Skinny Jeans Adventure

I am not a person who has ever worn “skinny jeans” so I knew that making a pair would be an adventure. I used the “Ginger Mid-rise” skinny jean pattern from Closet Case Patterns. I absolutely love their Morgan boyfriend jean pattern so that’s why I chose this one.

I’m pretty pleased with the results. I can tell you that this style is not a favorite for me, I did end up with a good pair of jeans and I was glad to try the pattern that so many of you have used before. Like the Morgan jean, this pattern is really easy to follow. Because of the close fit, I did find myself making more adjustments (waist) than with the other pattern.

All in all, I would recommend this pattern to others. I made this pair from a stretch cotton twill. I used this as a wearable muslin since this will also help me to reduce some of my fabric stash! Other that the waist curve adjustment, I really didn’t make any changes to the pattern. They do have some great resources for jean making on the Closet Case website.

That’s all for now. Let me know what you’re working on…

Blue camo stretch jeans using Vogue 8774!

I have made so many pairs of these jeans, I’ve lost count. It’s one of those patterns that I have altered to fit me the way I like. This time around though, I used a very stretchy blue camouflage denim. There’s probably close to 25% stretch in the fabric. I had originally bought it to make another pair of the Jalie pull-on jeans (shown here).

The material was a little difficult initially to work with because of the amount of stretch in the fabric. That took a little getting used to. But I do love the results.

This is shown with the Burda Style black turtleneck I made here.

This pattern is really a classic jeans pattern. I use a jean button rather than the hook and eye closure in the instructions. If you want a great jeans pattern or want to try something like this for yourself, I think this is a terrific pattern to use. Maybe in another post, I’ll show you what my pattern pieces look like and how I get really reusable pattern pieces for those TNT patterns!

Sewing jeans…McCalls 6610

I’ve made a couple of pairs of jeans recently, and I have the third pair cut and ready to sew. I used McCall’s 6610 (View A). This was my first time using this particular pattern. I wanted something more of a straight-leg jean this time around, so I went with this. Because I’ve made jeans before, I knew what areas I was going to have to fit the most (waist).

I made a couple of different sizes (16 and 14) each with some grading up or down for fit. These green jeans are basically a size 16. They are so comfortable!

The khaki-colored jeans are the 14 (with some grading up at the waist). These are comfortable as well, but I prefer the green.

The next ones I have cut out (and are waiting to be sewn) are stretch denim. I am working on getting the fit just right for me. Those are a 16 with some slimming at the leg, but not enough to make them skinny jeans. We’ll see how things go. The green are my preferred fit, but I want to make them a bit more jean-like. I did make a muslin for these, by the way before I started. I made one muslin and I just keep adjusting the fit on it. But for me, it’s always a little difficult to tell what something is really going to look like (or fit like) until I actually make it.

Anyway, it’s a creative process and it does take some work to get what you want, right? It’s fun and good practice. It makes me feel like a real designer…and I end up with more clothes. That’s not a bad thing!