When Sew Me Sunshine launched I instantly became obsessed, instead of actually sewing I found myself browsing the gorgeous fabrics. Although I desperately wanted to sew all of the florals I know I needed a pair of jeans. I have only one pair of me-made jeans so you can imagine my delight when I saw the Dark Indigo - Stretch Denim. I have been on the hunt for this colour denim FOREVER! Every denim has either been too light or too dark and this has a lovely grain to it so it doesn't look flat.
I didn't even think about what pattern, I knew the Ginger Jeans by Closet Core Patterns would be perfect. I have made these once before and the fit was so close to being perfect that I knew I could nail it with this pair. I have a blog post on my blog all about my fitting issues that you can check out here. So let's take a look at the jeans!
I made the high waist skinny leg version with a raised waist which is perfect for this fabric. This fabric is beautiful! For those who don't follow me then you might not know I have EDS which effects my hands a lot and thus I struggle to cut out things like denim and usually call in my mum to help (in exchange for tea of course). BUT I cut this fabric out all by myself! I decided to make a proper pair of jeans with the classic gold contrast top stitching, silver rivets and pocket detailing. I also wanted that tummy tucking panel and so I used the Measure Twice - Cotton (I let Harriet choose the fabric so the credit goes to her) and it compliments the denim beautifully! For the overlocking stitches, I decided to pull out the colours in the cotton for a fun pop of colour.
So I wanted to give you guys some tips on sewing jeans to make your lives easier and to remove the fear of jeans. I promise jeans are as easy as a dress!
- Baste first - on your first pair I highly recommend basting all the pieces together just to get an idea of fit. Once basted together you can make sure it fits before you put in all that effort. Saves a lot of time in the long run!
- Apply the rivets as you go - as long as you aren't sewing anywhere near the rivets there is no reason you can't add them as you go. I added the coin pocket rivet as soon at the pocket went on, the back rivets once the back pockets were on, the side rivets when side seams have been sewn and topstitched and the front waistband rivets once the waistband was finished. It was so much easier adding these rivets as I went along with my Prym Vario pliers.
- Instead of topstitching thread use two strands of regular thread - there are way more colours of "normal" thread available so why not use that? I wound a bobbin of the thread, stacked that on top of the spool of thread and then used the two strands as one.
- Glue the back pockets down - instead of awkward pining use some temporary spray adhesive. It makes sewing the pockets so easy! When you baste your jeans together you can also glue your pockets on to get the most out of your booty. Mark the top of the pocket in chalk so it's easy to re-align later. If you do use temporary spray adhesive you jeans will need a wash or you will have a sticky bum and no one wants that!
- Don't backstitch when topstitching - this is really hard to do and did a few back stitches here and there. Backstitching will bring serious attention to your topstitching and we don't want that! Most of the edges of your topstitching will be sewn into seams but the back pockets, coin pocket, waistband and hems will be left naked. For the back pockets and coin pockets, I knotted them at the back and them hammered a rivet to secure it. I did backstitch the waistband but did this where I put a belt loop to hide it. For the hem, I meant to backstitch inside the leg but totally forgot although it's not a huge eyesore.
So there are my top 5 tips for sewing jeans that I have learnt over the two pairs I made for me and the two I made for my mum. I plan on buying more of this denim to make a pair of jeans for my mum in and she is obsessed with these jeans as much as I am. I am so happy with the fit of these jeans and they are so comfy - which is all down to this AMAZING denim. Have I mentioned that I love this denim yet?
If you want to follow me and keep up-to-date on all my makes be sure to follow my blog zoesews.wordpress.com and I also post a lot to insta @zoesews. I do have a youtube channel but due to the mountain of college work, I'm currently buried under I won't be posting much on youtube!
This has definitely made me want to make ginger jeans!