First off, thank you all so much for the comments on my last post, for all the helpful tips and support, and also for reading my blog. I have never had so much feedback and I am super grateful for it! Best blogging/hobby community ever! Yay Sewcialists!! Secondly, I have to apologize for these photos. Not my best photography, but the day I took them it was cold and I was having troubles with my tripod, so I took them inside. The colour/contrast is not as good as it usually is but I think you can see well enough to get a good idea of how these Gingers fit!
So as I mentioned last time, I decided to go down to a size 10. This was a great decision as I think the fit is even better now. I also decided to make the legs a bit slimmer as this time of year I mostly wear boots, and skinnies are so much easier to tuck in. I took a 1/2" off of each side of each leg, grading to nothing about mid-thigh. So that takes a total of 2" off each leg. I used this tutorial and it worked really well.
The denim I used is from Girl Charlee and I am really happy with it. It's got a nice stretch and it recovers really well. I have been wearing this pair for about 3 days now and they haven't bagged out. They stretch with wear for sure, but not so much that it's noticeable to the outside eye and not so much that I feel like I have to wash them again to get them fitting properly.
I used a different colour for the top-stitching thread this time too. It's more of a coppery-orangey colour. I like the gold, but I though it would be fun to switch it up. I was debating doing red or blue topstitching too, but I chickened out and went with something more "regular". I don't have much to say about construction this time. The pattern instructions are still very straight forward, and I found things went more smoothly and faster the second time around because I had done everything once before. I really like making jeans. It's so soothing and satisfying; challenging but not overwhelming. I also love wearing jeans so I'm sure there will be many more pairs to come.
Check out that fit? (I can't believe I am posting a photo of my butt on the internet again, yikes!) I was a tiny bit worried that by going down a size the fit might change, but I am happy to say that I think it just got better. There are still a couple little wrinkles in the front, so for my next pair I might try to lengthen the front crotch just a smidge as Katie suggested in the comments of my last post. But other than that, I don't really want to mess around with them too much.
I'm not sure if I mentioned this last time, but I had a heck of time getting the topstitching around the fly to look right. I unpicked it three times before I was happy. On this pair, I only unpicked it once. You know what they say, practice makes perfect. Also, I used barracks to sew on the belt loops this time. My beautiful Pfaff actually has a barrack function, so it makes it really easy.
I also took a few shots during construction, so you could see the insides this time.
I know Heather Lou suggests having the right side of your pocket fabric showing, but that just didn't seem right to me. I had some kind of mental block about it for some reason. This way if my pocket turns out you see the right side of the fabric.
I love this rainbow variegated thread with denim (well really, I love it with everything, but it looks extra awesomesauce with denim). One of my favourite things about sewing my own clothes is being able to add little details like this. I love having a unique piece of clothing that no one else will ever have. I can't believe it's taken me so long to really start sewing my own clothes. I can't imagine all the craziness I would have come up with when I was younger. I do remember cutting my jeans up the side seams and adding a strip of fabric. Did you ever do that? A couple of older cool girls at school were doing it, and I loved my pair that I did it to and wore them to death. I wonder why I stopped there? I was probably just too intimidated by fancy patterns. If only I had had the internet back then. The things I would have gotten up too...oh well, I am happy that I am doing it now!
I obviously haven't worked up the nerve to try flat fell seams yet. The serger/overlocker way is just working out so well for me, and it looks pretty too! As you can see, I skipped out on the rivets again. It's not because I don't like rivets, it's because I couldn't find any locally. I have finally ordered a bunch so I will give installing them a try on my next pair. Or I might even add them to this pair, we'll see when they get here.
So there you have it, Ginger Jeans take 2! I have been wearing them pretty much non-stop since I finished them. I can't wait to make more!
What is your favourite thing to sew? Are you doing any handmade Christmas gifts this year, and if so, have you started making them, or are you procrastinating really hard like me?
And just in case you are going through pug withdrawals, here is a picture of Quincie checking out my butt:
Happy Sewing!