Hi.

I’m Victoria, and this site mostly has my sewing projects and science writing, with a sprinkling of older poetry & etc.

I’m a prairie kid, parent of two, celiac, and like lane swimming. I love to research. I did my undergrad in physics & English with a math minor. I’m now doing a Master’s in economics.

A note about the blog title: in math and physics, the prefix eigen means one's own. It comes from the german, but mostly I always liked thinking about a particle's eigenvalues, and thought I might apply the same thought to my excursions.

Helene Jeans #1

Helene Jeans #1

Victoria Martinez
Pants pants pants, Sewing

Well the Helene Jeans were a resounding success for me!

Jeans rear view

I made them in large part based on conversations with Jessica (and her blog posts!) , for whom they totally did not work, but we have very different bodies (I in particular have few to no curves). Because of my no curves, I’ve toyed with seeing if men’s patterns could work for me, but in the pants department the crotch curve tends to be an issue. Anna Allen’s Philippas are one of my only TNT patterns, so I also had faith that the block would work for me.

I decided to cut a straight size 8 based on my desired finished waistband - 31” for basically zero ease. I like to have a snug jeans fit, even if it does mean at the end of the day I sometimes want to unbutton the top button. They stay secure this way and a hard hard pant is my preferred feel. The body measurement chart would have put me in different sizes.

I had originally been excited to use some handwoven selvedge denim from a now-closed ethical/sustainable fabric retailer, but it came in a solid 5 oz lighter than the product listing. I thus pivoted to my stash, and pulled out this classic blue 12.5 oz tencel-cotton denim. The only real issue I have with this is I had been looking forward to making a selvedge pattern on a selvedge denim (but have immediate plans to do so now that I know I love this pattern’s fit).

At this point, I find making jeans to be the most satisfying project and they no longer have the “big scary project” feel. I did decide to exit my comfort zone a teensy bit by actually following the zip instructions instead of just using the Ginger Jeans method… and I loved it. That’s growth!

I didn’t take a tonne of notes in the process of making these; the crises were mostly supplies-based (finding rivets locally is impossible, the jeans buttons i did buy i lost almost immediately, the above-mentioned denim issue, a broken topstitching foot), but not entirely. My topstitching is a lil weird around the waistband, for example.

To go with the vintage fit, I want to wash these more regularly than my usual jeans, and will even use the washing machine here and there! I’m very much a wash in the bathtub rarely, get great fades person with a lot of my jeans.

Pattern: Anna Allen Helene Jeans
Fabric: 12.5 oz tencel-cotton denim from Blackbird
My Measurements: Waist 30-31, hips 39
Size made: Straight size 8, 32 inch inseam
Worn with: top from upcycled men’s jumper, thrifted hat and sandals

Recycling precious metals from electronic waste with captured CO2

Recycling precious metals from electronic waste with captured CO2
Undermining the foundations of bacterial resistance

Undermining the foundations of bacterial resistance