Burda World of Fashion 01-2008-110

I will never ever ever make these jeans again.  At least not exactly as drafted.

Once again, in a quest to make some jeans for the Princess, I turned to my stack of Burda back issues.  I found this pattern, described alternately as drain/stovepipe and equestrian styled, with knee to ankle zippers and a slim fit.

 They appeared in the magazine three times but were pictured full length only once...

...and the fabric choice and lighting make the details difficult to see.  That's okay, though, the tech drawing appeared to tell the story.

What you can't see in the drawing or the photos is the "lightening bolt" side seam line:

The front pocket ends at the top of the upward pointing zig zag.  There are two inset corners to sew within a two inch span.  In denim.  Where the pocket meets the side seam.  Needless to say, marking and precision sewing are key here.

My seams did not turn out perfect.  But I pressed and then top stitched the living daylights out of those seams and the finished jeans aren't too bad.

That said, I will never do it again.  I might be willing to alter the pattern to take the seam straight from the pocket edge to the waistband- smoothing it out into a gentle curve, but no more lightening bolts for me.

Here the Princess has her hand in the pocket and you can see the stress right there at the point.  I hope that point holds.

I cut a 36, which is one size larger than the Princess's measurements.  I wanted her to have growing room and I also wanted to make sure the pants didn't fit too "skinny."  I ended up taking the center back in about 1/2".  The waistband is contoured and I had to let out the sides about 3/8" on each side.

In addition to the curved, jagged front/side seams and the back seams, there is a separate section attached with a horizontal seam below the knee.  I removed an inch of length above the seam.  I also rotated the bottom so that the seam aligned with the inner leg seam and I left off the zippers.  They are a cool feature, but I didn't have any on hand and didn't want to have to go shopping or agonize over finding the right length.

The fabric is a nice medium weight denim with a tad of stretch that I found at Walmart.  I topstitched all the seams with a rosy tan thread and added a jeans button at the waist.

The Princess is pretty pleased.  She likes the color and style and she says the fit is good.  She's planning to wear them to school tomorrow for a road test.  I'm just happy they're finished.

I'm taking the day off tomorrow and hope to get some sewing done.  I spent yesterday afternoon cutting out my next two projects- knit dresses.  All the seams should be straight or gently curved.  I do not want to see another inset corner any time soon!