I’ve been wearing my Jalie 2908 holy fecking shet jeans way too much. They just fit me so much better than any of my RTW jeans that I’ve been wearing them tons and practically forgotten about any of my other jeans. We’re talking about a frequency of wear that is outside of the realm of socially acceptable. Bordering on gross. Actually probably well into gross territory. (TMI!) So last night I decided it was time to start a new pair.
I got some new stretch denim which is heavier than what I used for the last pair (I love the last pair, but they do feel a little flimsier than I like for jeans) and in a darker, less blue wash. I’ve got dark gold (not metallic) Gutermann topstitching thread and a couple of rivets left over from the last pair, though I could stand to order some more. I cut out all the denim last night and then started thinking about what scraps of cotton to appropriate for pocket linings and facings.
It’s really not worth getting new cotton for the pockets in my opinion because you really don’t see them (unlike a jacket lining) and it’s such a small amount of fabric. I guess if you decide to line the waistband it might be justifiable to go pick out some adorable new print, but I prefer my waistband to be all denim. For the last pair, which, if you recall, was actually supposed to be a muslin, I just snipped a bit of old bedsheet that I had previously used to muslin something else. But it wasn’t a particularly pretty bedsheet, and it has that wrinkly worn look of a very old, very nondescript bedsheet. So this time I wanted something prettier. Here’s what I’m going with- some candystriped cuteness in varied shades of pink and brown:
HAHAHAHAHAHAH!
You saw England,
You saw France!
I made you look at Dan’s UNDERPANTS!
That’s right- I’ve decided that old boxer shorts are the BEST source for jeans pocket fabrics. You can easily get a whole matching set out of a single pair of underwear and the prints are just so darn cute. (Don’t worry, they’re clean, which is more than I can say for the Jalie jeans that I’ve worn for the last 3 days in a row.)
More TMI! This pair was wearing and tearing at the seams and I had even mended them once already (*gasp* Did I just publicly admit to mending something for someone else? And someone’s UNDERWEAR, no less?? Guess whose internal filter is not working today. Mine!) but despite the patching, the fabric was just so worn at the seams that they were falling apart. Other than at the seams, however, the fabric is in great shape. And so cute and pink.
I’ve been hoarding several pairs of Dan’s falling-apart boxers (yeah, more TMI! The Selfish Seamstress is freaky!) because the fabric is good quality and adorable in cheerful stripes and mermaid prints and polka dots, but hadn’t really had a plan for them other than the vague and perverse idea of an eventual “Underpants Quilt,” as there didn’t seem to be enough fabric in a pair to make much else. But now that I’m making my own jeans and will probably make several more pairs in the future, I’m pretty thrilled with this use of the undies.
But it sure makes you think twice about asking me if I can carry your lipstick in my pocket when we go out, huh?
45 comments
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March 5, 2010 at 9:17 am
peter
Selfish yet practical. A great combination!
So when are you going to sew Dan some new boxers?
March 5, 2010 at 10:06 am
selfishseamstress
The thing is, I’ve only been appropriating his underwear at the stage at which it has become decrepit to the point of unwearable. That is to say, I stash them when he’s about to throw them out and I say, “Wait, wait, don’t toss those, those are perfectly good falling apart old underpants!” Hrmm. Anyway, my point is, since he wasn’t going to use them anymore anyway, I don’t actually feel like I *owe* him any boxers to make up for the ones he gives to me. I’m not stealing any viable pairs from his rotation.
The next time I get into a mad fit and decide that it’s worth my time to actually sew for him, I’m guessing he’ll want something besides boxers, since he can’t really show off handmade boxers in any socially acceptable way.
March 5, 2010 at 9:42 am
Sabine
I fear, Dan soon has no more of underwear ;-).
I love these jeans cut! Patterns and fabric are ready and waiting to be processed.
Thanks for the inspiration!
March 5, 2010 at 9:46 am
Carina
Ha! The ultimate selfish overshare! “don’t ask me to carry your crap cuz it’ll go in a pocket that’s been round someone’s bum” genius!
You truly are queen of the selfish *bow* love it!
March 5, 2010 at 10:00 am
The Cupcake Goddess
What a fabulous idea! Can also admit that I keep these types of things in my sewing stash! Aacckk! I just know scraps of fabric from old and worn clothing will come in handy someday. Can I also say that if I find a piece of fabric too worn to keep, I’ll take the buttons or other notions off and then proceed to donate it to a local thrift! Totally need some of those jeans now!
March 5, 2010 at 10:05 am
dana
Huh… so you could make Dan some boxers-on-permanent-loan-until-I-need-new-jeans-pockets. Not sure if that’s generous or selfish, or somewhere in between.
March 5, 2010 at 10:11 am
Jan
Great idea! I’ve been using hubby’s old boxers as dustrags (son finds this hysterical for some reason). But now I have a new source of pocket-patching material for hubby’s jeans.
Not to quibble, but isn’t the saying “I see *London,* I see France”??
March 5, 2010 at 10:22 am
selfishseamstress
You know, after I wrote it, I had the same thought! I googled on both versions, and there’s about 72,000,000 hits for “England” but 106,000,000 for “London,” so London seems to be the more popular version – good call there.
Single socks are also fun for dusting, just put them over your hands :D
March 5, 2010 at 10:14 am
crackerjackheart
I love your blog, but I think this might be my favorite post ever.
March 5, 2010 at 10:31 am
selfishseamstress
Sweet! Thanks for visiting and thanks for the love :D
[Note to self: Include more torn boxer shorts and immature rhymes in future posts.]
March 5, 2010 at 10:34 am
wan-nabe
i canNOT stop laughing at this post. pure genius and yet about 47 different kinds of wrong.
March 5, 2010 at 10:42 am
Elizabeth
My fave post as well! Thanks for the good laugh. I promise I won’t ask you to carry my lipstick.
March 5, 2010 at 10:43 am
LindaC
I love your blog. I can’t decide what is most funny about this post. The fact that you have worn your jeans to the point of gross, the fact that you are using Dan’s old worn out underwear for the pockets of your jeans, or the fact that Dan wears underwear with mermaid prints. Thanks for sharing too much information and making me laugh. :)
March 5, 2010 at 10:52 am
selfishseamstress
Oh, the mermaid boxers were his favorite and he was really sad when he had to let those go. Tiny redheaded mermaids on a pale yellow ground. I’ll probably hang onto those until I make him something that needs pocket lining. It would require even more selfishness that *I* could muster to use those old mermaid boxers for myself when he loves them so.
:D
March 5, 2010 at 4:44 pm
La Contessa
>he was really sad when he had to let those go. Tiny redheaded mermaids on a pale yellow ground. <
We simply *must* have visual proof of this..preferably on Dan's body.
March 5, 2010 at 10:55 am
Kerry
I haven’t gotten around to blogging about it yet, but I too finally caved and sewed a pair of jeans, and I too have been wearing them since Sunday. Wait, I wore them out to dinner Saturday night, so that’s another day. But I didn’t wear them yesterday…so I guess they aren’t that gross…
March 5, 2010 at 11:03 am
selfishseamstress
Yay! Congrats! Munchkin power! I can’t wait to see them. Post, post, post! Seriously, how liberating is it to have jeans that really fit, instead of jeans that sort of fit? I think I actually *slept* in them the first day that I wore them. I’m actually *not* wearing mine today, and I have to say, clean pants is a weird feeling.
March 5, 2010 at 11:04 am
Tenshi
This post is so hilarious in a “too much information” sort of way, it totally made my (otherwise crappy) day. I am still laughing at the idea of an underpants quilt. That is… weird, but kinda genius.
As for the mermaid boxers… you could always sew jeans for Dan. Which would be very, very far from selfish, but totally great.
Okay… there you got it: Must steal my husband’s goose-print boxers and sew pants with them as pocket lining.
March 5, 2010 at 11:16 am
Sewjourner
you. are. amazing. What a teriffic idea.
March 5, 2010 at 11:45 am
Angela
What a great idea! Hmmm… I must rummage through my husband’s boxers, too!
March 5, 2010 at 12:09 pm
juebejue
some people had been asking me how to retaliate! looking at this post about your jeans, i had a brilliant idea! I am going to steal your idea of hammering rivets into jeans (i know youa re not the first to do it, but i get the idea from you anyway :P), and re-make a really fitted and awesome jean for myself with top stitching all over (i LOVE top stitching).
muahahahhahaa, that would so irk you!
March 5, 2010 at 12:44 pm
selfishseamstress
Heehee- hot jeans are the best revenge!
I just checked your BS wall- I love the people who think I’m actually out to rip you a new one :D
March 5, 2010 at 12:40 pm
Catherine
dangnabit. you’re so smart. I’m gonna start stealing boxers from the husband too… at least I know they’re going to a better place – me.
just remind me not to put my lipstick in my pocket.
March 5, 2010 at 1:09 pm
Helen
I am sitting here reading your blog while wearing my lovely, newly made, slightly slouchy Vogue 1022 Issey Miyake pants with fly lining and pockets made of an old pair of boxers. So comfy and smooth….. My stash also has several old pairs of boxers (and parts of boxers, hehehe) and I’ve really got my eye on some more and some of his pyjamas too….. I thought everybody did it. I mean, seriously, do people go into fabric shops and say, “Can I have 25 cm of that nice checked/pa?tterned fabric, etc?” Why would you do that?
March 5, 2010 at 1:24 pm
Beangirl
Where do you get your rivets from? (See, a split infinitive).
Anyway, rivets. Where. Must know now. My life is an endless morrass of rivetless gloom without them. The only one’s I’ve seen is MH and I wasn’t totally convinced.
March 5, 2010 at 1:54 pm
selfishseamstress
No no, you’re ending a sentence with a preposition (again, not a grammatical mistake but one that some object to on stylistic grounds). Here’s a split infinitive:
“I want to unabashedly split infinitives.” :D
I get my jeans rivets from ebay. Just search on “jeans rivets” and you’ll find a bunch of different styles from sellers who sell them in small numbers (a dozen or so sets). I think ebay is really the best place for them– if you find them elsewhere, you often have to buy them in vast quantities.
The ones I have at the moment are these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/12-USA-POCKET-RIVETS-Antique-Brass-JEAN-TACK-BUTTON_W0QQitemZ120488750914QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1c0db06f42#ht_506wt_927
I find the phrase “USA STYLE” a little cheesy, but no one gets close enough to read them and they were the color I wanted.
March 5, 2010 at 3:45 pm
Beangirl
I always get those two mixed up. This is what comes of never having been taught grammar in school (seriously, never).
Thanks for the rivet tip, I hadn’t quite gotten that far in my thought process (because I studiously avoid eBay for the most part and therefor forget that there might actually be things I really need there).
“USA STYLE!” That’s just… so… words fail… I do have a weird and mysterious button that has the McDonald’s logo on it. I don’t know where it came from, but I am hoarding it.
March 5, 2010 at 3:15 pm
Jamie Z
Ha! Now I know what to do with the boxers I made the husband for Valentines Day. He won’t wear them because of the fit–they were a surprise so its not like I could “accidentally” measure him. I see lots of teeny bicycles in my lining future. Thanks for the idea!
March 5, 2010 at 4:44 pm
Threads
No quilters out there? I have mountains of cotton prints waiting to become pockets. But here is the dilemma . . . unless its a batik, there is only one good side. The Jalie instructions (I prefer Jalie # 968 with non-stretchy but trendy selvage denim from Cone mills) would have the nice side of the print become the inside of the pocket. But the only person who sees the pocket is me doing laundry, and I only get to see the wrong side of the print because who turns the pockets inside out?
March 5, 2010 at 6:13 pm
Meredith P
Oooh! Could you elaborate on “trendy selvage denim from Cone mills”? Not sure what this is, but Cone is in my home town. Perhaps I could track some down. What’s special about it, and where do you get it? Tnx.
March 8, 2010 at 3:03 pm
Threads
The short answer is that “selvage” denim is woven on an older style shuttle loom. There is debate about whether the weaving process is better, but I think some agreement that because it is a more expensive and difficult process the mill uses good quality, long staple cotton. Cone has some of the old style mills, and there are Japanese mills.
It was new to me, but once I wore a pair I was sold on the feel – something like using high end towels. The cotton just has a great feel on your skin.
History discussion here: http://www.trynka.net/Site/Cone.html
Internet source for the denim: http://www.shuttleloomdenim.com
March 8, 2010 at 7:10 am
Maggie
For my first pair, I used scraps of flannel-backed satin! Feels like flannel against my legs, but like satin when I put my hands in my pockets!
March 5, 2010 at 5:57 pm
Leslie in Austin
By coincidence, my most recent pair of Jalie jeans have pockets made from boxer short fabric, too! I fear I am diminishing myself in the Selfish Seamstress’ eyes by admitting the full truth that the fabric was leftover from a pair I made for him. But I promise: I’ll rip the boxers off his very body to make my next jeans pockets.
…..
Oh sorry, lost in distracting thoughts.
Anyhow, thus far, though, my favorite Jalie jeans pockets have been made from rayon batik. Very soft and smooth against delicate thighs, and as the previous poster mentioned–two right sides, a visual treat for the laundress (I’ll have to ask her how much she enjoyed it. I’m sure she’s already discussed their beauty at length with Cook, Gardner and Driver).
I recently bought some cotton/poly pant pocketing from Atlanta Thread, and think it will work nicely too, but it’s not nearly as pretty as a cotton print.
And can’t help but mention that today’s coffee was sipped from http://www.io.com/~lolawson/sewing/selfishmug.jpg
March 5, 2010 at 5:58 pm
Leslie in Austin
“Him” being the husband of course. The pool boy never wears boxers.
March 5, 2010 at 6:16 pm
Meredith P
I know these are lovely and soft (the old boxers), but will the fabric hold up for pockets? I assume it’s soft, but not really at the “dissolving” point? Love the pockets BTW and can’t wait to see the finished product.
March 5, 2010 at 7:48 pm
CGCouture
Ooooh! I can’t wait to see the next pair, I’m sure they’ll be fabulous. I need to get started on mine, since I finally managed to snag that same pattern. :-) It’s a bummer that my hubby doesn’t wear boxers though….I would totally steal this idea of yours if he did. ;-)
March 5, 2010 at 7:52 pm
Mary in FL
Don’ worry, Chica. I don’t use lipstick anyway …
March 5, 2010 at 9:00 pm
Julie
Very clever…but I’d still pay big money to see an “underpants quilt.”
March 6, 2010 at 9:12 am
Auntie Allyn
Hee hee, looking ahead to the future, maybe 20 years from now, A&E television will be doing a “Hoarders” show on our Selfish Seamstress, wondering why she kept saving mountains and mountains of old men’s boxer shorts . . . and all of us will remember why she was doing it! (Well, those of us who still have properly functioning memories at that point.)
March 6, 2010 at 9:25 am
Bron
What a great post, maybe I should check my husband´s underwear drawer while he´s busy.
May I also ask if you made the top in the photo and if so from which pattern?
March 7, 2010 at 8:34 am
Laura
A boxer shorts quilt would be awesome! Yeah, I’m a bit of a quilter. And I wish that pattern came in my size! Selfish, just remember that if you’re gonna make a quilt, the seam allowances have to be exactly 1/4 inch. Didn’t know that on my first couple of quilts. And strip quilting is much easier than quilts that use triangles. Yes, I realize that I’m being totally unselfish by sharing that, but quilting seems to be that way. I mean, I’m on my tenth quilt, and none of them have stayed with me! OTOH, I just got my hands on a Butterick jeans pattern in my size….
March 9, 2010 at 10:32 am
amber
Hilarious! Btw, you know I’m loving that pink and brown print, right? Hell, I’ve been searching for something similar for a new toiletry bag for the gym and the options haven’t been plentiful. Unfortunately, Jim doesn’t have any pink prints in his boxers drawer, otherwise I’d just pilfer some from there. ;)
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