It’s no secret I love to sew jeans, they hit the sweet spot for me between complicated enough to require my full attention and familiar enough to really release into the process and enjoy. I figured #wsskills2020 would be off to a good start with a pattern I’m comfortable with and another I’ve never sewn before

I’ve made around 15 pairs of Ginger jeans by this point, full length, cropped, shorts, hacked and more. I’m very familiar with the pattern and in general love the fit. I decided that it was time to try the Ames jeans because when I was making the tester pairs, I really liked the fit of my size.

Fabric Note: For both pairs, I used a Cone Mills black S-Gene denim. It has a BUNCH of stretch, 25%. Usually when I’m making pants, I keep to the 15-20% stretch guide, but this was the only cut I had enough of to make both pairs.

CUTTING NOTES

Make sure you are squaring your fabric for making jeans (and pretty much everything else!). Take your sweet time cutting everything out paying particular attention to your grainlines on your leg pieces because leg twist jeans make us both sad and uncomfortable. A large quilting ruler is the best for checking grainlines because you have a large area to overlap on the grainline making it much more likely you’re correct and the weight of it presses your pattern to your fabric making sure you are keeping all layers together. You can use a flexible tape measure to confirm your grainlines, but there is a larger margin of error, so check every eight inches or so.

I can’t emphasize enough that cutting your fabric correctly is one of the most important parts of making pants.

GINGER JEANS

Ginger jeans:

This pattern only comes in sizes 0-20. Closet Case Patterns is working on an extended size range and hopefully this pattern will be one of the first released.

I made a size 10, taking a half inch out of the top of the waistband making it curve more acutely so it fits better around my body. I should probably grade to the 12 in the hip, but I usually just narrow my seam allowance to 3/8” instead of the 5/8” called for in the pattern. My last pair was great last year, but I’ve gained a bit of weight and they aren’t nearly as comfortable now. Since that pair had just 15% stretch, I decided to make the same size, knowing (ish) that the extra stretch percentage would make up the fit difference. These are the skinny leg which I quite like. I’ve noticed that my waistband keep rolling down which is mega annoying. I'm going to try the lower waist version next to see if that doesn’t help.

My favourite part of this pattern is how the zip front fly is sewn together. It’s the easiest way to keep everything straight and super accessible for beginners to pants making. I can’t wait until they come out with a full size range of Gingers, because the instructions are so good!

Pattern notes: This pattern goes together really well, all the notches match and the fit is what I expected from the envelope.

AMES JEANS

Ames jeans:

Cashmerette drafts patterns using a curvy block, meaning for people that have a large size difference between waist and hips. The pattern runs from 12-28 in either a Pear shape or an Apple shape.

I made a size 12 Pear. They are a smidge too big. What worked for me with the Gingers, worked against me in the Ames. The sample pair I made has 20% stretch and they fit great, the 25% is too loose for the intended fit. The rise on the Ames is lower than the Gingers and I’m kinda into it. The waistband is much more curved which results in a better fit right out of the envelope. The legs are not meant to be as skintight as the Gingers which is a nice change. I enjoyed the length and the ability to cuff them without cutting off circulation. They are very wearable and I’m going to make another pair to see if I can get closer to the intended fit. I can either try a fabric with less stretch percentage, taking down the side seams a bit in the hip and thigh of the Pear shape I have traced off already, or just tracing off the Apple shape instead.

Pattern notes: The pattern went together very well. I personally don’t prefer 1/2” seam allowances because I don’t find them wide enough to properly finish with flat felled seams which is my preference on pants. I also don’t have a 1/2” mark on my sewing machine so I always have to mark it with my washi tape. Also, the pocket facing had no sizes marked, so it was way too big for my pocket, so I ended up cutting it down to a size that made sense with my pockets. I also didn’t use the coin pocket provided because I prefer to use the one in the Ginger pattern.

Thanks for following along! I encourage you to ask about anything I’ve left out in the comments!

Happy #Skills2020!