Ginger Jeans

(Hier klicken um diesen Post auf deutsch zu lesen) I never thought, I would start a blog post with a picture of my butt. But this backside just looks so professional doesn't it? I still can't really believe, I sewed that jeans! I never would have thought I would really do it, since it's not so easy to find good jeans fabric here in Germany. But then I came across this jeans and its beautiful fabric and I knew this was the nudge I needed to finally start this ambitious project.
I sewed version A with the legs of version B in size 8 in a stretch twill fabric from Stoff und Stil with allegedly 3 percent elastan. But compared to my RTW skinny jeans with 2 percent elastan it is way less stretchy, so I really don't know how to choose the next fabric, because that one should sit a little bit tighter and hold the shape better. Probably the weight is too high, so it won't stretch that much?
Usually I wear jeans with high rise that sit just below the navel, since I have big gaping waist issues with low rise RTW jeans. But now I wanted to see whether I could solve that issue with fitting the yoke and waistband properly and I chose the low rise version. And yes, I did it, the yoke and waistband lie perfectly flat, but I still need to wear a belt to stop it from riding down. But I think that's just normal for me and low rise jeans that aren't too stretchy.


But that's not such a big problem for me, actually, I quite like, that this jeans turned out a bit more relaxed than all the tight skinny jeans I normally wear.

SEWING

What I would have liked to know beforehand

• the seam allowance is included. I wasn't really sure since the instructions state: "seam allowance is 5/8 inch". But whether they are included or not was not quite clear to me in the beginning.

• it's a good idea to cut one front and back leg before copying the whole pattern and trying it on to see whether the size is right. Luckily I could try a Ginger from a friend in size 10 and found that size 8 would suffice for me. But after cutting and basting it was a shock: 5/8" seam allowance was way to snug to move comfortably. So I used a 1/4" seam allowance on all of the side seams and fortunately it fit right away.

•  Sewing itself was so easy, I was very surprised. There are a lot more spots in an easy Jersey top you can mess up than in this jeans. Even the fly front and the pockets are super easy to sew.

• regarding the zipper: don't worry about shortening the zipper, especially with metal teeth. I just sewed over the upper part that was sticking out veeeery slowly and it worked perfectly.

I was nearly glad my new Pfaff Passport had to go into inspection in the spring and I was forced to get my old Pfaff tipmatic 1019 fixed. Well, at the time I wasn't glad, but now, because I was in the comfortale position to have two sewing machines, one for basting and sewing the inside seams and the old one for top stitching. It constantly amazes me how this old thing (it says made in West Germany on it) is in most occasions much more robust and reliable than my new one. I threaded my needle with two threads to have a thicker thread. No topstitching thread in this crazy color available.

CHANGES

Now to the changes I needed to make. I was positively terrified of fitting the jeans, but it turned out to be not so terrifying at all. I knew about my gaping waist issues so I thought I'd start with those. I basted the yoke on and marked the excess fabric with some pins. I transferred those "darts" onto the pattern pieces (see image) and cut a new pattern piece with slightly rounded edges.

Because of the sideseam I had let out (I used only 1/4" seam allowance) and the new yoke pieces the length of the waistband didn't fit at all anymore. Also,with the waistband I used 3 darts as suggested in the sew along. So I measured my new lengths (center back seam to side seam and side seam to center front seam) and made sure yoke and waistband pieces fit together by adding some length to the waistband. The next issue were some frown lines and bagging. And I have to say I am so grateful for the sew along because I would never have known how to get rid of this issue without it. It was so easy, I just took in the inner leg seam by approximately 1/2" (see image) and the lines and the bagging in the crotch area disappeared.


This definitely was not my last jeans! It is so much fun and I have rarely been in such a frenzy to finish a garment. Actually it was quite stupid to start these jeans in the middle of summer not just because it is really hot to try on jeans but also, because on the weekends I have so much more activity with friends and family. But that just shows how easy it is to sew these pants: normally I can't sew a new pattern after work, my concentration is just fading and I tend to make mistakes. But here: no mistakes at all (not counting, that I forgot to baste the yoke on and was wondering how very low rise these jeans are, until I noticed my mistake).

By the time you are reading this I am on my way to the US (yeah first time ever) and would so much appreciate if you have any good fabric shopping tips for me in NYC and San Francisco?

For more blogposts in english see this page.

Nina

P.S.: Some other great Gingers I came across while doing "research" ;-)

• Jasika Nicole
• Sallie Oh 1
• Sallie Oh 2
• Ginger makes
• Fröbelina
• Mississbibi
• Tüt
• Cut Cut Sew