Black and blue Gingers

Ginger jeans

When I made my first pair of Ginger jeans, I knew it wouldn’t be long before I had another go. I whipped out two more pairs right after getting those fast-gratification overlocker projects out of my system. You’ll perhaps remember I said I printed view A (low-rise stovepipe leg) by accident last time instead of view B – so this time I did manage to print the correct view and try the high-rise skinny leg option. I made these two pairs in quick succession, and it’s interesting to compare the results using two fairly different fabrics.

Ginger jeans

I jumped in to the first pair without a toile, feeling pretty confident that the fit would be close enough that I could make some on-the-fly changes to perfect ’em. The fabric for this first pair is a lovely light-medium weight denim from Cloth House‘s Soho shop with only about 1% stretch, so I cut a straight size ten all over to compensate.

Ginger jeans

I’m pretty happy with the fit! The legs are unaltered and the perfect amount of skinny for me. I took my usual wedge out of the CB yoke and curved the waistband more to account for my comparatively small waist (not quite enough actually as they are still a bit loose at the waist). There will always be wrinkles in a fabric with little stretch, so I’m not losing sleep over them.

Ginger jeans

I didn’t use special topstitching thread this time, just a pale blue regular thread, so it isn’t super great looking but I do love the scallop detail on the back pockets, which is just one of my machine’s built-in stitches. Pretty and zero effort!

Ginger jeans

Umm, the leopard head rivets? I found them on eBay and was just desperate to use them, even though frankly they look a bit silly on this pair.

Ginger jeans

I’m pleased with the finish inside, where I tried a few new techniques to get a more luxe result. The seams are flat-felled where possible: at the crotch, yoke and inseam. I thought flat-felling would be a real extra effort but it’s not too bad at all and really makes the jeans feel more special to wear.

Ginger jeans

I also included a pocket stay/extension, drafted using the great directions here and made from a leftover scrap of tana lawn. I would bear in mind that if your denim has stretch, you’ll want to pick a fabric for the stay with the same kind of stretch. I think this rigid lawn against my stretch denim is causing slight pulls across the stomach area.

Ginger jeans

I made up a second pair immediately to fix my minor fitting issues, grading the waist down a size and curving the waistband some more. This pair uses another Cloth House fabric, but it’s a super stretchy twill which I think is better suited to the pattern. It’s got a kind of brushed moleskin finish on the inside so they feel absolutely amazing to wear – like plushy, cosy leggings.

Ginger jeans

Ginger jeans

Also not to toot my own, but I nailed the fit, right? *fist pump emoji* I could get super fussy about the crotch and back wrinkles, but these are as close to perfect as it’ll get I think.

Ginger jeans

In fact these are probably one of the top five things I’ve made – I think they sweep the board of well-made, good fit, and a totally wearable wardrobe classic. And they were super enjoyable to make to boot – I love working with black on black for some reason (though good daylight is a must) and took the effort to make flat-felled seams and pretty topstitching even though it’s barely noticeable. Thank you Heather Lou for enabling my dream jeans!

43 thoughts on “Black and blue Gingers

  1. sallie

    Wow! They both look great – but, yes, that black pair is especially perfect fit-wise! I love all the sweet little embellishments on the denim pair though! Great job!

  2. Becky

    Very nice job on both! And wow, do I LOVE those leopard rivets! I never knew such a thing existed… off to ebay to try to score some of my own. :)

  3. Ingrid

    That’s it, I’m making them in black. Have been looking at all kinds of colours and patterns, but let’s face it – black is classic, and works with everything. Both pairs look great on you! And yes, you def nailed the fit on the second pair :)

    1. Katie Post author

      So true! My old pair of black Burda trousers are one of my most-worn handmades, too. I do fancy a pale denim pair for spring though.

  4. Manju

    The black pair look amazing. So RTW. I’ve just cut and started sewing my first pair of Gingers in very dark blue denim. They don’t actually take that long to sew do they? It’s just the scary notion of jeans sewing that puts you off.

    1. Katie Post author

      Thank you. No they don’t take long, especially when you’ve done it a few times. I had the black ones done in a day!

  5. didyoumakethat

    What’s the sizing like on those Merchant and Mills T-shirts? I can’t decide if I should order a medium or a large and the online size guide isn’t working. Sorry to ask – thanks so much!

  6. MadebyMeg

    love these! I’ve been on a bit of a Gingers kick, too – got two more fabrics in the mail! After fitting the waist similar to how you did, I’m now figuring out those back wrinkles. I actually fixed my front crotch wrinkles by using the front crotch curve from the low-rise version. For some reason it’s longer on the high-waisted one, and left extra fabric for me. Then, today I was making leggings and realized shortening the back curve at the crotch eliminated wrinkling in the back. So maybe I’ll be trying that on my next pair.

    1. Katie Post author

      Interesting – I was meaning to compare the two patterns and see if they differ in that area. Minute tweaks to the curve might do the trick.

  7. Marine

    That black pair is the spitting image of my AG Farrahs! The difference is, I bought mine, and you probably didn’t spend an arm and a leg to make yours! They are my most worn pair of pants though, by far. And to think, I was hesitant to purchase them…. I hope you get just as much use and joy out of them as I have!

    1. Katie Post author

      Yes I think my fabric was about a quarter of the price! They are already my go-to pants, so I hope the fabric holds up well.

  8. Susan

    I learned my lesson with the pocket stay too! My first one was non stretch and it was so effective that I popped off the top button because there was too much pressure there because of the intense pocket stay. I did a slight stretch one and it’s awesome! I love your black ones, I’m inspired to make a pair like that now too!

  9. Lois

    I love the black ones and you have inspired me to make a pair – would you mind posting the link to the fabric on Cloth House? Love the idea of them being nice and soft on the inside! thanks :)

    1. Katie Post author

      Hi Lois, I’m not sure the fabric is on their site I’m afraid – I bought it in store. (If you’re local, it’s on the back wall at no. 47.)

  10. jen

    These are both really great, I’m a bit in awe of your skills! I know I could technically make jeans, it’s the fitting I’m scared of. I actually am pretty sure I have the exact same stretch black fabric from cloth house! Its lush! Quick q for you on the jeans- did you make them with an inch of negative ease like in the pattern? I’m scared of negative ease!

    1. Katie Post author

      Thanks! Yeah, you can trust the negative ease – my measurements spread between 3 sizes of the size chart and the lower/middle end of the range fit me well, especially in the super stretchy black pair. You can always claw a bit back from the seam allowances too!

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