THE DRAPERY BLOG

It's fair to say we are  in the  midst of a denim phase at the moment. Here we are blogging about jeans making again. Sewing your own jeans is a fair undertaking, what with all the top-stitching and hardware, not to mention the fitting... it’s time consuming. But at the end? You feel like you’ve unlocked a new sewing achievement. Even better? YOU NEVER NEED TO GO JEANS SHOPPING AGAIN. These jeans were started in my head a couple of years ago. I gathered together pattern and fabric then promptly decided that I really wasn’t much of a jeans wearer anyhow, so into the stash they both went. Fast forward two years and I was becoming “jeans curious” again, missing the ease of a good pair of jeans in my wardrobe. So out came the pattern and fabric which had now marinated in my stash long enough for me to feel ok about using it for a wearable muslin. Jeans were on once more! Maybe I’d be a jeans-wearer after all? (And if not, I could use them in the shop as a sample, so nothin

Francine is a top & dress pattern from British company Merchant & Mills' recently released Denim Collection . It's a stylish and simple take on a workwear style, 'inspired by the fishermen of Brittany'. For the purposes of a true-to-the-pattern shop sample I made a size 12 top with no alterations.  This size was chosen based on my previous experience with Merchant & Mills patterns, but my measurements would put me in a size 14. Not all Merchant & Mills patterns are quite so generous in ease, as I discovered! If I was making this specifically for my own wearing I'd have made a muslin first, so please bear in mind the fit comments below are not intended as criticisms of the pattern, but as observations that may be helpful to others who make it. The process I find Merchant & Mills instructions to be quite good, but often a bit different to methods I'm used to. I don't mind this, and quite enjoy surrendering to the process,