Closet Case Files: Zippered Ginger Jeans

I got the email through about Papercut's new patterns the other day and I loved the new pair of jeans they have released. I was thinking all day about downloading them and how I could adjust them using my Ginger jeans pattern so they would fit and end up being a pair of Ginger jeans with front zippers.......then I mentally slapped myself and hacked up my Ginger pattern instead!

I think of these as a homage to that Papercut pattern and also a pair of Just Jeans that I saw in the shops recently. According to the daughter, jeans with zipper pockets are 'in' right now (oh god I feel old!)

Adjustments;
Sz 18
Added 1" to inner leg seam on front pattern
Added a pocket stay
Hyperextended calf adjustment
Changed the shape of the front and back pockets
Slimmed the calf from the knee down.

My zippers work, but they don't actually go to a pocket, I did think about making them fully functional but realised I wouldn't use them so didn't bother.

The pockets are inspired by a pocket design I saw on google and saved, I think they were true religion jeans.

Denim is from Lincraft, its a lighter weight denim with a lot of stretch which I like using for this pattern. Its a strange colour - almost a blue/grey.
Top stitching is with Guttermann upholstery thread no.38

Damn, I love this pattern! I've used it so many times I had to trace off a new one this time!

Closet Case Files: Distressed Ginger Jean shorts

I love sewing my own jeans and I love how much better they fit than rtw, but geez I wish there were more denim options than plain dark denim. So what do you do when you want a pair of light denim or distressed jeans? You play with bleach/sandpaper/scissors!

I made a couple of samples;

Bleach;

Sandblasting (which made no real difference, I used my husbands sandblaster but he has a very fine sand in it so I imagine a coarser sand would work better?);

Sandpaper and bleach;

The pattern is my TNT Ginger Jeans, shortened into above knee shorts. Same adjustments as usual (sz 18, added to inner leg 1", wedge taken from outer leg and extended calf adjustment plus I added a pull on waistband like my last pair)

To get the distressing I did some sandpapering before topstitching, then put the shorts on and marked with chalk the common wear areas. I made a half and half solution of bleach and water in a spray bottle, which I sprayed onto a rag and scrubbed into the fabric (gives a lot more control than just spraying straight onto the fabric). I did it about 5 times, giving it 10-15mins between each application, only dampening the fabric with the bleach solution not saturating it. When I was happy with it I washed them with some vinegar (meant to help stabilise the bleach?) and dried them.

My daughter tells me I did the distressing too low and I agree with her - the fade should have started further up.

I did the cuts with a pair of scissors and tweezers. I wasn't too sure about it to begin with but I'm liking it the more I wear them.

It was a fun project, I wouldn't use the sandpaper again, I don't like the damage it does to the fabric and I doubt I'd do the cuts again either. But I really like how the bleaching went and I'd definitely use that again.

Closet Case Files: Blue gingers

 

Another pair of pull-on ginger jeans -

Same adjustments as last time, main difference is I found they were hitching up at the back knees a bit which was because I had shaped the outer leg on the back pattern piece and it must have added extra length so the back pattern piece was about 1" longer than the front causing the buckling. Since fixing that they are hanging a lot straighter now.

 

The fabric is a lovely stretchy reversible denim from Rathdowne fabrics, with blue on the top and black underneath. Thread is Guttermann  #392 upholstery thread and the rivets are ones from etsy

I saved a blog post from a while ago by meggipeg - I really liked her jeans and the quilting on them so in tribute to them (which sounds so much nicer than saying I completely copied her!!) I quilted a section on my back pockets, using some scraps I had of fleece to beef them up with. I thought about using batting but figured the fleece wouldn't shed or unravel

I read another post the other day from notes of a mad housewife about sewing the back crotch seam up so the seam is exactly in the centre of the pants, not to the side like it is if you flat fell or even faux flat fell the seam. I tried the first method with the zig zag and it worked really well, I should have trimmed down my seam allowance from 5/8" to 3/8" though (I get a bit mixed up with the whole imperial measurement thing sometimes!) and next time I think I'll run a line of basting stiches along the fold lines as I found it a bit hard to measure it exactly evenly when you fold it over.

Gotta love an elastic waistband!

Ginger Jeans: Pull-on version

I've been loving all the ginger jean variations and really liked Gillian's article about turning them into pull on jeans with an elastic waistband.

Same adjustments as last time.

I used bengaline from Spotlight and sewed them up the same as normal, the bengaline doesn't actually have as much stretch as my last denim pair so I let the side seams out through the thighs and hips. I'd taken out a side seam wedge last time too and it was a bit much so the pants feel a little twisted, I'm halving it for next time.

In Gillians tutorial she says to add extra length so the waistband hits at the natural waist. Really take notice of this because I didn't originally and they looked like wrinkle city. Once I unpicked it and added a new waistband with an extra 2" in height they are not trying to creep upwards anymore and are sitting a lot better!

I added rivets in an attempt to look more jeany (is that even a word?)

I really like them with my Simplicity 2446 blazer (and its how I'd normally wear them)

They were a fun experiment, I'd definitely make more but I'd double check the stretch next time and add some fitting allowance because these are a tad tight!

Closet Case Files: Ginger Shorts

 

Ginger shorts (jorts?). My daughter has a pair of piping hot shorts that has some design features that I wanted to copy, they have bright pink serging that's exposed with the cuff turned up plus a bright pink topstitched back pockets. I tried to get the same feel with these shorts but I don't think I went quite far enough and the single topstitched back pocket just looks odd to me now.

 

Nothing new fit wise (same as the last pair of jeans, I did notice excess on the side of my leg that didn't show up in my jeans so I've adjusted the pattern for next time.

 

The fabric was a remnant scrap from a garage sale, just managed to squeeze the shorts out of it and the pocket bags are a quilting cotton from my stash.

 



Closet Case Files: Ginger Jeans - purple denim

Another pair of jeans, I've been wearing my first pair heaps lately.

 

Same as last time;

• Added 1" to the inner leg seam on the front pattern piece.
• Adjusted the side seams - I have hyperextended calves and they were dragging the side seam backwards so I added to the back and took from the front to straighten it up.
• Changed the front pockets to a pocket stay.
• Shaped the side seams
• I did a couple of construction changes - I followed my fav zipper tutorial and serged the waistband facing instead of turning under (just helps to reduce bulk with a heavier weight denim).
• Shaped the waistband to be more curved to stop the gape at the back.
• Also I added elastic to the waistband to help stabilise/stop stretching out.
• Took in the side seams as my purple denim was very stretchy
• Plus I took length out of the legs at the knees from where I had originally added it and I also took some height out of the back rise, again from where I had added it.

I used a purple denim (its either from Rathdowne or GJ's discount fabrics). Its a lot thinner than my first pair and has some good stretch in it.

 

Topstitching is Gutermann and a matching plain poly thread for the bartacks. I'm definitely more of a fan of the upholstery thread for jeans topstitching, my machine doesn't really like how thick the topstitching thread is and I found it harder to keep an even line with it.

I added a pocket stay - its a quilting cotton that I had in my stash

Not much else to say except I've already cut out my third pair ready to be sewn!