The Hill-Side - Guatemalan Hand-Wovens

The Hill-Side guys have a really good feel of fabrics. They use nice, crisp chambrays, which made them quite famous at first, but lately they have been adding some beautiful flower prints, camouflage and lots of different interesting weaves.

Their latest offerings of hand-woven, Guatemalan fabrics are no different. They are amazing. The colours, the weave, the fact that they are fair trade and that they are cut and sewn in the US, makes them perfect. Especially if you are feeling a little dandy or feeling, that a bit of colour might do your daily outfit some good.

Available at Unionmade and Hickorees

Vintage Selvage Chambray Umbrella

You may sometimes get the feeling, that you have seen anything, that could possibly have been made of denim or chambray. Today I saw something, that changed that idea completely. Today, I saw, what is advertised as a vintage selvage denim umbrella, but if you look closer, it is actually a chambray weave.

I'm amazed, let's put it like that. So I'll just let the pictures do the talking, as it is probably the only one in existence. That is until I start working on a replica. Before RRL, JCrew or some other brand puts one out of course.

One Month of Denim - Day 30

Last day. I made it through. Each and every day for the past 30 days I sat down and did a post on denim. It has been hard, and I won't be doing a month like it for a very long time, if ever. I think a week suffice in the future. But I hope this has been of some help to some people, although the information I have provided you with, is probably rather basic for many of you. 

Today I was going to write about indigo dying, but I ran out of time, instead I got the idea to write about one simple term based on the pictures of the hairy denim on the work jacket from yesterday and that term is singeing.

Singeing is a process where a gas flame (most often, but I do believe you can also use razor shar knives) to burn of the tiny hairs on the denim or any other kind of fabric. This fluff is what you see on the surface, when you look across it and it looks almost sort of dusty. This fluff has been getting a revival because Japanese makers started introducing it again. To this one operator from Cone Mills noted, that they had invested heavily in singeing machines, but now the customers wanted overly hairy denim fabrics, so these expensive machines looked a bit useless now.

The fluff is generally a sign of an inferior cotton because of it shorter staple length. This is normally one of the qualities of cotton from Texas. However this is often how denim from the late 60's to early 80's looked.

I have even seen a pair of jeans from the Swedish brand Indigofera, where the hairyness has been overly exagareted. Again, not to anybodys taste, but it surely adds to the character.

Lastly a little Levi's commercial with lots of character.

One Month of Denim - Day 29

One Month of Denim is coming to an end. I was thinking about writing about the big three - Levi's, Wrangler and Lee, but you probably already know a lot about them, and if you don't it is fairly easy finding some trustworthy information elsewhere. Furthermore I figured giving you some Danish denim history might expand your horizon a bit.

Today's post may bear a resemblance to yesterday's post, however I figured it would still be of some interest. This FE Engel jacket I found recently. It is probably from the 50's or the 60's like the other jacket, but this is probably more recent. In case you are wondering, this jacket is slightly too small for me, so I'm sending off to a new, good friend of mine, who I think will appreciate it.

F. Engel was founded by Carl J. Engel Senior in 1927 in the Southern part of Denmark. Today the business is still family owned, however production has moved to Lithuania, just like it is the case with a lot of Danish makers.

Back in the days everything was cut and sewn in Denmark, often using what is known as "Bull Denim" from Erwin Mills in the US. For your information; Erwin Mills were the first to use Sanforisation, as mentioned in a previous post. Bull Denim is a rather heavy denim weave with the typical twill construction, except it is later piece dyed.

I don't think F. Engel continued using denim from Erwin Mills, I suspect, that they - along with other workwear makers - started using denim, that was woven locally on Grenaa Damvæveri, which closed it doors 10 years ago.

On to the jacket.

The construction is pretty basic. Short jacet with two front pockets.

Big front pockets with brass snap buttons. The pockets are internally reinforced.

As you can see all seams are felled and triple stitched. The two top buttons are snap buttons, whereas the rest are regular buttons.

Selvage runs down the placket and the buttons are hidden. Pretty crude construction.

Concealed button.

The waist is elasticized, which gives a more modern and in my opinion a better fit.

The denim is has a purple hue or cast.

Furthermore it is quite hairy and slubby, which is a sign of using a cotton with a short stable length. This is normally a sign of a poor quality, but it ads to the character in my opinion. Purists are sometimes going for this look - For instance Roy Slaper made a pair of contest jeans for Superfuture, which was made of a special fabric from Cone Mills, that was very hairy and slubby.

It even has some mill flaws, which again ads to the character.

The American inspiration becomes quite obvious, when you see, that the snaps are made by Scovill, which also supplied many of the big American jeans and workwear companies - including Levi's.

The tag is quite cute. You don't see anything like that anymore.

One Month of Denim - Day 28

Danish denim history is hardly worth mentioning, if you want 5 pocket jeans. But if you are into workwear history, I think Danish denim history is very interesting.  Two of the biggest makers of workwear in Denmark, F Engel and Kansas, were both founded by men, who had been to the US and seen how well denim served the labourers.

Over the years I have found several interesting workwear-related denim garments in thrift stores in Denmark. I have passed on many and many I have passed on to friends, but I have never found anything for myself.

It's not unlikely, that Kansas will be covered at some other point, if I find something interesting from them and tomorrow I'll probably also be writing about Danish denim history - showcasing denim workwear from F. Engel. But today we will be looking at a denim coat from EK, that I found and passed on to my good friend Rasmus, who both contributes with a lot of photos for AtD and occasionally writes a post.

Now on to the jacket.

As you see the model is a pretty standard chore coat, however the bottom of the front pockets are lined. If I were to determine the age of it, I would be guessing, that it is from the 50's or the 60's. Other than that I'm guessing that it was made in Denmark, using fabric that was also woven in Denmark in the mills of Grenaa Dampvæveri, which closed its doors 10 years ago. I have no information on the company EK.

With nice brass buttons and keyhole buttonholes.

The denim is selvage (it runs down both plackets) and it is quite slubby or it has some irregularities. The cast is greyish light blue. As you can see all seams are felled and triple stitched. Lastly it has been hemmed using chainstitch.

Notice the selvage detail on the locker loop. 

The pockets have all been bartacked with a contrasting red thread and this particular jacket has a very nicely made embroidery that says BD

But what really makes this jacket jacket stand out and makes it very special, is the interfacing or backing of the embroidery. This is made by old news papers or what I'm assuming is news paper. You are able to make out actual words on the backing, which is really funny. I have never seen embroidery made like this. In order to fully appreciate this jacket, you have to know about this great, little feature. As you know, God is in the detail.

If you like workwear, I can't recommend Mono's Workwear magazines/books enough. Although all text is in Japanese, you can just browse the wonderful images.

More importantly if you have any stories, info or details on the Danish garment industry, please do share them with me - either in the comment section or via e-mail.

One Month of Denim - Day 18

"Ok, here's a question for you: I go to thrift stores a lot but tend to avoid the jeans section, I have trouble determining the age of a pair of Levi's for example. Can you share a few pointers on what to look for? The patch? The brand of the zipper? The rivets?"

I received this question from an anonymous reader, and I figured that it could be answered in an entirely new post. I'm very grateful for this question, so thank you very much and if I didn't answer your question in full, let me know and I'll try to add more information.

First of all, do not avoid the jeans section.

Secondly there are some give aways. Here are some in non particular order. 

1) Do the jeans have selvage? Turn the cuff - it's fast and effecient.

2) If they are Levi's jeans, does the red tab or orange tab on the back pocket spell LEVIS and not Levis. I'm refering to a thing known as "Big E", which was how LEVIS was spelled until 1971, when they changed the capital E to a small e.

3)Look for defunct jeans brands like Foremost (a JC Penney brand), Ranchcraft (Also a JC Penney brand), Key, Washington Dee Cee, Can't Bust 'em, Buckaroo by Big Smith, Roebucks - the list goes on and on.

4) If you are looking for zippers, the zippers you should be looking for are Talon (especially Talon 42), Scovill, Ideal, Gripper Zipper. 

This post may be of some help

5) Knowing this timeline from Levi's is good when you need to date jeans. Just look at the differences in arcuates (the iconic stitching on the back pockets) for instance.

This post may be of some help. And if you need some help, I'll gladly give some in depth explanations to understanding it. But please remember that there can be variations depending on the factory used even back then.

Finally I would recommend you look on the inside tags. If they are "made in USA", they are vintage and probably a lot more interesting than most new Levi's jeans. But try them on, so you don't end up in a pair of boot cut jeans - unless you are rocking a full "Freaks&Geeks" attire....

One Month of Denim - Day 13

"We are a sanctuary for those that dream of rainbow selvedge and obsess over patina"

If you are looking to buy denim, it is harder finding a shop in the Western Hemisphere with a better stock than Self Edge, which now has no less than three, very unique stores. The owner Kiya seems relentless when it comes to stocking some of the very best denim especially from Japan, but in recent year many American brands have also been added.

The cult following that Self Edge has, can be explained in many ways. It could be the stock of the very best jeans in the world, it could be some amazing collaborations, it could be the leather accessories and other apparel, but I think it is all because of Kiya. His customer service is second to none. He is passionately active and very helpful on more than one forum (especially Superfuture) and his energy is enormous, when you see just how many questions he is able to answer in a multitude of different threads.

Among other things, Self Edge are also offering a great hemming service, which means you can get your jeans hemmed with a chain stitch done by one of the great, vintage Union Special machines, which are also the kind that Levi's used to have in their factories back in the gold ol' days. On top of this their ever expanding - and ever improving - assortment is also beginning to include more private label goods and collaborative efforts (with Sam de Goede of Cotton Duck). If you want to get in touch with Kiya, then I suggest you head on over to Superfuture, where you will easily find him - just look for the Japanese denim threads. He is very knowledgeable and has a passion for quality denim, that is unheard of.

Crafts - Selvage Denim Laundry Bag

Some time ago I bought several yards of selvage denim from Cone Mills in the US. I passed some on to a friend and the rest have just been sitting in the basement waiting for me to do something about it. Well, I haven't found the courage to make more jeans, though I have done that in the past and I will do so again in the future, so today I spent some hours making one handsome laundry bag with the caring guidance and help from my girlfriend. Or actually it was more of a collaborative effort.

I decided to make this piece out of necessity. I needed something to stow my laundry away in, but I couldn't find anything I liked. But I remember seeing some laundry bags from the American army or rather the navy which were made of a thin denim - possibly chambray. So they were the inspiration for me on this piece, which is why I will possibly add some stencils, once I get around to buying some stencil ink. I already have some amazing Hanson brass stencils, that I would like to use.

For the bag we used some selvage denim (broken twill of approximately 14-15 oz) from Cone Mills, some vintage nylon fabric (I think the term is beaver nylon), a couple of solid brass grommets, some good rope and it was assembled on the Singer 222, that I received some time ago. The same thread was used throughout the project and it was a Saba 50 by Amann - unfortunately not the Rasant type of thread, which I have had troubles finding a good source for.

I did most of the sewing, which is why the stitching isn't entirely straight, though it is pretty good, if I may say so. 

It was the first project I ever did on the 222, and I have to say, it has surpassed my expectations. It plows through whatever you throw at it, and it isn't even an industrial grade sewing machine, but I guess they just made some things better in the old days.

I wish I had taken more pictures of the process, but the light in the basement was poor, so I didn't bother taking that many. Furthermore I was too focused on keeping up with the pace of my girlfriend (who is a tailor's apprentice and has a degree in pattern making), that I found myself forgetting to document the process in pictures.

In short, the bag is made from selvage to selvage across the fabric. Then the grommets were set, but before doing so the leather reinforcements were put in. After that the drawstring hem was sewed, and the sides were connected. We intended to do a flat felled seam, but some miscalculations were made, so it was just a felled seam. Lastly the bottom piece was put in. I decided on the orange fabric because I felt it was a nice contrast to the denim, and orange colour had a navy-ish feel to it. Furthermore I'm sure it will last a bit longer, as it wears harder than the denim and it sheds water. I'm pretty sure that this bag will last a lifetime and improve with wear.

The rope was put in and the ends of the rope was secured with some melted beeswax. This is a very practical way of ensuring the rope doesn't unravel and furthermore it smells deliciously. What I hadn't anticipated was that the rope is already taken on some bleeding from the denim. I'm sure this will get beautiful in some time.

The design is basically too simple to be called design. It is very functional and it will carry a months worth of laundry and possibly more.

You can see the pics in a slightly better resolution on ATD's Flickr. 

And lastly, I would like to thank my girlfriend for the help and support - I'm glad you decided to give my old sewing machine a go, even though you are used to industrial grade sewing machines, which are probably a lot better and easier to use. You did one hell of a job here and I will treasure this bag for a long time and honour it by throwing my dirty clothes in it.