The next few months I’m sewing along with Kenneth D. King. A bunch of other talented seamsters and I have joined up to learn how to recreate our favorite jeans using Kenneth D. King’s Jean-ius class on Craftsy. Here’s a reflection on my efforts to sew well.
Okay, I just have to begin by asking if you guys have recently checked the comments on last week’s Wednesdays with Kenneth post? The wonderful and talented Kenneth D. King, our very own teacher extraordinaire, commented! My jaw hit the ground when it came through. All I could say in reply was, “Thank you, thank you, thank you for such a wonderful class!” Really, if you’re on the fence about taking this class – go for it! His taking the time to comment here goes to show just how much time and effort he puts into this class. Pants aren’t your thing? Well, you can use his tips and tricks to copy any garment! Not really interested in remaking anything but curious about tailoring? He’s got a new jacket class on Craftsy currently on sale for $19.99! More Kenneth, please!
Okay, enough gushing. Back to the topic at hand. In this week’s lesson we learn how to draft the pieces we need to make the fly front and how to sew everything together. Just like last week, Kenneth’s methods are different than those I used when making my Jalie jeans. From what I can tell, his more closely match my ready-to-wear jeans, and I’m really pleased with how everything came together following his advice. I will note a couple things though. First, when you go to sew the zipper in, Kenneth suggests you fold your seam allowance over 1/2″. But, if you read the comments carefully, you’ll see that he advises a few students to only fold their seam allowances over 1/4″ in order to better hide the zipper under the fly front. I followed the 1/4″ advice, and I’m really happy I did since the zipper is nicely hidden. Second, Kenneth’s suggestions for top stitching again don’t align with my idea of traditional jeans. If you’re keen to make an exact copy of your jeans, don’t do what I seem to always do and blindly follow along without double checking the class suggestions against the pair that you’re copying. I missed my chance to top stitch along the center fly front seam, but I was able to go back and put a second row of topstitching around the fly and to add a thick bit of top stitching to help hold the fly shield in place. That said, if I ever use this class to make a pair of pants from a crazy fabric, I think Kenneth’s careful top stitching suggestions will be perfect.
Just two classes left! These jeans will be finished in no time!
If you’re interested in taking this class yourself, follow this link for 40% off Jean-ius: Reverse Engineer Your Favorite Fit with Kenneth D. King.
Sew Well 
How fabulous that Kenneth King commented on your last post!
I am following these posts, still thinking of taking the course to make my own jeans one day, but I do wonder, do you have to sew through many thick layers? My machine struggles with thick layers, and using jeans needles just causes my thread to snap :S
Whoa, the real Kenneth D. King?? How great of him! Your fly looks pretty good – so smooth.
Looking great!! And woohoo!! Kenneth King was totally checking out your blog!! I really want to take this class, he sounds like a fabulous teacher, and, well, I LOVE wearing/making jeans!!