DIY maternity jeans

[pcha72]

I am having the hardest time finding maternity jeans that fit and look decent. I happened to come across this site and I got so excited! I'm not a crafty person, but I figure even I might be able to do this. Has anyone tried something like this before? How did it turn out? It looks pretty similiar to the roll top jeans from Gap.

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=28377.0

~P

[hautemama15]

haven't done it, but it looks great! just like the gap ones!!

[corrie23]

Yes, I have tried this...using this exact tutorial from craftster in fact. I must say however that I haven't finished the project though. I got as far as cutting out the zipper, and stitching up the jeans part. Where I got stopped was with the fabric "tube". I bought some fabric at Joanne's with some lycra to give it some stretch (like the Gap roll-top jeans), and no matter what needle I use in my machine, the thread won't hold in the fabric (it pulls out each stitch when it goes to make the next one). I'm sure if I used some cotton jersey like the OP of the craftster thread did I wouldn't have that problem, but I don't see how the jeans would stay on if there was no stretch to the fabric panel.

I may persue the project more down the line, but in the interim I was able to get the Gap roll-top jeans for $17 plus free shipping online, and that seemed more cost/time effective at this point given that I spent $5 on a pair of second hand jeans, and another $10-15 on jersey, stretch and denim needles, and embroidery thread to have this DIY project NOT work so far.

As a caveat, I am a novice at sewing, and I'm sure I could also overcome the jersey sewing problem if I was willing to do it by hand, but at the moment I'm not that motivated. When I consulted with someone at Joanne's she said to try using a zigzag stitch with a longer stitch length to possibly overcome the problem I was having, but I haven't tried that yet.

Good luck to you. It's great if it works (and I would still LOVE to have some blasted maternity jeans that didn't fall down every 3 steps I take!!!)

-Corrie

[KrisM]

Okay, I don't sew much, either, but I think you should try a zig-zag stitch for stretchy fabric. I've never used lycra though.