Jessa: Fastenings, cuffs and hem

We've reached the final instalment in the Jessa sewalong! It's Nikki here, and today I'm going to talk you through the fastenings, sewing the cuffs (if you're making the shorts) and hemming the legs (if you're making the trousers).

Well done to everybody that's been following the sewalong for getting this far. Whether you've been sewing in tandem with these posts or reading on the sidelines, I hope you've found this series helpful and that you now feel like an unstoppable sewing superhero when it comes to sewing the Jessa trousers or shorts.

All of the previous Jessa sewalong posts are saved on our dedicated sewalong page - if you need to catch up you'll find everything you need there :)

Ready? OK, let's dive into...

Fastenings 

Jessa: Constructing and attaching the waistband

Welcome back to the Jessa sewalong. Can you believe we are only two posts from the end? Well done for sticking with me this far - you are so close to having a finished pair of Jessa trousers or shorts!

This post is going to cover constructing the waistband. Before we crack on with sewing, if you made any adjustments to the leg side seams (covered during the previous post) you'll have to make these same adjustments to the side seams of the front and back waistband pieces to make sure it fits the waistline of the legs. So ,if this applies to you, keep this in mind when you are sewing the waistband pieces together at the side seams.

Catching up? Check out the dedicated sewalong page to find all of the posts published so far. 

All set? Amazing, let's get our sew on...

You will have cut out two sets of waistband pieces earlier (four front waistbands and two back waistbands) and interfaced one set. The interfaced pieces will form the outer waistband and the un-interfaced ones will be the facing, which sits on the inside of the trousers or shorts.

The first thing we need to do is mark the centre of the interfaced back waistband pieces. Fold the interfaced waistband in half widthways to find the centre back, and snip a small notch (around 5mm / 1/4in long) into the upper and lower edges.

Jessa: Sewing the legs

I hope you're ready for the next installment of the Jessa sewalong because it's happening right now :) It's Nikki here, Product Manager at Team Buttons, and today I'm going to cover the process of sewing the legs on your Jessa trousers or shorts.

Catching up? Check out the dedicated sewalong page to find all of the posts published so far. 

I would recommend at this stage tacking (AKA basting, AKA sewing with a 4-5mm stitch length) the inside leg and side seams so you can try them on and check the fit. Tack the interfaced waistband (not the un-interfaced facing) to the waistline to check the fit around the waist. It's much easier to do this before you have properly attached the waistband and will save you a lot of unpicking! Take in or let out the side and inside leg seams until you are happy with the fit, then sew with a normal stitch length.

It's a short and sweet post today, so let's get right to it.

The previous post in the sewalong covered sewing the zip fly, so the next step is to sew the legs together. Pin both back legs together along the centre back seam, matching notches. Before you stitch this seam, it's a good idea to check that you have enough thread on the bobbin - those legs are verrrry long and Sod’s Law would have it that you run out of bobbin thread a few stitches in and don’t notice until you’ve got to the end of the legs and removed all the pins!

Jessa: Sewing the zip fly

Hello sewing gang, are you ready for your next installment of the Jessa sewalong? Yeah you are! It's Nikki here, Product Manager at Tilly and the Buttons, and today I'm going to cover something very exciting - how to sew the zip fly on your Jessa trousers or shorts.

OK, here comes a pep talk. If you've never sewn a zip fly before, the process can seem a bit intimidating. There are a few different steps involved in constructing a zip fly and I can totally relate to the feeling of flicking through a pattern booklet and looking at all the instructions thinking it looks a bit scary.

The good news, however, is that it really isn't as fiddly as it seems! Constructing a zip fly is like sewing anything - completing a series of small steps until you end up with something amazing, that looks different from the pieces and notions you started with. You can do this!

The Jessa zip fly construction is very similar to the steps in Ness skirt instructions, so you can mostly follow along using the brilliant 'How to sew a zip fly' video Tilly and Jenny made last year. Yay! There are a couple of differences between the video and the Jessa construction which I'll talk you through below, but the middle section follows the same steps.

To make the Jessa trousers and shorts you will need an 18cm (7in) jeans zip. If your zip is on the long side we have a great blog post which talks through how to shorten a metal zip.

Need to get up to speed on the previous Jessa sewalong posts? Check out the dedciated sewalong page to catch up on all posts. 

Ready to sew a zip fly? Let's do this!