Hi everyone!
I've finished my second pair of Ginger jeans and been wearing them a bit this week to see how I feel about them. This time I made the high-waisted version View B in some 2% elastane black cotton twill that I bought on eBay. I made straight size 12 but after the baste-fit decided to make up the back seam and yoke seam with a 3/8" seam allowance to allow a little more room for my rear as the back waistband was pulling down a bit. This worked out OK, but I forgot that making that addition would increase the length of the back legs, so I had a fair bit of easing to do when making up the side seams. Next time I will draft a slightly longer back crotch curve and taper the sides so as to avoid this again!
Fitwise I'm not quite sure about how flattering they are. I made up the pocket stay - as I bought the earlier version of the pattern I had to draft it myself but it wasn't too difficult following the tutorial in the sewalong here. As my round belly is a bit of a problem area for me I was eager for it to be sucked in, but I feel like maybe the woven pocket stay slightly distorts the overlying stretchy jeans fabric? There is a bit of pulling from the fly to the side seams which I don't think is caused by needing more width at the hips- if anything I might even slim that bit down next time as I feel a bit of negative ease would be more flattering in that area. Would it be better to draft a stay with a little stretch, or does that negate the point of the stay?!
I was so excited about having these as the trousers I could pair with my vintage-style cropped jumpers, but feel like after a day's wear the waistband does crease and the area around the stomach, rear, and hips expands a bit making me feel even more bulbous in my rotund regions. Perhaps my fabric has too much stretch, or not very decent recovery?
It was £5.99 a metre so on the cheapish side. I originally interfaced the waistband facing, but for some reason tried to attach this direct to the top of the jeans (instead of the waistband side, duh) when baste-fitting and of course there was far too much fabric at the top of the jeans to gather into the rigid waistband. However, even after discarding the interfacing for the final version of the waistband I feel like I had to stretch the front right side a lot to line up the waistband with the top of the front leg of the jeans below. There was initially a little gathering and I had to restitch- this is mostly gone now but looks less than totally professional. It's weird that it's so much more on one side than the other- I'll watch for this in my next pair in case it was my mistake. There are so many processes to go through it's easy to make one or two.
Speaking of mistakes I think I put my pockets on slightly wonky again! It's hard when the back isn't made up to know if they're going to be level. As I was happy with the placement of the pockets in my first pair of View As I decided to just go with them as is again rather than basting. Next time I will baste, or be sure to make my own more accurate markings, as just having two circles for the outer top corners can still result in slight pocket angle differences in my experience. I decided not to put rivets on the back pockets so as not to draw attention to this! I also somehow managed to cut out my coin pocket for the left hip AGAIN. Maybe I should just make this my signature?
For quick reference here are all the options/ mods that I made for this pair:
- Drafted my own pocket stay in woven mediumweight cotton (same as for my Vestido de los Muertos)
- Made my waistband and facing both in stretch denim (only interfacing the button and buttonhole areas)
- Sewed the yoke and back seams at 3/8" for a little more booty room (with mixed success, will do a more sophisticated modification next time)
- I've also realised I sized up to to the 12 as I'm a little over the measurements for 10. Perhaps this is why the area around the hips doesn't look as good as it could? Maybe next time I'll size down in that area but make sure to make the necessary rear adjustments.
I really like the look of these jeans but haven't quite got them perfect for me yet. They're wearable but not the wardrobe staples I was hoping they'd be just yet. Oh well, if nothing else it was a very good topstitching practice session (there was plenty of ripping out let me tell you)! I got through a reel and half of 30m topstitching thread and can confirm there is no discernable difference to my untrained eye between the Gutermann and Coats black topstitching threads. I do however wish I'd taken on board the suggestion to note down my machine settings to get the gaps between lines of topstitching even; I had a nice thing going on my first few lines which seemed so obvious I didn't bother to write down, then of course promptly forgot when it came time to o it again. There is a little bit of variation depending on which seams you're looking at- most noticeably where the front and back crotch meet, but hopefully nobody will be scrutinising there!
Talking of unsightly crotches actually this very sad thing happened to my previous pair of Ginger Jeans- look how badly worn they are from cycling already! I don't even wear these very much as they are a bit too casual for my style, especially when they've stretched out a bit over the course of the day (as they were made in a non-stretch fabric) and with their naughty low-flying zip- but it's a shame they're already in such bad shape. I have also managed to spoil another of my handmade garments by getting print from a plastic bag transferred onto the rear (if you're a non-cyclist the plastic bag is to prevent the seat getting wet in rain). Perhaps I should dig out those embarrassingly tight Shimano cycling shorts after all and stop spoiling all my clothes out of vanity/ laziness?
Now trying to speed through the rest of my sewing plans for the year and hopefully get another #vintagepledge make under my belt. No gift sewing for me this December though, it was too much last year! How's your end of year sewing going?
NorseOtter xx
I've finished my second pair of Ginger jeans and been wearing them a bit this week to see how I feel about them. This time I made the high-waisted version View B in some 2% elastane black cotton twill that I bought on eBay. I made straight size 12 but after the baste-fit decided to make up the back seam and yoke seam with a 3/8" seam allowance to allow a little more room for my rear as the back waistband was pulling down a bit. This worked out OK, but I forgot that making that addition would increase the length of the back legs, so I had a fair bit of easing to do when making up the side seams. Next time I will draft a slightly longer back crotch curve and taper the sides so as to avoid this again!
Fitwise I'm not quite sure about how flattering they are. I made up the pocket stay - as I bought the earlier version of the pattern I had to draft it myself but it wasn't too difficult following the tutorial in the sewalong here. As my round belly is a bit of a problem area for me I was eager for it to be sucked in, but I feel like maybe the woven pocket stay slightly distorts the overlying stretchy jeans fabric? There is a bit of pulling from the fly to the side seams which I don't think is caused by needing more width at the hips- if anything I might even slim that bit down next time as I feel a bit of negative ease would be more flattering in that area. Would it be better to draft a stay with a little stretch, or does that negate the point of the stay?!
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| My self-drafted pocket stay- although should have added a seam to create a separate pocket section |
I was so excited about having these as the trousers I could pair with my vintage-style cropped jumpers, but feel like after a day's wear the waistband does crease and the area around the stomach, rear, and hips expands a bit making me feel even more bulbous in my rotund regions. Perhaps my fabric has too much stretch, or not very decent recovery?It was £5.99 a metre so on the cheapish side. I originally interfaced the waistband facing, but for some reason tried to attach this direct to the top of the jeans (instead of the waistband side, duh) when baste-fitting and of course there was far too much fabric at the top of the jeans to gather into the rigid waistband. However, even after discarding the interfacing for the final version of the waistband I feel like I had to stretch the front right side a lot to line up the waistband with the top of the front leg of the jeans below. There was initially a little gathering and I had to restitch- this is mostly gone now but looks less than totally professional. It's weird that it's so much more on one side than the other- I'll watch for this in my next pair in case it was my mistake. There are so many processes to go through it's easy to make one or two.
Some obligatory bum shots. I don't think my pocket placement is the most flattering, and I think some negative ease might create a smoother hip line.
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| Coin pocket on wrong hip (and slightly small buttonhole!) |
- Drafted my own pocket stay in woven mediumweight cotton (same as for my Vestido de los Muertos)
- Made my waistband and facing both in stretch denim (only interfacing the button and buttonhole areas)
- Sewed the yoke and back seams at 3/8" for a little more booty room (with mixed success, will do a more sophisticated modification next time)
- I've also realised I sized up to to the 12 as I'm a little over the measurements for 10. Perhaps this is why the area around the hips doesn't look as good as it could? Maybe next time I'll size down in that area but make sure to make the necessary rear adjustments.
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| Not too shabby topstitching on the back pocket, but a bit of gathering at the side seams visible |
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| My fly front! My machine struggled with the bar tacks, but otherwise a decent effr |
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| My corduroy pair of Ginger Jeans in View A, worn threadbare by my saddle |
Now trying to speed through the rest of my sewing plans for the year and hopefully get another #vintagepledge make under my belt. No gift sewing for me this December though, it was too much last year! How's your end of year sewing going?
NorseOtter xx
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