Ginger Skinny Jeans: A Wearable Muslin

Well, I am happy to say that I have had a great experience with the Ginger Skinny Jeans pattern by Closet Case Patterns  The muslin discussed in my previous post has resulted in a wearable muslin.

The pattern is well-drafted and the details are true to ready-to-wear.  Heather Lou, the designer and founder of Closet Case Patterns, most definitely did her research.  Despite the fact that I mostly live in jeans, there are details in ready-to-wear jeans that I never even thought of until I started working with this pattern.  Not all ready-to-wear jeans are exactly the same of course but when I pulled out my old Gap jeans, I noticed similarities with the Ginger jeans pattern.

One thing was the stitching at the top of the side seam that runs for about 6 inches or so.  Another was how the back pockets curve on the sides of the pockets closest to the center back seam.  Working with this pattern results in a ready-to-wear style of jeans but better because you make it to your liking and fit.

Below you can see the topstitching details and shaping of the back pockets:

Here are my old Gap jeans:

I knew I would be making adjustments to the pattern so I traced the leg patterns so as not to butcher the original pattern.  For this muslin, I took in the side seams and inseams since I have very thin thighs:

I have also determined there are a few more adjustments I need to make on my next pair:

1.  Take in the waistband just a little bit.  The waistband is a little loose and I like waistbands to hug me just a little.

2.  Make a large calf adjustment.  Once I get up from sitting down, they get "stuck" on my calves and then I have to pull them down.  I have the same problem with ready-to-wear but I won't have this problem with my next pair of jeans.

3.  I have excess fabric below the derriere.   There are a lot of suggestions out there as to how to remedy this.  I will be researching and pondering how best to proceed.

I have a good quality medium weight denim I purchased at Mood a long time ago which I will use to make my next pair of jeans.  But now I am in the mood for working with a different fabric...maybe stretch corduroy.  It is still chilly here in the Northeast so if I get started on them soon, maybe I could wear them a couple of times.  We'll see!

Happy sewing!

Ginger Skinny Jeans: A Muslin

Thanks again everyone for your warmth and heartfelt good wishes!  Well, I am finally sewing again.  It felt so good to sit down and sew.  I have been contemplating sewing a pair of denim jeans for quite some time.  I have seen many positive reviews on Pattern Review.com and various blogs of the  Ginger Skinny Jeans pattern by Closet Case patterns so I decided to give it a try.

I started by making a muslin from an inexpensive denim I found in New York City in one of those little fabric stores on 38th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues.  It was only $6 a yard.  Boy is it a sturdy fabric!  It is a little stiff so I pre-washed it 3 times in order to soften it and get all the shrinkage out of the fabric.  This fabric did not fade at all and it is thick and still a little stiff.  Since the bolt did not have the fabric content, I decided to do a burn test to see if I could figure out the fabric content.  The fabric did not melt and left ash which tells me it has cotton but boy this fabric is indestructible!  That's ok, though, especially for a muslin which would be stitched and unstitched and stitched again.

Speaking of unstitching, I have discovered this nifty little seam ripper by Dritz.  I purchased it at JoAnn's.  The rubber tip is amazing!  The package says you use the rubber tip to help you grab the little pieces of threads left behind after you remove a seam but I found it is wonderful in helping you massage the little holes left by the needle and that is what I value most about it.

I used a size 100/16 Singer needle with a 3.0 stitch length and regular all purpose polyester thread for the main seams.  For topstitching, I used the brown color jeans topstitching thread by Coats & Clark with a stitch length of 3.5.  I used the jeans topstitching thread on the top and the regular polyester thread in the bobbin.  I finished the seams with my serger.  I pressed the seams with a steam iron.

For the back patch pockets, I simply freehanded a topstitching design on them.  With muslins, I usually just put together the main pieces to test for fit but since so many have had a positive experience with this pattern, I took my chances and decided to cut and sew all of the pieces in the hope that I would have a wearable muslin in the end.

I decided to make the high waisted version which includes a stay for the tummy.  I made the stay out of woven pre-shrunk non-stretch cotton muslin fabric.  The pattern instructions have you interface the zipper section but I don't think that is necessary for the version with the tummy stay.  The pattern has you attach the stay all the way to the edge of the fly so I believe it can double as interfacing.  I think the stay plus the interfacing plus the fabric folded plus the zipper plus the zipper guard is just too much bulk for my taste.  I will therefore eliminate the interfacing for the next version of this high waisted jean and rely on the stay for stabilizing the zipper area.

For the front of the pant, after I was done inserting the zipper, I traced the topstitching pattern onto cardstock to use as a template.  I simply placed the cardstock on top of the front aligning the straight edge to the center front and traced around the template so I had a guide for topstitching.  I am going to use this handy little template for other pants I make in the future.

Here is the front of the jean:

Here is the back.  I attached the front to the back and discovered, as usual, an excess of fabric below the derriere at the thigh area.  I decided to take in the thigh area at both the side seams and inseams and it helped quite a lot.  I am glad the fabric was so sturdy since I stitched and unstitched the seams several times until I was happy. I used a long machine basting stitch and once I was happy with the fit, I used the regular machine stitch of 3.0.  I still have to attach the belt loops and sew up the hem:

I have large calves so the jeans are a little snug around that area, an issue I encounter with ready-to-wear jeans as well.  I let out the seam at the calf area as much as I could.  They are not tight so I can still wear them but I will definitely be making an adjustment for the next version.

So far, I have discovered this pattern to be well drafted with a good fit.  The pattern instructions are excellent although I had to get used to the illustrations having the white side refer to the right side and the shaded side refer to the wrong side.  (It is the reverse in the big pattern companies which is what I am used to.)  It is important to use stretch denim as suggested by the pattern.  Otherwise, the jeans will turn out too small.

I am pleased with how the muslin turned out.  For my next post, I will model them so you can see the fit.

I encourage anyone contemplating making jeans to try this pattern.  Just dive right in!  If you feel a little unsure, use inexpensive fabric and have a seam ripper handy.

Ginger Skinny Jeans pattern by Closet Case Patterns

Happy sewing!

Thank you!

Thank you everyone for all of your encouragement and support.  I appreciate all of your comments to my last post and all of the good wishes sent my way.  It is much appreciated and helped very much.

I am finally back home!  Yay!  I thought I would share with you the final steps of this long journey and yes, that means this is my last house construction post.  😊

Below is my house as it is now, elevated and newly sided.  On the left is the addition which now houses the utilities that were in the basement like the furnace, hot water heater, and washer/dryer.  The greatest thing (besides being protected from floods of course) is that now the washer/dryer is on the same level as my living space which is a great convenience.  It makes for a cute little laundry room.  No more going up and down the stairs when I do laundry (and pre-wash fabric).  The space below the house I can use for my fabric stash (ahem) storage.

Below is a photo of what the house looked like before.  Quite different!

Of course, the first rooms I needed to get set up were the bedroom, kitchen and bathroom so many boxes ended up in my sewing room - aaak!

However, I am mostly done unpacking so here is my sewing room now.  I still have to get rid of that ladder and a few boxes not visible in the photo but I am almost there:

Here is one of my favorite sides of the sewing room.  Hanging from the clock is a leather heart keychain which Kyle from Vacuuming the Lawn sent to me as a gift.  In case you are wondering, that circular item is the handle to my steam mop which I have since put away:

Besides all of the love, friendship and support from family, friends and all of you, I also had the company of Zoe, my furry friend, whose cuteness, sweetness and silliness always makes me smile:

Before I started packing for my move back home, I started working on making a pair of jeans so I hope to start working on them again soon.

Happy Sewing!