home-made jeans

[rodeo bill]

any more worn-in photos of these or your other pair ra?

[lenn]

bill, your work is really amazing... it inspires me to just get some denim and start working on a pair too, but i can hardly even repair my own jeans, so it's probably not a good idea just yet. when i want a workwear-ish fit in the future, you can make me one

[mcallistermizy]

Just got reply from from China factory who made selvedge denim.They sell Usd3.00/yd excluding courier fee. Usd10.00/yd including courier for a few yds and they accept PayPal for method of payment.I didnt order yet because i have to make sure this company is exsist or not !!!

http://www.luckydenim.cn/eng/selvagedenim.htm

[rodeo bill]

no idea if they;re kosher, although the website looks perfectly believable (which is not the same as saying it looks slick!), abd the price seems about right. From the descriptions it sounds like they have some nice stuff. You could always ask them to send you cuttings, or even just scans, to make sure they;re for real.

anyway whether you go with these guys or find something at retail, go for it! can;t wait to see your project

[raWorkshop]

any more worn-in photos of these or your other pair ra?

Give me about 2 weeks, I'm studying abroad right now. It'll be easier to get pictures when I'm home.

And bill, a pneumatic machine? That takes balls, industrial equipment is no joke. My sewing machine still terrifies the shit out of me, it goes from zero to om nOM NOM TASTEE FINGERS in about half a second.

[raWorkshop]

And I was hesitant to post my denim source but my guilt complex about sourcing locally has kicked in. Get your shit from premiumdenimoutlet.com, don't make homemade jeans with a massive carbon footprint, that's ridiculous.

[rodeo bill]

And I was hesitant to post my denim source but my guilt complex about sourcing locally has kicked in. Get your shit from premiumdenimoutlet.com, don't make homemade jeans with a massive carbon footprint, that's ridiculous.

excellent link ra! sorry I can't rep you again, and I understand you wanting to keep your sources private;).

To mcallistermizy, or anyone else up for this, If you'l excuse my recommendation, I'd personally go for this one:

http://www.premiumdenimoutlet.com/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=55824850

14oz Cone sanforized yellow selvage. Looks lovely and uneven, and the tone is fantastic, from what you can see.

[mcallistermizy]

great denim!!! what about the price Bill? to Ireland maybe a bit expensive i think but i'll check later with this company.

[raWorkshop]

excellent link ra! sorry I can't rep you again, and I understand you wanting to keep your sources private;).

To mcallistermizy, or anyone else up for this, If you'l excuse my recommendation, I'd personally go for this one:

http://www.premiumdenimoutlet.com/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=55824850

14oz Cone sanforized yellow selvage. Looks lovely and uneven, and the tone is fantastic, from what you can see.

This is the one I've been using, it's not all that uneven, the weave is pretty tight too. Nice stuff though.

[FACE]

to those who successfully complete a pair, how much would you say that particular Jean cost you? i'm sure sourcing your own material saves so much money, and makes the jeans THAT much more personal.

[rodeo bill]

as I said on the last page, speaking for my jeans I paid about 30pounds for 4m of denim, but that's expensive, and it included next day shipping from Japan to UK... apart from fabric, I paid 3pounds50 to get buttonholes done (coud have sone them on my sewing machine or by hand, but they'd have been much less nice), and that;s pretty much it. Other stuff you'll need (which I had already) are thread, pattern paper, trimming fabric if you need it (pocket bags etc), and rivets and buttons. All in all I'd say on a budget you could easily come in unded 15pounds (2pound/m denim) and it'd be difficult to go above 50pounds. And even if what you end up with isn;t quite FullCount level(.....) as you say, it;s much more personal, and really cool to be able to wear something that youi literally know inside-out. Next stage- weaving and dying my own fabric!

[Charlie Delta]

Edited this thread into the "Making you own pair of jeans" section of the Encyclopedia

There is also an excellent thread to be found in there by Ande Whall, where he took step by step pictures of how he makes a pair of jeans. link

[rodeo bill]

^^I (and I'm sure ra) are honoured!

edit- ra, just noticed I picked out the same denim as you. looks even better made up! can't wait for worn-in pics. are you wearing the cone pair regularly?

[raWorkshop]

Cool shit Cotton, glad I could contribute.

^^I (and I'm sure ra) are honoured!

edit- ra, just noticed I picked out the same denim as you. looks even better made up! can't wait for worn-in pics. are you wearing the cone pair regularly?

Every other day, alternating with a pair of s5000vx, which they're roughly based on. The fades are there, some of the stitching has blown out but yeah they get lots of love. I've done a shower wash and a cold wash. I'll hot wash and take more pics when I get home, fades should be pretty strong regardless.

[Akira]

as I said on the last page, speaking for my jeans I paid about 30pounds for 4m of denim, but that's expensive, and it included next day shipping from Japan to UK... apart from fabric, I paid 3pounds50 to get buttonholes done (coud have sone them on my sewing machine or by hand, but they'd have been much less nice), and that;s pretty much it. Other stuff you'll need (which I had already) are thread, pattern paper, trimming fabric if you need it (pocket bags etc), and rivets and buttons. All in all I'd say on a budget you could easily come in unded 15pounds (2pound/m denim) and it'd be difficult to go above 50pounds. And even if what you end up with isn;t quite FullCount level(.....) as you say, it;s much more personal, and really cool to be able to wear something that youi literally know inside-out. Next stage- weaving and dying my own fabric!

Do that and you'll have everyone on SuFu buying it up

[Mr Black]

Sounds very interesting. Keep us all posted fella!

[slowdownarthur]

Definatly up for that Rodeo Bill!

In fact, this whole thread got me inspired - currently taking a shot and ordering some denim from premiumdenimoutlet...

[rodeo bill]

[rodeo bill]

I don;t know what's going on with posts getting deleted...

luckily I copied my post before i submitted it, sorry this is out of sync with the end of the pictures (above)

here's another pair I made 3 years ago or so:

these were a slimmer, lower-waisted cut (fit pics when I can if people want), with all brown stitching, and symmetrical calico jetted coin pockets. The idea with the back strap (grown on from the waistband) was that you could tie it up at the back, but I didn;t amke it long enough really, so I just wore it with the straps loose. I got the denim cheap from one of the remnant fabric shops on the Goldhawk Rd (defiitely worth a trip any Londoners here who don;t know it!), and it's full width, but the edge didn't free, and it makes reasonable fake-selvage... I didn;t have access to rivets/buttons, or a buttonhoel machine, so I used tailor's horn buttons, and I made the buttonholes (badly) by hand. I put in a bearer at the fly, like on tailored trousers.

[Hendodo]

can we see some pic fits??

[rodeo bill]

here you go:

the first thing to say is that I made these a few years ago (I said 3 earlier, but I reckon it's more like 4) and I've put on a bit of weight... I'm fairly happy with the shape, but if I was doing these again I'd adjust them so I was as it were sizing up one. Also, I made them too short- that was just a mistake. I reckon they need to be at least a good 2 or 3 inches longer.

these were worn on and off for a few months only, no serious wear. When I made them I was wearing a suit all day for work, so it was a relatively un-jeansy time of my life.

I've got these on now, and it's been a while since I've worn anything approaching tight jeans, and it's an unusual feeling...!

[rodeo bill]

I'm lucky to know the UK agent for Kuroki, who make some of the best denim in Japan, and I picked out this gorgeous 15oz green-caste indigo denim, with pink line selvage. It's heavily starched, which makes it easier to put together (the cloth doesn;t fray so much), and the washed swatches I looked at look great, so I'm very excited how these are going to look after a soak, and over time.

Here's the cloth as it arrived on Friday morning:

[raWorkshop]

Wear pics. Lots of them.

First pair of jeans I made, a year ago. Tore up some thrifted 505's for the pattern. They've been my work jeans ever since, tons and tons of washes.

Repaired after they hooked on some air duct on a demolition site.

This is the pair I made in August. 14 oz cone denim, worn every other day, 3 soaks, 2 washes

Strange strange lobster claw fade

Combs are slightly stronger in real life

[rodeo bill]

really nice Ra! thanks for the pics. sorry i can't rep you again

I really like the indigo threads hanging down from inside the belt loops on the first pair, and the detailing and fading's looking great on the 2nd pair. also i definitly thinik you;re better off with no arcuates and the run-off hidden rivet stitches. much more unusual. brilliant!

[raWorkshop]

Cooking up another pair as we speak! More thread colors and cool details on the way. Can't seem to remember what order you're supposed to sew the damned pieces together though.

[raWorkshop]

Its winter break! Aren't you guys fucking excited for home made jeans? I sure am!

[salo]

looking good raWorkshop!

glad to see your cat loves denim too

[dar]

I like the stitching on the pocket; subtleties. And, of course, I conform to the cuteness of kitties. +rep

[raWorkshop]

Glad you guys like them. I'm going to put them up for sale in a week or so.

And that's Lefty, well intentioned if unproductive team member here at the workshop.

Anyways, better shots of the Singer 15. It says patented 1896, I doubt it could have been made much after that. Weird to think that 3 seamstresses could have come work on it every day of their careers, probably only making three or four rows of stitching per garment. Now its in my bedroom.

[mcallistermizy]

Excellent home made jeans raWorkshop... and i like your cat !!! .. now im planning to buy a selvedge denim from China. They sell 10usd per-yard+shipping to Ireland.Im not sure this price is a good bargain or not and no idea about the quality.Any other cheaper or quality option?Recently i found a Polo Ralph Lauren selvedge jeans (black line)that was made in China-not sure the denim was made in China too.Maybe Bill or raWorkshop had a good information about China selvedge denim quality.... raWorkshop your Singer machine remind me my mom old sewing machine(early 1900's version)which is my favourite sewing machine and still alive till today!!