Steel Feather MiJ - Heavy Oz denim

[Vicarious]

(Above: split back pocket; yes, it is selvage!)

Here's a picture of the jeans I've been wearing for the past year, and they've been the only ones I've seen with split back pockets like that. Probably my favourite thing about these jeans, I'm really surprised more brands haven't taken this up. I'm sure it would look a lot better with your heavyweight denim though! Keep up the good work, your jeans look the goods.

[Xstan]

The cut for my jeans is a slim and slightly tapered fit. These are some of the featured details on the Steel Feather "SF0121":

• 21oz Japanese selvage denim woven on a Toyoda loom by a small family owned mill in Okayama; 3/- x 3/- tight woven denim (up to 23oz after full shrinkage) - more info to come on this denim!
  
• Unsanforized; will shrink up to 8 % with washing
  
• 
  
• Crafted by hand in Okayama, Japan
  

This info has also been added to the topmost post.

What the price ?

[shinobi2000]

the color is fantastic. The back pocket idea is ingenious! Sign me up now!

[Anders Helseth]

Hey guys, sorry for being slow; my family also wants a piece of my attention during the holidays.

They are available now, and price including shipping is Norwegian Kroner 2200,-. (Should be about US$ 370 with current exchange rate; however, for stability on my part, I always charge in my local currency)

Kind Regards

Anders Helseth

EDIT: Info on buying my Steel Feather jeans have been included in the first post.

Edited May 22, 2012 by Surrealizm

[Anders Helseth]

Back with some more pictures. This time we go "behind the scene" into the tiny, family-owned fabric mill. This little mill was a 2 hour car ride away from Kojima, in a very rural area. Enjoy:

(Above: here's the Toyoda loom that was responsible for weaving the fabric used in my Steel Feather 21oz jeans)

(Above: yet another shuttle loom in action)

(Above: fabric weaving going on; more looms)

(Above: more looms; most of these were running, and the noise was near untolerable)

(Above: not exactly sure what this refers too, and it was too noisy to ask)

(Above: one of the weaver's machines was having some downtime; there's a shuttle lying on the fabric)

This is truly artisanal fabric; all machines are run by one person, who has a lot of technical expertise and experience with these old shuttle looms. A really great guy, who naturally seemed to have extensive knowledge on anything related to denim and the weaving of it. Here he is:

(Above: Mr "Mori" holding his gift of Norwegian brown cheese, which I "smuggled" with me to Japan for him)

As always, will be back with more pictures!

[Danny @ Rivet & Hide]

Norwegian brown cheese! I love that stuff.

Edited April 8, 2012 by samcam

[Anders Helseth]

First post updated with new info, and also slightly rewritten for clarity.

[Anders Helseth]

Now to share some info on one of the fabrics featured on my Steel Feather jeans: the chameleon hickory.

This is a dead stock fabric I managed to pick up, which was originally developed and woven by Nihon Menpu mill. As you can see in the picture below, the left swatch shows the indigo hickory stripes with some nuances of color showing. However, the right swatch shows the actual underlying colors without the indigo dye.

The threads used to weave this fabric have been cheese dyed, first with the various underlying colors, then with natural indigo. After the final indigo dyeing process the fabric is woven as a traditional hickory striped fabric. However, with this particular fabric the indigo will bleed away over time to reveal more of the nuances beneath.

The cotton that was used for the chameleon fabric was sourced from India. The finished fabric feels sturdy, weighing in on 9oz, yet soft to the touch. In the Steel Feather jeans this fabric can be found lining the inside of the back yoke, and in the pocket bags.

EDIT: Slightly rewritten for clarity.

Edited April 10, 2012 by Surrealizm

[DFreshLeish]

One of the coolest things I've seen in a long time^

[Guyute]

These are very, very impressive....good luck!

[lance]

the cheese dyed hickory stripe fabric reminds me of rainbow okis - the fading should be similar and really cool.

Edited April 9, 2012 by lance

[nicolnicolnicol]

Everything about this project is just fab. Love the details : orange/yellow stitch/ selvedge back pocket / amazing fabric for lining / thick selvedge lines / self designed leather tag.

A shame that the hem is a little too small for liking. Will watch with great interest though.

[Anders Helseth]

Everything about this project is just fab. Love the details : orange/yellow stitch/ selvedge back pocket / amazing fabric for lining / thick selvedge lines / self designed leather tag.

A shame that the hem is a little too small for liking. Will watch with great interest though.

Thanks for your positive remarks!

A note on hem measurements: the hem was measured while flat, and for people who aren't experienced with these kind of charts, as an example 7" on the table means a 14" hem. I also measured on the inside of the leg opening, so the hem might be reflected as narrower in the chart than it really is; additionally, this is a quite thick denim.

As you can see from my pictures, the hem isn't that tight; I am wearing a post-wash size 34 in those pics.

Anders

EDIT: Thanks for pointing out this; I've done my measurements again with greater accuracy. New sizing chart has been added to the first post!

Edited April 10, 2012 by Surrealizm

[Cain]

Ach, too bad you don't have a post-shrinking w38 denim atm.. Would love to have some "norwegian" denim on me.

[Anders Helseth]

Ach, too bad you don't have a post-shrinking w38 denim atm.. Would love to have some "norwegian" denim on me.

If more people request this, then it can be done

[Anders Helseth]

Here's some pictures of my friend Sigurd wearing raw size 32 Steel Feather jeans, and some post-wash pics:

(Above: Steel Feather size 32 pre-wash)

(Above: Steel Feather size 32 post-wash and after about 1 month of hard wear)

(Above: close up of split back pocket; some nice evo happening already)

He's got quite slim legs, not skinny though. Sigurd is about 175 cm tall.

For anyone wondering, the belt he's wearing is hand made by Hollows Leather.

[ranonranonarat]

very very interesting developments. it's been a while since anybody posted something like that. great to see pictures of the home-run mill. any history on the dude? pity these jeans are too slim for me. they look great on you though! good luck with things!

[Anders Helseth]

very very interesting developments. it's been a while since anybody posted something like that. great to see pictures of the home-run mill. any history on the dude? pity these jeans are too slim for me. they look great on you though! good luck with things!

Sorry to hear that these are too slim; maybe I'll have more to choose from in the future

Mr Mori's been in the weaving business all his life I believe, from what he told me. It's like a thing that's gone on for generations, passed on from father to son; however, I'm not exactly sure when they started weaving denim, but from what I could understand they've had the Toyoda looms since they were made. Maybe not all of them; not sure about any details. Mr Mori's not much of a talker, and it might be that his hearing is worse than he gives on; which is understandable considering the amount of noise in the mill facility.

Here's a bonus pic from outside of the mill:

Everything is done in the building in the front; to the left (not in picture) is his family's home. You can also see the insane amount of indigo colored fibre that's been sucked out through the ventilation. In the background you can see several houses; the neighbours have a high tolerance for noise, that's certain.

[beeetus]

It takes a lot to get me excited about a new brand, but these are incredible. Hoping to get a pair in the near future.

[Anders Helseth]

Contemplating to adjust my size chart, since my hem measures 16" all the way round on my size 34 in post-wash. That means they're actual 8" while flat, which means pre-wash they were around 8,25-8,5". As I've mentioned previously, the fit is slightly tapered.

Because of the thickness of the fabric, and the 4 x rolled vintage hem, the measurements of the hem might be up to 0,75" bigger than what's reflected in the chart. It's also safe to assume that the other flat measurements are actually a bit wider as well. I will look into doing more accurate measurements, and coming back with a tweaked chart.

Really sorry about this guys!

EDIT: New size chart has been uploaded and added to first post; all measurements taken again with greater accuracy. As a little token to show how sorry I am, I'll give you a bonus pic:

(Above: the shutters of a jeans shop in the Okayama Jeans Street in Kojima)

Edited April 10, 2012 by Surrealizm

[Cain]

If more people request this, then it can be done

I suspect that we fatties are a minority, but I'll hold my hopes up anyway

[beatle]

congrats again...jeans are looking real good, can´t wait to see them when we meet

[Hajduk]

Gratulerer Anders!

Spennende!

Jeg bor i Oslo... and i will really like to see your jeans in real!

når det passer. pm is the key.

again, congrats Anders!

[Anders Helseth]

congrats again...jeans are looking real good, can´t wait to see them when we meet

Thanks! I'll get back to you on any exact dates; my calendar is a bit unpredictable recently.

Gratulerer Anders!

Spennende!

Jeg bor i Oslo... and i will really like to see your jeans in real!

når det passer. pm is the key.

again, congrats Anders!

Nice to see there are more Norwegian denim-enthusiasts; and already two have found my thread.

I'm up for showing off a pair in real life, no problem. PM has been sent.

[Anders Helseth]

Back with some more pre- and post-wash pics, this time of my friend Rikhard wearing his size 34 Steel Feather jeans:

(Above: front and back pre-wash raw fit)

(Above: Steel Feather jeans standing on themselves after drying off for a few hours; sorry for the blurriness of the pic)

(Above: front and back of post-wash fit; he wore them a bit while wet, and has already got some decent combs going on)

Rikhard is about 180cm tall, weighs about 80kg, and has quite muscular legs. His size is the same as mine, but his legs are fuller; although I am no skinny guy myself. As the post-wash pics were taken the first day after wash, they are still quite rigid and tight; I will come back with more pics of him in about a month or so to see how they've moulded and stretched.

[dnsnlsn]

Love the good work on this project! I can really tell this is a labor of love.

Not a huge fan of the name though. Care to explain where you got Steel Feather?

[Anders Helseth]

Love the good work on this project! I can really tell this is a labor of love.

Not a huge fan of the name though. Care to explain where you got Steel Feather?

Sorry to hear that you're not satisfied with the name. However, this does give me the chance to explain it:

Originally, it's a direct translation of a street name close to where I live. Also, the combination of "steel" and "feather" is meant to reflect that my jeans are both comfortable (feather) and durable (steel); that's why my leather patch says "Comfort & Durability" to the left of my feather logo. Although I did give considerable thought to several other options, I kept going back to this one; especially because I liked the simplicity of the feather logo I designed. This feather is featured in the middle of the patch design.

I would like to conclude that my jeans are more about product integrity and quality, rather than having the "coolest" name for it. In my opinion Steel Feather is nice and simple, and it works. Maybe the jeans will make the name famous, rather than the name making the jeans famous.

I hope this will do as an answer

Cheers!

Anders

Edited April 19, 2012 by Surrealizm

[lance]

hey surrealizm, i like the name and the jeans too - i especially like the details which show thought and originality as does the name

Edited April 12, 2012 by lance

[cool_hand]

very very interesting developments. it's been a while since anybody posted something like that. great to see pictures of the home-run mill. any history on the dude? pity these jeans are too slim for me. they look great on you though! good luck with things!

have to agree with ranonanonarat - these would also be to slim for me - fantastic looking project but I'm surprised you use such heavy denim for such a tailored fitting jean. good luck with your venture.

[Anders Helseth]

have to agree with ranonanonarat - these would also be to slim for me - fantastic looking project but I'm surprised you use such heavy denim for such a tailored fitting jean. good luck with your venture.

You'd be surprised how comfortable it really is! Even with my full bottom and full thighs they fit comfortably. In my opinion, the best aspect with unsanforized denim is how it will mould to your body. If it starts out a little tight, it will mould much better. Right now my size 34 feels very comfy, and doesn't feel tight at all. I guess you just have to experience it yourself to know