Red Cloud & Co. jeans

[gregornz]

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!

Edited December 7, 2012 by gregornz

[gregornz]

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]

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

[gregornz]

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!

[aho]

^awesome stuff...i'm admittedly lacking in knowledge of red cloud's fabrics...are they all locally sourced, xinjiang long staple?

[TooAwesome]

are there any fits that are like the NF WG? roomy thigh and tapered leg? looking for something thats a 11.5 thigh and 7 hem at a 31-32 waist depending on the rise.

i saw the r425xx and it looks pretty interesting (whats the weight on these?) but i love the r400 twisted yarn weft and 17oz weight. is it all unsanforized?

i was also wondering how come tuckshops prices are like $100+ on top of the regular prices? is it because theyre the only US distributor? lol

[TuckshopSS]

^awesome stuff...i'm admittedly lacking in knowledge of red cloud's fabrics...are they all locally sourced, xinjiang long staple?

Yes, they are xinjian cotton, you can see some write up and information here

http://halloffade.com/xinjiang-cotton-the-next-big-thing/#comments

are there any fits that are like the NF WG? roomy thigh and tapered leg? looking for something thats a 11.5 thigh and 7 hem at a 31-32 waist depending on the rise. i saw the r425xx and it looks pretty interesting (whats the weight on these?) but i love the r400 twisted yarn weft and 17oz weight. is it all unsanforized? i was also wondering how come tuckshops prices are like $100+ on top of the regular prices? is it because theyre the only US distributor? lol

You can look at the R400 series cut, tapered on the bottom roomy tight, but sizes run real fast as it's also supporting the Heavy Weight Champion Round 2. (code is still available to enjoy 20% off, it will get on to the idea cost)

The prices different in a nut shell,

The shipping transport from Northern China to SEA has added a lot on the cost, especially with the export certification that have to factor in to get that large quantity out from the China. Also some of the heavier items (like the following B10 jacket, weight almost 7pound) have very limited run, so in order to get them out in small quantity, door to door shipment pickup have to be arrange.

If you ever tried ordering directly from there, expect a 35% top up amount of shipping....

Let me know what you are interested, I can arrange.

[aho]

^great article, thanks for the heads up!

[moryanzi]

RC Denim for female.

[gregornz]

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:

[gregornz]

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.

Edited December 12, 2012 by gregornz

[spidereye]

more please

[scasi]

r400

[gregornz]

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.

[Contrast]

Update on Red Cloud r400s

around 2.5 months

Need to find a time with better lighting.

When I first soaked them I did not actually experience much shrinkage.

[spidereye]

Nice love the unique fabrics details inside the twisted yarn.

[TuckshopSS]

Took some pictures of the RC denim peacoat.

More pics here on our blog http://tuckshopsundrysupplies.wordpress.com/2013/01/06/rc-denim-peacoat/

[TuckshopSS]

For those who have missed out on the Red Cloud World Tour, we strongly urge you to join us at our Tour group.

Excellent stuff and pictorial updates are going on in Peru.

Brilliant illustration by 'Bob' (FOXY). Trust me, flipping through the illustrations is like touring with the pants.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/redcloudworldtour/

Sites that are 5000 to 5500 years ago....

Magnificent scenery

[Davil]

Tuckshop that Pea Coat is badazz!

[bonghollywood]

After reading 38 pages of this thread i became obsessed about the 21oz r400s. My curiosity started after reading about the super heavy weight denim championships, which I'm planning to join to. I've been wanting get my waist and leg to feel a 21oz around them and Red Cloud's r400s have fit my criteria. The price, the shape , the fit and the fade from previous post got me hooked on it. So, with my introduction done, I'm looking for a guide when it comes to sizing. I usually buy jeans that are slim fit and size 30. Is it better for me to buy a 31 and shrink it or a size 29 stretch it?

Any response is deeply appreciated.

[Thor]

Got my Wabash shirts in super fast time . Gorgeous construction. Thank you tuck shop & red cloud.

[spidereye]

expecting for something new.

[gregornz]

@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:

[gregornz]

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:

Edited January 11, 2013 by gregornz

[gregornz]

Steam!

pump up the volume

Steam!

And the finished product, for your consideration:

[gregornz]

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

[gregornz]

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:

[gregornz]

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!

Edited January 11, 2013 by gregornz

[gregornz]

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).

[spidereye]

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeettttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt

cannabis what a statement.