Say hello to my wonderful new me-made jeans! Waaahoooooo! And just in time for Me-Made May!
I know this pattern is far from new to the sewing scene, but I finally took it off my chicken list and I’m so excited to report they are FINISHED! I went all out when the Ginger Jeans pattern first came out… I even ordered one of the beautiful denim kits thinking I would jump on the bandwagon right away, follow the sewalong, and be a jeans pro by the end of 2014. I then found this less expensive denim to practice with from Mood. And now, months later, here we are…
I’m not sure how well the fabric will hold up over time, but for now it’s great! I love the color and it has the perfect amount of stretch.
Right before sewing the waistband on, I tried them on and the waist was way too big. I wasn’t sure where to go from there – I didn’t feel comfortable adjusting the size at that point – so I just finished the waistband and added a few butt darts. Far from perfect… but the “after” fit is wonderful. AND hey! If ever I find myself with the need for a bigger jeans waistline, it’ll be an easy fix! ;)
BTW – don’t search “butt darts” on google images – I learned the hard way – consider yourself warned :/
The other bad part was this:
This is how both pant legs looked after sewing them together… I remember reading something about preventing the legs from twisting but as I sewed I didn’t pay attention nor have I looked it up since :/ Actually, the left leg doesn’t twist all that much, but after just a couple steps, the right leg does this:
Ugh… I love the pink contrast topstitching… until it does that.
Oh well. Still LOVE them! Anywhoo – details, details: I cut View A, a straight size 6 on the pattern. The only adjustment I made was to lengthen the inseam 4 inches. After many years of wearing pants that were too short, I can never get enough inseam! Oh and here are the pretty purple pockets:
And of course the obligatory puppy photobomb:
Next time I’ll definitely go smaller at the waist and work on the twisting issue, but I’m so excited about this pattern and the simple fact that sewing jeans is a real possibility for me. It’s a happy day in my sewing world!
Oh and back to the chicken list! Do you have one? The chicken list – a.k.a. the unwritten list of things you put off because you aren’t confident enough in your own abilities. But then you take things off your chicken list and it feels wonderful!
Until next time,
Life by Ky 
That’s odd how they twist! But they look amazing! I’m too chicken to even put jeans on a chicken list!!
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It is, isn’t it!? Thanks! You should definitely consider putting them on your list ;) One step at a time they really weren’t even too intimidating after getting over the hurdle of starting!
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Well done! They looked perfect – until you mentioned the issues!
At least the fit around the bum looks spot on so you’ve really not far to go in achieving the perfect pair.
And what boon these will be for MMM. You’ll just have to slip these on for part of every day and you’ve cracked it!
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Thanks! I’ll definitely be trying again to get the fit right. haha and yea – MMM – done!
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Your jeans are rock and roll! You look so great in them! I didnt even notice any issues till you pointed them out – . Job well done – that top stitching though! #swoon
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Aww thank you so much! These really made me appreciate topstitching :)
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Your warnings about googling butt darts make me smile! Despite that inner seam, these look great on you. That’s some advanced sewing! Jeans won&’the be making it on to my to-sew list any time soon. Getting normal trousers to fit proved hard enough…
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Haha… talk about frightening images :/ Thanks! I’d love to give normal trousers a try too! Seems like they would require a more accurate fit in comparison to the stretch denim though, so they definitely intimidate me too!
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Think you’re braver attempting jeans, but each to their own sewing-phobias ;-)
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Good looking jeans, Kyla! The pink topstitching is so lovely and it goes well with denim color :)
Nice work!
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Thanks Hana!
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I’ve been so out of the sewing blog world (with starting all my flower & vegetable seeds indoors, learning to crochet so I can make a granny square blanket & working on my denim quilt for our camper…busy, busy, busy!) that I missed your jeans! NICE WORK! Doesn’t it make you feel like an accomplished sewist once you complete jeans, even if they have a couple issues? They fit you great. And you can always wear them with tall boots in cooler weather to hide the seam, or not! Nobody would even notice. :)
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It does kinda… I finished and felt like I could take on anything after making jeans, even though they aren’t perfect :) And yes! Good thinking with the boots… that will definitely make me less aware of my jeans seam as I wear them lol I’ve only worn them once so far and I was definitely hyper-aware of it even though no one else probably noticed!
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