This may be the most brilliant or silliest idea I’ve had in a long time.  I joined the Patternreview Sewing Bee.  Based on the format of the Great British Sewing Bee, it’s an elimination challenge.  Kudo’s to the judges who had to go through over 100 entries in the first round which was a shorts/capri’s challenge.

For my entry, I based my capri’s on the super expensive ($1500/pair) Vetements jeans.  If you don’t know they were uber popular in the fashion blogosphere a while back, and are made from 2 pair of vintage levis which are taken apart and sewn back together in a funky style.  Two of the defining elements are a staggered raw hemline & removed back pockets.

I used one pair of mens 40 waist jeans to create mine – I can tell you it’s a heck of a lot more work unpicking & resewing jeans than making a new pair from scratch.  Here’s what I did:

  • cut the legs away from the seamline & recut the legs with a pants pattern
  • cut off the waistband
  • picked off the pockets, and used them (sideways) on the front complete with jean topstitching & rivets
  • picked off the ticket pocket and used it on the back complete with the recycled red tab
  • once I did the fitting I felt it needed the back yoke added back on, so I cut it from some denim scraps I had.
  • Inserted a side lapped zip
  • re-attached the waistband with a new closure (jean button/buttonhole)

I made it through to the second round!!