I’ve made a new dress using a bunch of my kids’ old jeans that I have 
been saving for this very purpose… and please note; yes, I am wearing denim shoes that I also made from old jeans, hehehe. Just adding to the overall,terribly cohesive, jeans, jeans, jeans and yet more jeans look that I’ve got going on here. Jeans from head to toe!! even though I’m not actually wearing any jeans, haha. Long term readers may remember these shoes from when I made them a couple of years ago… I’ve worn them a lot actually. They seem to go with everything!
The Refashioners’ challenge this year was to make a garment using old jeans … which is fabulous timing for me! one of my imagined versions for this pattern has always been a jeans refashion and so the challenge just roused me from merely daydreaming about it and into action. I’m a happy little refashioner from way back.. anyone remember Wardrobe Refashion? aaaah, I was a pretty active participant and was a little sad when it all wound down. But still keeping up with that lifelong pledge!
Pattern; Vogue 1316. this is the fourth version of the pattern I have made and actually the second I’ve made from old jeans, come to think of it! My first version was made using four pairs of different coloured corduroy jeans. See also my second, blue version, and my third, autumn version. I still have several more plans for this pattern… but maybe I should wait before bringing any more to fruition; I now have three pairs currently rotating in my wardrobe, and a fourth might be just stretching credibility… just a bit! It’s quite an eye-catching and distinctive design, over all. This new one is pretty summer-y though, and I probably won’t be wearing it until things warm up around here a bit.
Materials; obviously, all blue denim jeans. I used three pairs of children’s jeans, one pair of child’s long shorts and one pair of adult jeans. The adult jeans turned out to be necessary when I realised that the full-length panels at the back would look pretty terrible if pieced at the waist; it’s a very much piecemeal kind of a design anyway, and to have that nice long smooth length of fabric at the back is just a nice visual anchor in amongst all that busy patchworking, in my opinion. I decided it would be best to retain it; fortunately I had one pair of Craig’s old jeans in my refashioning bag and could cut the long back pieces from those.
My vision for this dress has always been to have lots of the existing jeans’ details retained in it, like the pockets with their decorative top-stitching, the coin pockets and belt loops and so forth; HOWEVER when it came down to it I retained very little of all that! The design was just so… busy; I ended up removing a lot of the little details I was going to put in. There’s still plenty of the jeans bits and pieces left in, I reckon just the right amount to keep that definite “jeans flavour” to it. There are a few original topstitched seams here and there, and the portion of a pocket left on the bodice. I also added tonnes of new topstitching in terracotta upholstery thread, in fact every seam is topstitched down in some cases doubly so.
Something I’ve managed to forget to blog about each time I’ve written about this dress… like all Vogue patterns, for a fitted design it’s a little blouse-y in the boob-al region for my figure; however the princess seamed bodice makes this a very easy fix. I simply pin and stitch to shave a bit off the inner curve of the central bodice piece (above), and this solves the problem for me. A very very easy small bust adjustment, and one I usually end up using for pretty much every fitted Vogue bodice with princess-seaming. I don’t have the same issues with Burda, but always with Vogue. I guess their “blocks” are a little different.
The back vent (above) is topstitched in navy blue thread, rather than the terracotta. Trust me, it just looked better this way. I also used an navy blue invisible zip This was the only new thing I bought for the dress! The pockets (below) are lined with scraps of pretty floral voile… this was leftover from a dress that Cassie made for herself. We bought the fabric together in Tokyo during our very first visit there in 2011, when we met Yoshimi and Novita for a fabric shopping day out, Aaaah, yet more happy memories!
One pair of jeans, the very pale blue pair, was practically threadbare in places, but I still really wanted to have that pale blue as part of the lovely indigo-y mix… these pieces I reinforced with lightweight iron-on interfacing to the back to stabilise and strengthen these areas (below). Don’t want my new dress ripping in its first wear now, do I?!
For the bottom hem, I kept the original jeans’ hems in every piece (below). This took a little bit of careful pattern placement, but I’m so happy with how it looks! Yes, it’s a bit torn and worn in places, but that’s the honest history of the fabrics, right there. The dress is a refashion, and proud of it. The other little bit of history that I love about it is that you can just make out faint pink stains on one of the denims… this was a pair of jeans that Tim wore while painting once, and those paint stains never did come out despite many washes! They are still there, and I LOVE them. Oh, I’m a sentimental old thing, and happily so, too 🙂
Details:
Dress; Vogue 1316, made from old jeans, see my original review of this pattern here
Shoes; made by me from old jeans and hand-carved wooden bases, details here
Amazing refashion, it’s lovely to see all the different colours of the denim
Another amazing refashion from the west, so cool!
thanks so much barbara!
I bought this pattern after seeing you Autumn colours blog. Can’t wait to get it as my imagination and your inspiration is giving me itchy fingers. My versions will definitely have pockets. I can’t thank you enough.
Hi April, just wondering where you found a copy? I have been looking since the autumn colours one and haven’t been able to locate a copy I can get easily.
Hello Suzanne, I believe the pattern is still available in the out-of-print pattern section of Club BMV otherwise they do pop up on eBay sometimes 🙂
You made another even more interesting version of this lovely pattern. I love your piece placing very much and I guess you are right not to overload it with jeanspockets etc. It has got just the right amount of busyness. And such a bunch of good old memories…
Another great jeans refashion. It looks so good with your shoes!
Very cool! The different shades of blue look great together! 🙂
thank you very much! 🙂
This is so good!! Perfect pattern choice for a jeans refashion. Love it!
Love the memories sewn into this dress.
Wonderful refashion! Your placement of the original seams works really well.
thank you very much Jill! 🙂
Perfectly executed throughout, Carolyn. And the fit couldn’t get any better. You and your talented Australian compatriots really raise the bar for this challenge. Very stimulating!
thank you so much Helene! 🙂
love how those different shades of denim look together.. and the way you incorporated original seams in some unexpected places.. really great dress
I love all your versions of this dress — and I was happy to see this newest one pop up on Instagram 🙂
I wish this pattern wasn’t out of print… And I wish I hadn’t donated my old cords… But we’ll see, it may be in the cards for me still.
This is truly jeanius, Carolyn!
You own this pattern like no one else! I think this is my favorite version yet.
I so love this dress Caroline! It’s just TOO cool for words 🙂 I’m going to do this some day – I had a long jeans skirt back in ’75 that I bought in a shop that did exactly what you’ve done – refashioning old jeans. I loved that long skirt! Wore it until I was good and tired of it 😉 I had a jeans tunic about twenty years ago that I loved too – I wore turtle necks under it in the fall and spring with leggings. So I’ve had my eye out for just such an inspiration!
So amazing! I love all the different shades of blue.
super fabulous and as always – you can’t go wrong with a denim dress – perfect for nearly any moment in life.
and some Vogue patterns are just tip-top, this is one of them.
Your dress is amazing. I admit to feeling a tad exhausted thinking of all the work you have put into it. A work of art!
Beautiful use and reworking of the denim from the jeans. Well done. Happy sewing, Cheers, Michele
Amazing! Perfect placement.
Love the whole ensemble – gorgeous!
Really terrific! You’re in with a good chance to win that amazing prize pool I reckon!
This is a fantastic refashion. Keep making this pattern…it looks good on you
Beautifully done, very impressive!
How jeanius! Here I have been saving old jeans just to patch and mend and extend the life of wearable ones. You have elevated refashioning jeans to a new level!
thank you very much 🙂
What an amazing dress, all those various blue jeans colors mix so lovely!
So cool! I love it.
LG
Christine
thank you Christine! xx 🙂
This is gorgeous Caroline! I love your other versions of this too but think this one is my favourite! I What a special dress too, with all those lovely memories woven into its making.
what a great dress. you took a great pattern and made it even better!
thank you so much Annette! 🙂
Have always loved each and every version of this dress you have made, but this jeans refashion version is really amazing. Each piece has a history and story to tell and adds to the specialness of this pretty dress. Always love seeing your creations and appreciate your talking through (writing through?!) your thought process on why you might have chosen this piece of that for design appeal. 🙂
I do remember Wardrobe Refashion! I was sad when it kind of died off too. And your dress is fabulous! Though I didn’t expect anything less from you, lol. I especially like how you kept those original hems in there. That’s one of my favorite things about denim, how being distressed and worn often actually makes it better.
Such a clever way to reinvent that pattern!
I love this pattern since the first time I saw it here! I tried to get my hands on it, but sadly it isn’t available in Germany. Your jean version makes me want to sew this pattern even more! The different shades of blue look so well together, this is recycling at it’s best! genius indeed!
how are you doing ? you assemble the fabric and cut after the pattern or the reverse? In any case, the result is beautiful!
thank you! I cut the pattern pieces from jeans and then pieced them together 🙂
Gorgeous!!! I’m wondering why I don’t have this pattern….
I love the refashion you made! This looks great and will never be out of style since it is denim!
This is amazing!!! You did a great job!
Very well done and I love how each fabric holds precious memories.
There are so many reasons for loving this dress, firstly and obviously, it works so well in refashioned jeans due to multi panelled structure. I admire the fact that you made it from jeans you already had in your stash, including children’s and heavily worn versions. I also like your ‘refashioned and proud’ attitude, something you can carry off with the professional finish. Thanks for the details in the post, especially the princess seam fix.
I loved all the previous versions of this dress – but this one makes me buy the pattern! I need one of those.
Very creative !!
Thanks for sharing the idea..
I’ve had this pattern for quite a while and have been wanting to make one since I saw your dyed version <3
This is so great! All of your versions are so distinct and this one is not different!
The best jeans refashion I have seen!
very good to see your page .really awesome .keep work
I’ve read a gazillion sewing blogs but you are officially my favorite sewist on the interwebs. So glad I stumbled on your site. I’m a new-ish sew-er, learning how to draft & design patterns and intending to try shoes as well. You are a delightful inspiration. 🙂