The ever-growing demand of jeans has led to the transformation of the manufacturing process into an assembly line, where workers are devoted to one task in order to maximize productivity. However, the sewing skills of the seamstress are still crucial to the quality of the cutting or sewing.
This episode of the series how jeans were made is the second. I will be discussing the construction of jeans, including how they are sewn, which techniques are used and which machines. This step is often overlooked and undervalued in the making of jeans.
The beginning point is design. It's the place to go back to make sure you are still on the right path. It is important to take into account all aspects of making jeans. The construction is an important aspect of the design. This is how the jeans will be cut and sewn. Let's first look at what components are needed to make jeans. You will need approximately 1.6 meters of fabric to make wide-loom denim. If you use selvedge to make fly and waistband selvedge, the fabric length for selvedge jeans is 2.5m. You will also require several hundred meters in different thicknesses and colors depending on your design.
For most modern designs, six rivets are required. Ten if your jeans have hidden rivets. Eleven if you have one at the fly.
At least one button is required, plus four to five buttons if the button fly has been added; if not, a zipper is needed.
Liner material for the front pockets, this is the complete list. Let's now look at the cutting and sewing steps that will make it into a pair.