My Mid-rise Ginger Jeans get worn an almost embarrassing amount. I mean, like almost every day. I, of course, have other clothes, but jeans are just what I like to wear and what I reach for day after day. That said, a gap in my wardrobe has been more pants, specifically a pair of black pants. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not above a Canadian Tuxedo (denim on top and bottom), but I’d been thinking it would be nice to have a better option to wear with my couple of Chambray shirts, like my Polka Dot Chambray Archer Button Up and my Sewaholic Granville Shirt. I just need more pants in general, so I am not wearing the same pair every damn day. I toyed with the idea of making a pair of Closet Core Sasha Trousers, but since I have been primarily working from home, I thought a pair of Closet Core Ginger Jeans would be more the ticket!

Details

Pattern

Closet Core Patterns Mid-rise Ginger Jeans

Fabric & Notions

Size traced and sewn

Size 14 (My current measurements are Bust=39″, Waist=35″, Hips=45″)

View B (skinny legs)

Pattern adjustments

Added 3″ to length (I’m 5′ 10″)

Construction notes

I figured with black topstitching on black fabric that you wouldn’t be able to see the topstitching that much and these would be a breeze to sew up. Turns out, this fabric was a little tough to sew with because it’s so soft and stretchy, almost like a knit. When I tested my topstitching, the bobbin thread was bunching up a lot at the back and I ended up having to switch to a larger denim needle. To get it to look better, I had to go from an 80/12 to a 100/16 denim needle, which seemed counterintuitive, as this fabric is not that thick. If that hadn’t worked I was going to try a stretch needle next.

Unless there was interfacing or multiple layers of fabric, it did not take topstitching well at all. At one point, I tried to skip a step and not interface the back pocket before adding a design and it looked horrible, so I had to pick it all out, apply interfacing and topstitch again. The moral of this story is to always add interfacing if you are going to add a design to the back pocket.

I also put my zipper in backwards the first time and had to sew the fly topstitching three times just to get it to look halfway decent, so that was fun. This was seriously one of those projects where I thought these jeans were just not going to work out.

The great thing about sewing is that (most of the time) you can just unpick a seam—or topstitching in this case—and try again. So that’s what I did.  As usual, in the end everything worked out fine, but these did give me a run for my money.

Final Thoughts

I’m actually super happy about these jeans. That’s another great thing about sewing; I can be about to give up on a project, but I power through and then it becomes one of my favorite items. These are the perfect work from home jeans, since they are hard pants that are soft! I’ve been referring to them as jeggings that are actually real jeans. Whether or not they are going to bag out after a few wears remains to be seen. I’m mostly just excited about all of the new outfit possibilities, since black goes with everything!