wardrobe essentials 2025 - Ash jeans and Jarrah sweater

I am off for a few days, just an extra long weekend, because I needed it. Also because, as usual, I have quite a few annual leave days left. I celebrated with a wild Saturday night - staying up until 11 pm and a glass of Prosecco. I know how to live hard and fast. I was out volunteering on Saturday. It is wild flower meadow time of year. We cleared ground for a new patch of meadow. This year, we are preparing the ground more thoroughly than in previous years, a proper dig-over rather than just scarifying the ground. I am always happy to use the mattock. Good exercise. Then Richard and I went to Tesco’s together for a weekly shop. We usually go to Lidl but we needed a few things that are hard to get there. Like avocado oil and low salt soy sauce. 

I am wearing my me-made denims. It was a joy to make these, I love a challenging project more than anything. I asked Richard to take photos. The pattern is the Ash Jeans by Megan Nielsen. I made the wide leg option. There are also flare, slim leg and skinny options. The pattern is for denim with a bit of stretch. 

I took advantage of the September Guthrie & Ghani Sewing Society kit, which included fabric, notions (needles, thread, topstitching thread, buttons, rivets, zip, leather patch) and pattern and also two videos full of tips, from pre-washing the denim to attaching the rivets. Not cheap but good value for money. The denim is Cone Mills, 10.75 oz (91% cotton, 7% recycled polyester, 2% spandex). It was delivered as raw denim and is a dark blue. The pockets lining is not visible here but it is a dark blue polka dot poplin. 

The construction was straight forward, the instructions are clear and when I felt unsure, I watched the relevant section in the videos. These are great for those moments when the pattern instruction line drawings don’t make sense. I mentioned this previously I think, I constructed the jeans quickly using a long basting stitch and tried them on for fit. I didn’t make any adjustments because the fit was reasonable, no worse than ready to wear jeans I think. Some drag lines but I am not that fussy. It is after all a stretchy jeans, not a couture trouser. I enjoy the slow coming together of a project, it is mindful. There was a lot of topstitching for these jeans, which is very visible. My approach is to take it slowly and with my mind on the task. Very satisfying to see two parallel lines of even stitches. The only thing that gave me some headache was the button hole. Several layers of denim and not much space to manoeuvre. It gave me no joy, for sure. I think next time I’ll make the button hole before I even assemble the waistband. If I use the same pattern, I can use the already made jeans as a template. 

I might try a different pattern first, the Oxbow Pants by Sew House Seven. I like the big patch pockets and the high waist. I also want to make a classic shirt.

I also made a sweatshirt, which is very cosy. I took the photos in the Kibble Palace on a beautiful Sunday. I realise I look a bit worse for wear… a no make-up day after a night of broken sleep. This is the Jarrah Sweater by Megan Nielsen. I’ve made this before, a relaxed fit jumper with a dropped shoulder. It took no time at all to make. 

In other news, I have some quince to process and Iris is driving me nuts. Thanks for visiting 😊