Look y’all, new jeans!
I always enjoy making a new pair of jeans for fall – after a summer of teaching jeans-making, I’m full of brilliant ideas and antsy to sew them. Now that I work part time as a tailor, I get my eyes on even more jeans with interesting design details that I’ve been dying to incorporate. For this pair, I thought I’d try out some features I’ve been seeing a lot lately, as well as a new (fashionable?) silhouette .
These are my tried and true jeans pattern – the Ginger Jeans from Closet Core Patterns. I’ve made this pattern enough times to have really nailed the fit down, and now I’m in that glorious phase where I just have to make tweaks and adjustments to change the style. I made multiple changes to this pattern:
Increased the rise about about 3/4″, so it covers my belly button
Changed the legs to bootcut, using an existing pair of flared jeans that I like as a comparison
Swapped the pocket stay for normal hanging pocket bags
Changed the waistband to a rectangular one-piece folded waistband, instead of two pieces with subtle shaping. The shaping is obtained by easing the waistband to the top of the jeans. This is how most RTW jeans are done, btw, and it is MUCH easier to cut, sew, and alter
I also made some small design adjustments, such as leaving off the coin pocket, slightly changing the shape of the front fly topstitching, and sewing 2 lines of topstitching across the bottom of the waistband. I also used two different topstitch thread colors, as well as a third color for the bar tacks and button hole.
Not too much to say here that I haven’t already said before about this pattern, so here’s a bunch of photos of me + my ass.
I have no idea where I originally purchased my denim – if I had to guess, it’s either from Mood Fabrics or Pintuck & Purl, as I’ve bought loads of stashed denim from those sources. Maybe it’s Cone Mills? Who knows, it’s a mystery! All I can tell you is that it’s been in my stash for years. It is a beautiful medium blue that I think will lighten up nicely as it gets washed and worn. 4″ of my denim stretches to about 4.75″, so I was able to cut my usual size 4 and make no fit or size adjustments.
I used two sewing machines to sew this – one threaded for topstitch thread, and one for standard. Although I still had to change my thread a ton, since I was using two different topstitch colors! But I do think the effect is worth it, I see this in a lot of high-end RTW and I just think it looks really nice. I used Mara 30 topstitching thread, which is pretty thick – honestly too thick for most home sewing machines. I have a Janome HD9 that I use for topstitching, which is designed to be able to handle the super thick thread with a 110 needle. In my classes, we use the thinner Mara 70, which gives the look of thick topstitching but much more easily managed by the machines.
Love that you can’t even tell the difference between the two thread colors in this eXtReMe cLoSe Up BUT I PROMISE IT IS THERE.
I used a leftover scrap of Liberty cotton to make the pocket bags, which I sort of regret because it’s way too flimsy and doesn’t stay in place that great but oh well the colors were just too good! My serging thread is green to match. Oh, and I found an old Ralph Lauren label that I was able to fold so my pants have my name in them! Fun stuff!
I love the little flare – it’s very different than anything else in my closet (well, other than the *other* pair of flares I own that I knocked off LOL). The length is definitely long for me, but in my experience denim tends to continue to shrink in length as you wash/dry it so I’m going to let these settle a bit before I cut anything off. Plus, longer hems are supposed to be in right now? I don’t know, I keep looking at everyone’s long ass pants and thinking about how much they need a good hemming haha.
This was a fun little project and a great way to ease back into sewing after a summer of barely having time to make anything for myself! If you’re keen to whip up your own jeans, I still have a few classes through the end of the year – check out my WORKSHOPS page to get the details! We won’t have time in class to go fully custom – but you’ll learn everything you need to know about making a pair of jeans from start to finish, and get lots of ideas for customization on your future pairs! Also, as a head’s up – I’m currently planning my schedule for 2024 (with the possibility of adding a new location or two), so if you have a local shop offering classes who you’d like to nominate, please let me know!