Buttoned Side Flared Jeans in Blue

I've got a new pair of flared jeans - these are for myself! They are part of the Make Nine pledge for 2025, piece of fabric N 3 - blue denim. I bought the denim a couple of years ago with an idea to make a pair of jeans for Gaby, but she turned my suggestion down, as she did not like the color of the fabric.

To be frank, with the years I grew cold to that color too. Still, sky blue jeans can be quite wearable in the summer, with light colored T-shirts, so I hope I'll get some decent wear out of them.

The concrete inspiration for the jeans came from a Netflix Spanish mini tv series - A Perfect Story, where the two main characters walked through Athens. I loved experiencing again the Acropolis through their eyes, but being a seamstress, I could not help but analyze their clothing and I fell in love with the jeans the girl wore. I took a few snapshots, googled flared jeans with buttons on the side and soon designed the mods to my Burda 7050 pattern, to turn it into an imitation of the inspiration garment. Hashtag Make-That-Look :)

Pattern: Flared Jeans Burda 7050

Size: 34, shortened - 6 cm, no hem allowances

Fabric: cotton denim

Time to make: 10 days

Apart from the buttoned openings of the legs, the jeans are more or less the same as the ones for Gaby, but with a few shortenings here and there, taking into account my height and stature.

Next time I make this pattern, I intend to play further with the width at the knees, to try to eliminate the wrinkling at the back. On the other hand, the pair of black jeans I made at the beginning of the year is much wider at the legs and the knees and still crinkles at the back, so maybe the width is not the problem. I wish I knew more about pants construction, but most of the videos and the booklet I have were not of much help for this particular issue.

I have enough pairs of long flared jeans for now, but I want a couple of 7/8 length pairs for the summer, so there will be more pairs of jeans here. Probably 2025 will turn to be the year of the jeans :)

Flared Jeans for Gaby

A pair of jeans I made for Gaby. Yes, it's the same pattern I've already made for myself twice and every time it's a new try with various mods, in an attempt to achieve the perfect fit one day.

As Gaby is taller than me, I made these at least 5 cm longer than mine and I also raised the waist by 2 cm. Gaby chose a red thread for the decorative seams and I am very happy with her choice, the discreet red goes really well with the graphite grey.

For this pair I opted for the widest size of the leg hems, I really like the dramatic funneling of the legs from tight at the knees to flower-power wide at the bottom.

Pattern: Flared Jeans Burda 7050

Size: 34, shortened - 4 cm, no hem allowances

Fabric: cotton denim with lycra

Time to make: 6 days

Although Gaby and I wear the same size, we are far from identical in figure, so I can only hope they will fit her better. On me, I don't like the fit at the back and I hopefully guess the excessive gathering is due to the extra length and the tight knees. I've been trying various mods on the pattern, but the gathering of the legs at the back is still an issue, which I haven't been quite able to tackle.

I have more than enough pairs of jeans already, but if I come upon a similar piece of denim, I won't hesitate to make the same pair for myself.

To the Blue Arrow 2025

After two days of rain and cold, the sun came out on Sunday and we packed  our backpacks with herbal tea and home-made tortillas and rushed to the outskirts of the village of Zeleznitza, to climb to the Blue Arrow shelter.

Although the trail is quite steep, it is scenic and short and there's a bus from Sofia, which stops right at the beginning of the trail, so it is fairly well frequented. As we live in a part of the city with easy access to Zeleznitza, we like the trail and climb it at least once a year.

Although the sun was quite strong, the air was still cold and there were clouds in the sky, so we kept our hoodies and winter hats on. But what a difference May makes, even when the temperatures are low - everything is luscious green, the meadows are covered with flowers in all the colors of the spectrum. One can simply not complain, even when the wind is strong and cold.

Hike info:

Date: 18 May 2025

Destination: Blue Arrow Shelter

Mountain: Vitosha

Total length: 10 km

Elevation gain: 550 m

Total duration (plus rest): 3 h

Average difficulty: 4 / 10

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

I:  lingerie, Lotte Sinclair blouse, Houndstooth Burda hoodie, knitted legwarmers

Husband: men's boxershorts, Burda cargo pants, Burda T-shirt

 

Today we chose to climb a little further to a smallish peak above the shelter and to have our picnic here, with a glorious view in all directions. Finding the perfect picnic place is one of the critical moments of a hike, for me, and I am happy, that today we accomplished the mission with flying colors.

On the way back we took an alternative, even steeper trail, which brought us back to Zeleznitza and the parked car.

Green Burda 6202 Blouse

As I mentioned in a previous posting, Burda 6202 is one of my favourite T-shirt patterns. I like its fitted design, open neckline and feminine puffed short sleeves. The purple blouse, which I made at the end of February, has been one of my go-to blouses for hikes. I wanted one more of these, but out of cotton-viscose fabric, for everyday walks. 

Teal is one of my most favourite colors, so when I saw the teal viscose fabric with lycra at the shop, I had to have it. I bought enough for two blouses and I made an identical one for Gaby, as I know that she loves teal too.

Pattern: Burda 6202 from Burda Catalogue 1 / 2020

Size: 34, shortened

Fabric: cotton-viscose with lycra

Time to make: 2 days

For the new teal blouses I reverted to the 34 size and I also lowered the neckline back to the original line at the front, but lifted the neckline at the back by 2 cm. For my blouse I also graded the front and the back from the waist to the hem to 36 size, as I don't like my blouses hugging me too tight at the hip.

The fabric is divinely soft and comfortable to wear, the fit is as I wanted it and I believe this little blouse is going to be one of my favourites this spring and summer.

Simeonovo - Dragalevtzi 2025

We've hiked the easy trail from Dragalevski Monastery to Simeonovo lakes many times, yesterday however we decided to drive to Simeonovo, leave the car there and walk the trail to Dragalevski monastery and back. 

The start from Simeonovo added some 3 km total to the hike and a good cardio exercise at the beginning of the trail, where the hiker has to cover a significant elevation gain. The pay off - we had our lunch at the picnic area near the monastery, which was nice and quite comfortable.

As we get usually Fridays off,  when we can and the forecasts are favourable, we prefer to hike on Fridays, especially along well frequented trails, like the low altitude circuit of Vitosha.

Yesterday was no exception - the trail was quiet and empty, with a fellow hiker here and there and without the weekend crowd. Unlike the previous week, the weather was sunny, but with clouds and chilly winds, so we had our sweaters on most of the time.

One of Simeonovo lakes - there are several of these, forming a cascade along the river

Hike info:

Date: 09 May 2025

Destination: Dragalevski Monastery

Mountain: Vitosha

Total length: 13 km

Elevation gain: 310 m

Total duration (plus picnic and rests): 4 hours

Average difficulty: 3 / 10

The beech forests on Vitosha are simply marvelous in May, when they are just covered in fresh greenery.

The Aleko waterfalls - the highest point of the trail, literally but also figuratively

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

Husband: boxers, Burda blous, Burda cargo pants

I: lingerie, Central Park cardigan

The picnic area near Dragalevski monastery, where we had our well deserved delicious lunch. A wood nuthatch flew casually on the neighboring table during our picnic :)

After the lunch break, we took a short walk around the grounds of the monastery

And the Aleko waterfalls again, on the way back, this time from the other side