Welcome to the second installment of the Sew DIY Jodi Sewalong. Today, we’re going to be talking about fabric, notions, tools and supplies. We’ll share our favorite fabrics to use with this pattern, the fabrics we used in the samples and a few of our favorite online fabrics picks. Plus, we’ll talk about the notions needed to sew the Jodi Pants and the tools and supplies we recommend having on hand to make sewing the Jodi pattern easier.
JODI Pattern FABRIC RECOMMENDATIONS
Let’s start with the biggest one—fabric. Fabric choice can make or break a project and it can take some practice. Besides paying close attention to the fabric recommended in the pattern, I recommend comparing a fabric you’re considering to a similar RTW garment. This can help you decide if the weight and fiber would be appropriate.
The Jodi pattern is designed to be used with medium-weight knit fabrics with at least 30% 2-way stretch, such as French terry, ponte de roma, or sweatshirt fleece. In the samples shown above, I used ponte de roma, and two different weights of loop back French terry. The fabrics are all a “medium” weight but do vary. The left side pair is on the heavier side and the weight decreases as we look to the right. If you look closely, you can see that the heavier fabric has fewer drape lines and holds the wide leg shape better.
This pattern has 1” (2.54cm) of negative ease at the hips, so you’ll want to make sure that your fabric has some stretch. I recommend about 30% to accommodate the negative ease and allow for movement while wearing.
If you’re new to calculating fabric stretch, check out my blog post and video: How to Calculate Fabric Stretch Percentage
If you are shopping online for fabric, here are a few options that I think would work well for the Jodi Pants.
Fabrics shown above:
Stretch Ponte Knit in Ocean Blue - Papilio Collection from Mood Fabrics (There are lots of colors available in this fabric.)
Bamboo Organic Cotton Stretch Fleece Olive Knit 320GSM from LA Finch Fabrics. This shop is based in the LA area and mostly features deadstock fabric so their selection varies. But, I often find really great fabrics there and the Jodi sample I made in a light mint colored terry was from LA Finch.
Organic Cotton Fleece – Rust from Stone Mountain and Daughter. This shop is based in Northern California and they often carry organic fabrics. At the time of writing this post, there are a lot of other colors in the Organic Cotton Fleece.
Cozy Alpine Sweatshirt Fleece Heather Avocado from Stylemaker Fabrics This shop is based in Washington State and is family run. They carry really good quality fabrics and (as of now) they have a lot of sweatshirt and ponte fabrics that would be great for the Jodi Pants.
Arietta Ponte de Roma Solid Burgundy from Stylemaker Fabrics There are other colors of this fabric too—lots of dark colors, good for bottom garments.
Bamboo-Cotton French Terry - Midnight Blue from Sewing Studio. This Oregon based shop carries a lot of deadstock fabrics and it’s always one of my go-to’s. This particular fabric has 25% crossgrain stretch which even though the pattern recommends 30%, 25% will be enough, as long as you’re not sizing down too much.
SUPPLIES FOR SEWING THE Jodi wide-leg knit pants
THREAD For thread, I generally use an all-purpose polyester thread but you can also use cotton thread. In my experience, cotton thread is more prone to breaking down over time, but I believe it’s more environmentally friendly than polyester because it does actually break down with time. (You can choose what works best for you.)
NEEDLES
Jersey/Ballpoint Sewing Machine Needle This type of needle is made for sewing knit fabrics. If you’re having stitch issues with your knit fabric, try using one of these needles.
Twin Needle If desired, you can topstitch the hem using a twin needle. I have a tutorial on stitching with a twin needle here.
ELASTIC I like a thinner elastic called “Soft Waistband Elastic”. I bought mine at Joanns but I also found it online at Wawak.
DRAWSTRING My favorite drawstring (in general) is 1/2” wide cotton twill tape. I prefer the cotton to a polyester because the cotton feels softer. I found some cotton twill tape online at Wawak. I also found cotton flat tape at a website called The Fabric Fairy. It’s a new site to me but it looks promising. The tape is 100% cotton and they have a variety of colors.
SCRAP OF KNIT INTERFACING If you are sewing buttonholes in the waistband to thread the drawstring through, I recommend reinforcing the fabric with a little interfacing. You’ll need just a scrap of Knit Fusible Interfacing that is about 2” x 2.5” (5cm x 6.3cm).
Additionally, some of my testers, added interfacing to the pocket opening for extra stability. For this, I recommend about a 3/4” (2cm) strip that equals the length of the pocket opening (about 7”/18cm ) .
For topstitching the hem, you may also want a few additional tools.
Wooly Nylon Thread I like to use this in the bobbin when stitching with a twin needle. It has some stretch to it and will help the twin needle stitching lay flat. This thread is sold under other names too. It’s at Wawak as “Maxi-Lock Stretch Serger Nylon”.
Wash Away Fusible Tape A lot of people like to use a fusible tape at the hem that will hold the fabric in place while you stitch. The wash away is preferred because it won’t add permanent thickness. I don’t use this product a lot so I don’t have a recommendation.
tool RECOMMENDATIONS
Besides normal sewing tools such as scissors, I recommend having safety pins for fitting, a tube turner (for turning the loops and ties) and a wooden dowel (for pressing the straps).
Fabric scissors or Rotary Cutter
SEWING MACHINE REQUIREMENTS
You don’t need to have a serger to sew the Jodi Pants although I believe it’s worth buying one if you plan to sew a lot of knits as it creates a really nice finish.
I do recommend using a sewing machine with a Walking Foot of even feed system. This will help prevent the fabric from stretching out.
If you are planning to sew buttonholes for the drawstring, you’ll need a machine with a Buttonhole Foot. (Alternately, you can install eyelets.)
I hope that you found this post helpful. Click here to see all of the posts in Jodi Sewalong. Or, scroll through them below.
About the Sew DIY Jodi pattern:
The Jodi Wide Leg Knit pants are the perfect mix of style and comfort. These ankle length pants feature angled side seam pockets, a medium rise and a lightly gathered elastic waistband. These pants are easy to sew, comfortable to wear and have a stylish wide leg.
This pattern is rated as Advanced Beginner. It’s helpful to have experience sewing with knit fabric but this is easy enough to sew as your first knit fabric sewing project. There are blog posts in the sewalong to help you.
Theses pants are designed to have a “skim” fit with just a little bit of negative ease. You’ll have all the comfort of stretch knit fabric but none of the tightness of a garment like leggings. See the size chart for more details.
If you’d like to save this post for later, you can save the image below to Pinterest. Happy sewing!
