

The trip was a nightmare, but Lake Lagoda is simply stunning!

Went to Karelia the other week for a little sailing/rowing/camping trip...

I wouldn't be surprised if the wider seam allowance for smaller sizes is an original feature. most likely the original manufacturers were trying to cut corners (it was dead cheap workwear after all) and RMcC is trying to replicate that. who knows...

for this type of damage you will need additional fabric to re-enforce the fly or add a hook & loop - just re-stitching the button hole will not do...

manual repair - i.e. re-stitching the button, use additional fabric to re-enforce the button whole area. another option is to add a hook & loop type of closure under the waistband to bottom fly in order to take at least some of the stress off the actual button hole.

with the amount of attention that RMcC directs towards their products you can assume it's intentional for the back patch pocket seam allowance to be that wide - at least for in certain sizes. a possible reason for that could be that all back pockets are cut (or die-cut) with the same dimension for all sizes. the final back pocket patches are then adjusted for each size - which means in the smaller sizes the seam allowance would be wider. another aspect is the back pocket top-stitching around the hidden/concealed rivets - the inner stitching line is quite a bit apart from the outer stitching near the rivets before it aligns with the outer stitchind to a standard width for the rest of the patch pocket. most manufacturer have irregular seam allowances on the sides of the pocket or will trim the rest down manually - which is extra work, time & money. IIRC, @SLAB sports a smaller jeans size...

Yeah, it’s confusing in regards to the use and purpose of sweet millet. I’m reading a few research papers and it seems like that other than sugarcane rayon fibers the use of sugarcane in textile applications is limited so far. Sugarcane producing regions are interested in finding out what else they are supposed to do with the bagasse (the remaining 30% after pressing). There are problems in isolating and extracting sugarcane fibers from the bagasse and the observed parameters (tensile and tenacity properties) of those fibers are not ideal. My guess is that Sugarcane’s application of sugarcane fibers with sweet millet is isolated and makes only little sense commercially. Mr. Kawai’s comment as to who came up with it was probably a bit cynic in nature in regards to the limitation of its actual usage...

https://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/7048/sugarcane-fibres "In the apparel industry, bagasse is utilised for production of textile rayon fibers such as viscose, modal and lyocell. The bagasse is shredded, broken down with eco-friendly chemicals or other chemicals, and then when it is still in a liquid form, it is shot at very high pressure through tiny holes. This long strand of fibre is then solidified and spun into yarn. Rayon fibres are thus produced. Since rayon is manufactured from organically occurring polymers, it is considered as a semi-synthetic fibre. Sugarcane rayon is glossier and more silk-like than wood pulp rayon. Sugarcane rayon, in particular, has a delightful lustre, however, this could also merely be a manufacturing difference, and not a material difference." "Earlier, the Japanese dominated or rather had a sole authority over producing sugarcane fibre for apparel purpose. In Japan, several companies used blend of sugarcane and selvage denim to reproduce some of the finest quality jeans. The cane used in the process is sweet sorghum, commonly known as sweet millet. It's a very common grass, which is produced all over the world. It is mainly used for making a molasses-like syrup and animal feed. The Japanese companies mixed sugarcane fibre with sweet sorghum, which in turn gave the fabric a sweet smell. Since then, sugarcane fabric has been successful in inviting world-wide attention. "

Besides, wasn’t it Japan’s cyber security minister that admitted to never having used a computer in his life...

The AW18 catalogue shows a picture of the bagasse fiber mix and the text suggests that it is used to spin the yarns. my sugar cane denim used to be quite scratchy/itchy in the beginning due to specific staple fibers in the yarns that were harder than your average cotton staple fibers. You could actually look for those and pull them out with pliers. as @Pedro said - using bagasse is a standard process and achieving a 50/50 mix using only sugar molecules seems highly unlikely...

Toyo's statements in the past were that Okinawa and Hawaii models and their respective denims are made from sugar cane fibers and indigo from these regions. (I've seen retailers and online sources claim that the cotton was also from said regions, but I couldn't verify that claim to originate from a Toyo source.) what happened in 2016 was that the last of the Big 5 ceased commercial sugar cane planting & harvesting - if and how much of that production ended up (as a by-product) at Toyo's we don't know... Toyo's AW2018 catalogues still claim that their Hawaii model denim uses bagasse originating from Hawaii. given traditional apparel supply chain planning timelines and typical raw material buying behavior I would think that a 2016 Hawaiian sugar cane harvest stock could have been use up within 2 seasons - max. 3. Toyo probably only runs 1 production lot of jeans & jackets per year. AW2018 garment retail lots were probably planned and scheduled for in 2017 already. it's also possible that Toyo's Hawaiian bagasse never came from big commercial plantations (i.e. Hawaiian Corporate and Sugar Company - HC&S owned by Alexander & Baldwin) in the fist place, but from smaller, alternative and still existing growers...

agree - apparently, B&S (Burg & Schild) is gearing up for a Union Special at one point in the near future, too...

that's most definitely Washington Square Park for most of the pictures - that's the students building at the school of education in the background (now NYU Steinhardt School). also, the neighborhood shots fit better...

Great info and pics - hope we get to see the next stages documented as well... any more details on the yarns (spinning & dye)?

will probably pass on this one, but it certainly looks interesting...

a bengal or bengal mix - we'll never know as she's a rescue.

curious about the outcome - also on the fence about ordering one...