Sewing Side Seams & Back Pockets | Ginger Jeans Sewalong

We are getting close to the finish line; today we'll be sewing our side seams. Can you taste the sweet, sweet victory?

In our last post we assembled our back legs and basted the pockets so everything should be ready to be joined together.

Starting at the inseam, pin the front legs to the back legs, right sides together. Make sure your topstitching is matching at the crotch junction, and then match the notches at the knees, pinning to the ankle. I like to start from the ankle and sew to the crotch for each side. If you've dropped the back saddle like I explained in my pants fitting post, you'll need to ease in the back leg to the front between knee and crotch.

Finish the seam using your preferred finish. If you are zigzagging or serging, you will need to secure this seam down. Press the seam allowance to the front, and sew one line of 1/8" topstitching along the entire length of the front legs.

Now sew your side seams, matching your notches. Finish the seam using your preferred finish. If you haven't tested that the waistband fits, baste it on now before topstitching, just to make sure all is well.

Once you're confident that the fit is good, press each side seam towards the back. To keep this seam in place, and to help strengthen your pockets, we need to topstitch one line of thread here like we did for the inseam. Using a marking tool, locate the bottom of the pocket lining and indicate how long you'd like your bar tack to be. You will sew a line of topstitching and then switch to your bar tack to secure the lining in the seam. Use your hump jumper or a piece of cardboard to stitch over the raised yoke seams.

And that's it for today - I was going to go over securing the back pockets but I think it makes more sense to do that once we've sewn the waistband and can properly assess the fit.

If you’d like more help sewing professional looking jeans, consider taking our online video class. The Sew Your Dream Jeans Workshop will give you the tools and techniques to design, sew, and wear your very own custom pair of jeans with confidence.

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