Jeanmaking tips Archives

Tips & Tricks for Sewing Jeans Buttonholes

21 March 2018 by Alexis Leave a Comment

Hey everybody! We are happy to end our "No Fear New Jeans" month with a special post on sewing jeans buttonholes. Your buttonhole is one of the very last details to finish before you can take your Ginger or Morgan jeans out into the real world for a spin, and a surprising number of people feel complete panic at the thought of disfiguring their brand new pair of handmade pants with a potentially less-than-perfect buttonhole. The whole point of our jeans-making months was to encourage everyone to eliminate "fear" from their sewing vocabulary. So say it with us... a buttonhole is NO. BIG. DEAL!

Getting friendly with your sewing machine and its manual will take away a lot of the insecurity when it comes to sewing buttonholes. There are also lots of video tutorials for all makes and models of sewing machines, so do your research before getting started. Practice a few times before you get started to help with any lingering anxiety you might have. Like all things sewing, you get better the more you practice.

GRADING & PREPPING SEAMS

When you are attaching your waistband, be mindful of your eventual button and buttonhole placement when you are grading your seams. Some sewing machine's buttonhole feet have trouble climbing over thick layers of denim, so grading the waistband seam allowance will help keep things flat. We try not to grade anything more than 1/4" along the waistband seam since being too aggressive here can create holes if the denim frays.

Another way to reduce bulk in this area is by hammering down the seams so they will flatten and fit more easily under the buttonhole foot. Yes, we said it... literally pound the heavy seams down with a hammer to flatten them! You'll want to place your jeans waistband face down on a hard surface like a cast-iron pan or a piece of heavy board to protect your table or floor. Hammer from the inside of the jeans to protect the outer fabric from damage. The area that needs the most flattening is where the waistband is sewn to the fly front at center front.

MARKING THE BUTTONHOLE SIZE AND LENGTH

Measure the button you will be installing to determine the required length of the buttonhole. The general rule of thumb is to add 1/8" of length to either end of the opening, but after sewing a few practice buttonholes, you may find you need a longer hole if your fabric is very thick and if the profile of the button is very wide. If you have an automatic buttonhole function, you should be able to set the length of the buttonhole on the foot itself. Again, make sure you do a test run first to ensure the finished buttonhole is long enough.

The buttonhole should begin about a 1/4" from center front, and should be centered horizontally along the left side of the waistband. Mark the position of the buttonhole with a removable marking tool before sewing.

BUTTONHOLE TIPS & TROUBLESHOOTING

Many sewing machines get cranky sewing buttonholes on jeans. It's a complex stitch at an area with a lot of thickness, so there are a few things that may help make the process a little easier.

Try using regular thread for your buttonhole. Even our high-end Bernina can struggle to make buttonholes with topstitching thread. Choosing a contrasting colour makes it feel more intentional, or buy regular polyester thread in the same colour as your topstitching thread if you want it to feel more cohesive. You can also match the colour of your denim if you want something as unobtrusive as possible.
Check your bobbin case; if it has a little arm with a hole in it, thread your bobbin through that. This helps create nice, crisp tension with a buttonhole/bar tack stitch.
Invest in a buttonhole cutter! These sharp little chisels help cut beautiful, sharp incisions in between your button hole stitching. Seam rippers are less accurate and often aren't sharp enough to cut through multiple layers of denim.
Before cutting your buttonhole, thoroughly soak the front and back with a fray check product; this will help prevent fraying down the road.
Even if your waistband isn't fully interfaced, ensure you interface the area where your button and buttonhole will go. Since you are cutting a hole in the fabric and adding a lot of pressure with daily wear, the area must be stabilized.
When practicing your buttonholes, adjust the tension if necessary. You want a nicely balanced stitch, without any of the bobbin threads being pulled to the front.

Sometimes despite all your best effort, you may have a hard time getting a nice buttonhole with your buttonhole foot. They generally have a fixed height and they can get "stuck" on the thick seams you'll encounter at the waistband edge. If this is the case for you, keep reading! We have explained a few different methods to help make buttonholes without a buttonhole foot below.

SEWING A CORDED MACHINE BUTTONHOLE

One really fun feature of our Bernina's 3A Buttonhole foot is the possibility of adding cording to the buttonhole to add stability and to enhance its profile. A hidden "filler" thread is sewn under the beads of the buttonhole. The Bernina 3A foot has pins specifically intended to keep this cording in place while stitching. If you don't have a Bernina, check your machine's manual. It may have a similar function!

We used a scrap of topstitching thread for our cording. Choose a colour of thread that will match the regular all-purpose thread you're using for teh buttonhole itself. Hook the cording over the back pin of the buttonhole foot, and wind the ends around the two front pins. The cording should be taut and stay in place on its own.

Once the cording is hooked through the pins of the buttonhole foot, carefully position your waistband in place. Drop the foot down with the needle and corded centered over the position of the marking you made. When sewing a corded buttonhole, start the buttonhole at the position where the button will be sewn- you want the loop of the cord sewn to this position.

Once the buttonhole is sewn, remove your work from the machine. You can trim the regular polyester thread tail ends. Gently pull on the ends of the cording to pull them to the inner side of the buttonhole.

Thread the ends of the cording to the back of the buttonhole using a sharp wide-eyed needle.

Tie off the cording ends and thread them through the waistband to conceal.

The cording adds a nice raised profile as well as some added strength to your buttonhole.

SEWING A MANUAL BUTTONHOLE WITH A ZIG ZAG STITCH

If you have an older machine that doesn't come with a buttonhole foot, or if your buttonhole foot just won't cooperate with a thick waistband, you can sew one manually using your machine's zig zag stitch by changing the width of the stitch for the bartacks and beads of the buttonhole. This method does take some practice, but one of the advantages is being able to customize the width of the buttonhole to accommodate a wider button.

The settings will vary depending on your particular machine, but here is an outline of the settings that we used with our sewing machine:

Step 1: Sew the beginning bartack using a wide zig zag stitch, stitching 5-6 times over the same place (width 5 mm, length 0 mm).

Step 2: Switch to a narrower stitch (width 2 mm, length 0.5 mm), raise the needle and presser foot, and gently shift your work so the needle will drop down precisely at the left edge of the bartack. Sew this short, narrow zig zag stitch the length of your marked buttonhole to form the left bead.

Step 3: Switch back to the same settings you used for the first bartack (width 5 mm, length 0 mm). Shift your work again so the needle will drop down at the left edge of the first bead you sewed. Stitch 5-6 times over the same place to form the buttonhole's end bartack.

Step 4: Change you setting back to the bead zig zag settings (width 2 mm, length 0.5 mm) and drop your needle down precisely at the right edge of the end bartack. While pressing the "reverse" button, sew the right bead by stitching backwards the whole way until you reach the first bartack.

Sew a few practice zig zag buttonholes so you get the hang of knowing what position the needle will be in when finishing each step. Thsi way you can shift the work and reposition the needle for the next bead or bartack without pulling too much.

SEWING A JEANS BUTTONHOLE BY HAND

If you have wrestled with your machine and it refuses to make an automatic buttonhole, a hand-sewn buttonhole is an option. This is also a great way to repair a buttonhole that has frayed from wear and tear or one that was damaged by accident when it was cut open.

Start by marking the position of your buttonhole in the usual place. Using a matching thread and a short stitch on your sewing machine, sew two lines along either side of the buttonhole where the beads will be sewn, backstitching at the beginning and end to secure. (We used a red thread for this step so you will be able to see it in the photo).

Use fray check on the area and carefully open the buttonhole with either a buttonhole cutter or a pair of sharp scissors. Denim frays easily, so using a matching lightweight thread, carefully sew an overcast stitch (or whipstitch) around the edges of this opening to prevent excessive fraying and to maintain the size of the opening. (Again, we have used a red thread instead of a matching thread so it is visible in the photo).

You can easily experiment with making a keyhole buttonhole with this method. A professional tailor would punch a hole with a special tool, and then cut the opening with small sharp scissors. You can also adjust the width of the buttonhole, which is practical when you'll be installing a thicker jeans button. The general rule of thumb is making the opening as wide as the profile of the button you'll be using.

The stitch used to sew the actual buttonhole is called a blanket stitch. Thread a very sharp needle with topstitching thread and tie a knot at the end of the line of thread. You want to cut a piece of thread long enough to sew around the buttonhole, but not too long that it will tangle as you work. On the right side of the waistband, feed the needle through the bottom inner corner of the opening. Bring the needle back up along the bottom edge of the buttonhole, with the knotted tail of the thread placed on the inside of the stitch. Before pulling the needle through the fabric, loop the thread around the tip of the needle, as pictured below.

When you pull the needle through the fabric, you'll find that winding the thread around the tip of the needle will create a little bump or "purl".

Repeat the blanket stitch around the opening to create the buttonhole. You want to space your stitches as evenly as possible, making sure they are all the same length and width apart. Hand-sewn buttonholes are traditionally corded, using a special thread called "gimp". This provides extra stability and added profile to the finished buttonhole.

When you reach the loop of the buttonhole, continue sewing while carefully angling each stitch around the corner.

When you are finished sewing around the buttonhole, sew a wide bartack at the end of the opening to secure.

Stitch through the bartack a few times and pull your needle through to the back of the waistband to tie off and secure your thread. Our buttonhole was quite thick because the topstitching thread; using regular polyester thread would result in a thinner profile.

And that's it! Hopefully you'll find this post helpful the next time you're ready to finish your jeans. Any other tips or tricks you find helpful when sewing jeans buttonholes?

Repairing Jeans with Invisible Mending

27 February 2018 by Amy Leave a Comment

It's such a bummer when your favourite jeans finally succumb to the fate of all pants and rip through the seat. Or the pocket. Or worst of all, the crotch! That bummer becomes a full-on tragedy when they are your favourite pair of handmade jeans. The horror! The hours of work! The perfect fit! Fear not, fearless jeans sewists. We got you. After our inspiring interview with master denim repair master Indigo Proof, we have a tutorial for you today that walks you through how to repair jeans with (nearly) invisible mending. Hopefully by the time you're done, you can get some extra life out of those babies (if you prefer more organic repair, check out our post on visible mending with patches and sashiko!)

The example we are using is one of Heather's first pairs of Ginger Jeans, so you can imagine these have seen quite a few years of wear. And in this case, in two spots, right at the inner thigh.

You will need:

Darning or embroidery foot
High-quality cotton interfacing
An array of thread colours to match your denim (2 to 3 is ideal). Cotton-wrapped polyester is suggested (like this), but polyester will also do. 100% cotton is not strong enough.

SUPPLIES NEEDED

If you have a darning or embroidery foot (similar to the one used for free motion quilting) now is the time to get it out! Using a darning foot makes it easier to see what you're doing, but in a pinch, you can try using a straight stitch foot as well. You will need to be able to disengage the feed dogs on your machine (call off the dogs!) so that you can move your mending both back and forth under the needle. The interfacing helps stabilize and reinforce the weakened area, and the multiple thread colours will let you match the original colour of the denim along with any fading. Generally speaking, warmer versions of the colour will be more difficult for the eye to see. These charcoal-grey jeans were actually more of a mushroom colour at the tear so make sure you check things out in good strong natural light to ensure you're getting a good match.

UNDERSTANDING DENIM

Denim has two directions: a vertical thread (warp) and a diagonal thread (weft). Since you are usually mending a horizontal tear you want to first work in the warp threads and then weave in some diagonal threads to finish. If this is a new concept for you, hold your repair up to the light so you can see which threads are missing and this will help you wrap your head around the task at hand. It also will inform how big you want to make your interfacing patch as you want to extend your mending at least as far as the thinning of the fabric. Otherwise you will be chasing your tear sooner rather than later.

APPLYING INTERFACING

Now it's time to cut your interfacing. As I said before, you want to make sure the piece is big enough that you can extend your stitching out past the hole.

Iron it on using a high-heat iron and no steam. Press for at least 20 seconds. I used a tailor's ham for the seat mend since it had some curve to it.

RESTITCH THE WARP THREADS

Load your bobbin with a mid-range colour and the top with the "middle" colour of your denim; from here on out you really only need to change your top thread. Take a little time to try some stitching on a scrap piece and get yourself acquainted with the free-form back-and-forth stitching. Stitch up and down (the warp) from left to right using the grainline as your guide. You want to avoid moving too much diagonally at this stage. Imagine you are replacing the missing/broken threads and make sure you extend well above and below your hole to blend things as much as possible.

If there are any "runs" in your repair area (the white lines) you can stitch along these essentially replacing the missing thread which goes a long way to making the mending even more invisible.

Every now and then take your work to a window and see how things are going. If you're repairing stretch denim, you'll notice the stitching can distort the fabric since you are essentially making stretch denim into non-stretch with your stitching. It is really easy to get carried away and this method requires a less is more approach. It is also REALLY annoying to pick this work out (if not impossible) so it's better to stop and see if you need more than regret it after.

RESTITCH THE WEFT THREADS

Once you're satisfied with your first layer you can choose a darker or lighter shade to work in the diagonal. Lay a strand or two over the work to get a sense of the effect.

A note for tears on or near a seam: try overlapping your stitching onto the seam without touching the topstitching. If there is wear along the seam, you may end up creating a new hole once you're done. If the tear is very bad, open up the seam, darn the area and then re-sew the seam and replace the topstitching. In this case, I just ran right up to the top stitching; hopefully that will go a long way to reinforcing the seam.

After I worked in the slightly darker colour on the diagonal I gave this a good press with some steam which helps to integrate the threads and also snap back the stretch denim that had started to pucker. Do this periodically while you're working (especially with stretch) to get an idea of how things will settle.

While not totally invisible (we can't all be sorcerers like @indigoproof) I would say this is fairly unnoticeable, and I can already see how I would get better at it with practice. Luckily there are always more holes to mend and more opportunities to play around with patching them up! Have fun trying your hand at this and make sure to tag us with your magical fixes so we can see what you wizards manage to conjure. Abracadabra, and happy mending!

Master Denim Repair & Jeans Restoration with Indigo Proof

21 February 2018 by Heather Lou Leave a Comment

Is anything worse than a non-intentional hole in your favourite pair of jeans? Having the crotch essentially explode (especially when those jeans are me-made) is always a heartbreaker. It's for this reason that I fell in love with Rain of Indigo Proof. Based in Portland, Rain is a denim conservationist in the finest sense of the word. Her business gives jeans a second life; she isn't just repairing, but actually restoring and making the clothing her clients send her stronger and better than ever. She's known for her practically seamless thread matching; she essentially re-weaves the damaged fabric with a darning machine, and does it with such skill the repair becomes almost invisible. Her Instagram account is a catalog of true magic; the before and afters blow my mind every.single.time.

Making a pair of jeans is a big time and labor commitment, so we want to help you get as much life out of your me-mades as possible. Today we're interviewing Rain about her process and business; whether you hire her for your next jeans repair, or just take some inspiration from her truly astonishing work, I hope you enjoy what she has to say about the art of denim restoration.

How did you get started with denim repair?

I studied Fashion Design at MassArt in Boston, and right after graduation I moved out to San Francisco in search of my next step. I loved design, but I always felt the traditional trajectory of getting a fashion degree to go work for some huge company doing flats on a computer never fit me - I wanted to get my hands dirty and sew for a living. While doing contract sewing work around the bay area I got the opportunity to "try out" on a darning machine at the men's denim store Self Edge, and ended up spending 3ish years repairing hundreds of jeans and experimenting with new and better ways over the course of time. The longer I did it, the more ways I would try to achieve better results. I'd get back jeans I had worked on the previous year, and I could see where the repair failed, how the repairs I did lasted, and I’d try more ideas for how to do it better. Two years ago I started Indigo Proof, to be able to further push the limits of what a high-quality repair can be and to accept repairs from all over the world via mail-order. Now I’m growing my business so I can handle the increasing demand and share a little bit of what I’ve learned over the years with an apprentice; it’s a new phase and I’m excited for the future!

What do you love about what you do?

There are so many things I love about repairing denim. I have become so obsessed with denim as a textile, and being able to see the denim innovation from brands like Naked and Famous and Pure Blue Japan firsthand really makes me geek out. Then the fades! I always say I have the best collection of worn and faded denim that I’ve never worn! Most jeans I repair start raw, so the way the jeans have faded is completely personal to the one wearing them, no two fades are the same for two different people - even on the same brand and model worn and washed the exact same number of times. What's really cool is seeing multiple pairs from the same person; the unique fade patterns are the same across different fabrics and fits. I also love connecting with my customers and learning the stories of why they choose repair, and what is so meaningful to them about that one pair of jeans. A lot of my customers keep a “denim diary” written on the jean itself on a pocket bag, which could be a wear count tally, major life events that happened while wearing them, dates of washes and repairs, or even personal notes to themselves. Getting to be a part of the lifespan of those jeans and knowing they can continue it after repair makes doing this worth it.

What are your favorite jeans and denims to work with?

Like I mentioned earlier, probably one of the coolest things about my job is how much unique denim I get to work on, and I get to stay up to date with what's new in the denim scene. I love heavyweight denim; Iron Heart’s flagship 21 oz denim uses such thick warp and weft threads that the darning I do sinks into the weave really beautifully and it makes the repair super seamless. I get to see a lot of crazy irregular weave, colored weft and slubby selvedge denim - and sometimes the faded colors are so beautiful I have to take a minute to just admire them. I also really appreciate the understated vintagey fades of a worn pair of shrink-to-fit 501’s; it's a classic look for a reason. I’m also not a snob though! I work on all kinds of denim, from pre-distressed to stretch to rigid 25 oz denim, and love it all!

What is your basic process of mending a pair of jeans? Do you use patches or interfacing? Special thread?

I use a cotton wrapped poly thread; it has the softness of 100% cotton but doesn't break like cotton thread does. I typically work on jeans that are mostly 100% cotton, but I use a poly-core thread for durability. Why repair something with a thread that’s going to deteriorate? I've tried repairing with a lot of different backings when I was starting out, but I've found using a quality cotton interfacing makes a huge difference in how the repairs apply to the fabric, and really makes them last. I remember when I was learning how to tailor a wool coat back in school, my professor asked us to hand her some interfacing (it was that gray non-woven synthetic fusible stuff) and she ripped the entire thing in half and as it became dust in the air and floated to the ground in ragged pieces said, “Do you really want to make your clothes with this??” Everything matters in construction, even the parts no one sees on the outside.

Our readers spend hours making their own jeans and want to make them last as long as possible. Do you have any tips to make jeans more durable during the construction process?

I think about this all the time when I'm repairing; I probably know all the secrets to making your jeans last longer! I can't stress this enough but if you use your front pockets a lot, and especially if you're making men’s jeans, you have got to stop using that lightweight poplin and switch to a medium-heavyweight twill fabric. Thin pockets are such a pet peeve of mine in production, it just seems like such an easy thing to do right in the first place. I'd also recommend seaming your jeans using a 5-thread serger because it's so much easier to open it up and repair than a flat-felled seam. Also make sure you interface the fly button area, and spend a few extra bucks to get a nicer zipper, or try doing a button fly. If you’re making lower rise jeans, try sewing your belt loops so the spot where they are bartacked or secured on the bottom are over the yoke seam or are reinforced underneath - one layer of fabric is too thin for the stress of belt loops being pulled up a million times.

If you don't mind sharing, what type of machine do you use for mending? Do you have any suggestions for someone who would like to mend their jeans using a home sewing machine?

I use an industrial Singer darning machine called the 47w70, a machine that was produced in the early 1900’s. It is no longer manufactured, and although there are other “darning” machines, this one is the heavy hitter in the denim world; you’ve probably seen lusty pictures of it on the internet. However, what most people don't realize how similar it is to a typical straight-stitch machine, with just a few key elements missing like feed dogs, a fixed foot, and set stitch length. You can emulate a darning effect on a home sewing machine using a darning or embroidery foot and dropping the feed dogs. Try approaching repair with a mind to how you constructed the garment, and think about long-term wear reinforcement, not just fixing holes. Catch damage early before it grows catastrophic; it’s much easier to repair a thinning spot than an enormous gash on the seat, and the repair will lay more naturally.

I hope you're feeling as inspired as I am to tackle that pile of jeans mending! If you'd like to hear more from Rain, I recommend checking out her website FAQ; there is some great info in there!

To help you on your way we'll be back with a few tutorials on visible and invisible mending over the coming week.

How to Sew a Jeans Waistband | Alternative Method

19 February 2018 by Alexis Leave a Comment

Hey guys, Alexis here! It goes without saying that here at the studio we sew a lot of jeans. Between samples for photoshoots, the many half-finished demonstrations for Heather's teaching, and the excitement of making a few me-made pairs to test out this year's batch of Cone Mills denim kits, our hands and the pristine "IKEA white" surfaces of our brand new office space are quite often stained indigo blue. While we never grow tired of sewing up Gingers or Morgans around here, it's easy to get stuck in a "set" way of doing things. One of the best things about sewing is constantly learning new and fun techniques, so we're excited to show you an alternative way to sew a jeans waistband. This method helps reduce the bulk of the seam allowances around the corners where the waistband is attached to the fly front and makes a really clean finish both on the inside and the outside. Whether you are a veteran jean-maker and can sew a waistband with your eyes closed using our original method, or if you are just getting your jeans-feet wet, we are excited to share this different way of sewing a jeans waistband with you.

After sewing your inseam and side seams, stay-stitch around the waist of the jeans at 1/2" seam allowance. This will help prevent the waist of the jeans from stretching out when you install the waistband.

Sew a line of stay-stitching at a scant 5/8" seam allowance along the top edge of both waistband pieces. (One of our waistband pieces is interfaced. This is optional, depending on if you want a stable, non-stretch waistband).

Press the top edge of each waistband piece in along the stay-stitching line you just sewed.

With right sides together, pin the unfolded edge of the outer waistband along the waist of the jeans, matching the notches along center back and at the side seams. (If you have interfaced one of your waistband pieces, this will be your outer waistband.) Sew the waistband to the jeans at a scant 5/8" seam allowance.

Now pin the unfolded edge of the inner waistband to the inside of waist of the jeans, matching notches. The right side of the inner waistband will be touching the wrong side of the jeans, and the jeans will be sandwiched in between the two layers of waistband.

Using your original stitch line as a guide, sew through all layers at 5/8" seam allowance. Go slowly and carefully when you are sewing over the zipper teeth to avoid breaking your needle.

When you have sewn both waistbands to the jeans, flip them up to double check that the waistband is sewn evenly on both sides of center front.

If your zipper tape extends past the waistband seam allowance, trim it down and remove any excess zipper teeth by pulling them out with pliers.

Trim down the excess waistband so that only a 5/8" seam allowance extends past each side of center front.

Unfold the top edges of the waistbands and pin them together along either side of center front. We will sew the short ends of the waistband closed with a 5/8" seam allowance. You may draw in your stitch line with chalk if you wish to have a guide.

Start sewing along the edge of the waistband, keep your needle down to turn the corner, and continue sewing along the chalk line you drew in as a guide. Ensure the fly is kept out of the way of your stitch line, and that you are only sewing through the two layers of waistband.

The short ends of the waistband should now be sewn together, with the seam as close to the fly as possible without catching it.

Trim the corners of the waistband down so that you will have a nice crisp corner when you turn the waistband right side out. Now is the time to grade the waistband seam as well. The outer waistband should be left as is, the jean seam allowance should be trimmed down to about 3/8", and the inner waistband seam allowance should be graded to 1/4".

Turn the waistband right side out, using a point-turner if necessary to sharpen the corner. Press the waistband up and away from the pants.

You should have a beautifully finished 90 degree corner on either side of the waistband. If one side of the waistband extends further from the fly front than you would like, now is the time to readjust before the top edge of the waistband is closed and finished.

To close the top edge of the waistband, fold the raw edges in along the line you pressed earlier. It can be tricky to fold these edges in at either corner along center front. If you open the waistband and flatten the seam allowances, this will help things lie flat.

Give the entire waistband a final press. The final step will be to topstitch all around the waistband to secure it and to close the top seam.

You can pin the top seam of the waistband closed with pins or with Wonder Clips, or you can fuse some Wonder Tape or Steam-a-Seam tape to make sure it doesn't shift while top-stitching.

Ready for the final step! If your denim is very thick, you may still need to hammer down your seams a little bit so your machine can handle the multiple layers.

Topstitch around the entire waistband 1/8" from the edge. We like to start our topstitching at center back, so the beginning and end of our stitch line will be concealed by our back belt loop.

Go very slowly as you approach a corner, and keep your needle down while you lift your presser foot to carefully reposition your work. When you are reaching a corner and are concerned about turning your work at the correct 1/8" distance, you can "cheat" a little by shortening your stitch length. Just remember to correct the stitch length after you have turned the corner so your topstitching is evenly spaced along all edges.

If you make a mistake or if your needle breaks, remove your work leaving a long thread tail, and thread the ends of your stitching through to the back. When you are ready to start sewing again, carefully drop your needle down exactly where you stopped sewing, and weave the beginning thread to the back. This will avoid ripping out rows of perfectly nice topstitching and wasting your valuable sewing time!

There you have it! A beautiful alternative waistband finish for your me-made jeans. Carry on with making your buttonhole and installing your hardware and you are just a hem away from a new pair of jeans.

Here is a close-up shot of the guts of one of our beloved Morgan samples to compare the inside finish of our original waistband method and this alternative one. Even with careful pressing and sewing, the inner seam allowance peeks out a little. This alternative method reduced some of that bulk and made it easier to topstitch around the waistband easier. Hooray! I have an unfinished pair of Sasha Trousers in my UFO pile at the moment and I look forward to trying this technique again!

Have you tried this method before? Do you have a preference for one over the other?

Ginger Jean Inspiration

13 February 2018 by Heather Lou Leave a Comment

I was flabbergasted to realize this week that our hashtag #gingerjeans has almost 9000 hits on Instagram! It is an absolute treasure trove if you're looking for inspiration for your own pair, so I thought I would share some of my favorite Ginger Jeans from the last few months. Jeans might be considered "basic" but the way you guys make them your own never ceases to astonish me.

PARTY JEANS

Indigo is probably the go-to choice for most pairs, but I love seeing fun prints and colours used to make the ultimate party jeans.

BACK POCKET MAGIC

I have seen some truly inspired back pocket designs this month; I am 100% copying the Wonder Woman design on my next pair, and I like seeing what those of you with a yen for embroidery are getting up to.

GREAT FIT

Some of these ladies nailed it on the first try, others had to put a bit of time into getting the fit they wanted, but all of them look absolutely fantastic.

PERSONALIZATION

There are so many sneaky ways to make jeans your own. Adding embossed patches, choosing fun linings, embroidering yourself secret messages... and sewing on pearls! The list never ends.

PATTERN HACKING

Your jeans don't need to be just... jeans. Love these hacks for Ginger shorts, a Ginger skirt, and a moto-inspired pair.

GINGER FLARES

I've been seeing more and more of our Ginger Flares cropping up - so chic!

How to Choose Your Size When Making Jeans

8 February 2018 by Heather Lou 14 Comments

Hands down one of the biggest questions we get day in and day out is what size people should choose when they're making jeans for the first time. Since it feels like an important project, people really want to get it right. In this post I'm hoping I can help explain choosing your size with a little more clarity for our jeans patterns.

SIZE CHART VS. FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

With all our patterns, we provide a size chart and a finished measurement chart. The finished measurement chart generally shows waist, hip, rise and inseam measurements for the final jeans. It will give you an indication of the ease of your jeans, and should provide a basic reference if you'd like to compare against other pairs in your wardrobe. Our Ginger Jeans have negative ease since they're designed for stretch denim; this means they should fit a little bit smaller than your body measurements, in particular, the thighs and hips. You can expect the hip to be about 1" smaller than your actual hip size; this ensures they fit snugly as they are meant to. However, the waistband has zero ease. This means it sits exactly close to your body; negative ease here would be uncomfortable, and extra ease would mean your jeans don't stay on. In the case of our Morgan Boyfriend Jeans, the hips have positive ease of about 1" through the hip, although they have zero ease through the waistband for the same reason as Ginger; they wouldn't stay put on your body if they were looser, and 100% cotton denim relaxes naturally over the course of the day should you need a little extra room.

Where people seem to get tripped up is the finished measurement of the waist of Ginger and Morgan, because it is larger than the waist size in our size chart. This is because in both the low, mid and high rises, the waistband sits anywhere from one to five inches below your natural waist, or the smallest part of your waist. If it's sitting a few inches below your natural waist, naturally it will be wider since your body here is wider. This number is really just provided for reference so don't let it confuse you. In all cases, choose a size based on your actual waist measurement from our size chart. If the waist needs to be modified at all, you can resolve that during the preliminary fitting.

USING EXISTING JEANS TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT SIZE

If you have a well loved pair of jeans that fit you well, you may want to use them as a reference to determine the sort of fit you would like in your me-made jeans. However, if you are using stretch jeans as a reference you really need to pay attention o the fiber content. If there is more lycra in your jeans than what we suggest for the pattern (ie. a super stretchy jegging with 4-6% lycra) the rtw jeans will likely be smaller. You can measure directly on the pattern by lining up your jeans on the pattern pieces. This way you can be sure you're taking measurements from the same area and therefore getting similar numbers to compare.

In the instructions for our Morgan Jeans, we provide finished calf and thigh measurements in addition to waist and hip. Since these jeans are meant to have a little ease through the legs, we included that if people decided they wanted a looser fit than the pattern was drafted for, and could, therefore, grade through the legs accordingly. For Ginger, I intentionally left those out since I think it can be confusing due to the negative ease in the pattern. Sometimes more information is not actually helpful. My general advice is to choose a size based on hip and waist, grade if necessary between sizes for those two measurements, and then deal with the legs during fitting. It's super easy to let out or take in the legs as needed to get the fit you want during the basting phase. This ensures you get the fit that works for you, rather than basing it on a size chart. However, for those of you fit nerds who really like to analyze all this stuff, I am providing the thigh and calf measurements below. If this is confusing or not appealing to you, please don't bother comparing to existing jeans; just make your suggested size and fit accordingly.

ADDITIONAL FINISHED GARMENT MEASUREMENTS FOR GINGER JEANS

Please remember that Ginger is drafted with negative ease; don't be surprised if some of these measurements are smaller than your physical measurements. Again, if the size chart above is tripping you up, just ignore it and choose a size based on waist and hip.

GRADING BETWEEN SIZES

It seems like grading between sizes is a little intimidating for a lot of you. I highly recommend taking the time to do this if your hip and waist fall under different sizes (which let's be honest, maybe most of you!) This ensures a better fit out of the package and will save you from making too many drastic changes when you're fitting. Remember any changes you make while fitting have to be transferred back to your pattern pieces at some point, so save yourself that step and just do it now.

Pieces affected by grading are front leg, front facing, pockets, back leg and yoke. To grade the front, line up the pocket facing with the front of your leg along the larger size you're grading between. Now that you have filled in the top of the waist curve, you can draw a line connecting your sizes. In the below example, I am grading from a size 10 at the waist to a size 14 at the hip. Everything to the left of that red line on the side seam will be cut off. Make sure you transfer that line along the length of the facing too. I am not showing the pocket pieces here, but just note that whatever you remove from the side seam needs to be adjusted on those pieces as well so everything lines up. Along center front, you can trace down along the size 10 line, and then out to the size 14 at the inseam. This isn't a precise science so don't stress too much about this area; remember you will be basting later so if you need to let out or take in a little bit you can do that then.

Please note that by lining everything up along the larger size at the waist, you are not grading the rise/height as well (because patterns are graded vertically as well as horizontally). In this case the difference is only about 1/2" in rise and honestly I just don't think it's worth the trouble since you'll have to grade out the height in the back as well. If you do want to lower the rise, align your facing along the smallest size at the waist and grade from there.

For the back, it's a little harder to line up the yoke and leg since the yoke is curved. What I find easier to do is to do some of the grading on the yoke and some on the leg. If I'm grading between a 10 and 14, on the yoke I will grade from a 10 at the top to 12 at the bottom. Then on the back leg, I will grade from the 12 to 14 at the hip. This is the easy cheater's way to do this; you can also trace out all your pieces, draw in your seam allowances and overlap the pieces along the side and then back crotch seam to draw a nice smooth, even curve, but it takes a little longer.

And that's it! It really takes just a few minutes. If you're only within 2 sizes, it's probably okay to just make a straight size. For example, if you're a size 6 waist and a size 8 hip, if you make a size 8 you can just take in the waist as needed during basting. Just remember to mark your changes to your pattern pieces so you don't have to do this again next time around.

I hope this clarifies picking a size! Let me know if anything is unclear or if you have any questions I didn't cover here.

Free Downloadable! 33 Back Pocket Designs!

23 November 2016 by Heather Lou 25 Comments

Happy Hump Day everyone! Today I'm excited to finally share this nifty free downloadable we've been working for the last few months. Over the years I've done a lot of hunting, researching and people/butt watching, trying to find interesting designs for the back pockets of my Morgan and Ginger Jeans. I thought I'd gather all those ideas up into one package for you; next time you're making a pair of jeans you can just print out one of our templates and use it to topstitch some fun back pockets! This PDF includes 33 back pocket design templates, along with instructions for transferring the design to your denim. Download them in our Sewing Resource Library below! You'll need to sign up for our newsletter to get the password, but you can access all our free patterns, fitting guides and downloadables there.

How to Access Files

To download this free PDF pattern or resource, you will need members-only access to our Sewing Resource Library. To get access, subscribe to our newsletter using the "Sign me up" button below. We will then send you a welcome message with the password and you can download your free goodie!

Sign me up! I AM ALREADY SIGNED UP BUT FORGOT THE PASSWORD Access the Resource Library

How to Install Jeans Hardware at Home! (A video!)

19 May 2016 by Heather Lou 5 Comments

Hey guys! We've been experimenting with some video stuff around the studio. For some things you really can't beat a moving image to quickly and easily explain tricky steps.

Now that we're carrying a line of jeans patterns and our new jean hardware kits, I thought it would be fun to shoot a video explaining how to install jeans hardware at home. This is one of the things about jeans making that can be a little intimidating (hammers! metal things!) but it's actually my favourite part... It's the moment where the things you've been labouring over turn into professional looking jeans. If you're nervous about installing hardware, this video will hopefully demystify the process for you. Enjoy!

Jeans Fitting Adjustments for Your Best Fitting Jeans!

3 May 2016 by Heather Lou 75 Comments

Want to make a great fitting pair of jeans? You absolutely can, and this post on jeans fitting adjustments will help you get there, whether you're making our Ginger Skinny Jeans, Morgan Jeans, or any jeans pattern on the market. Below I walk you through the most common fit adjustments, what they look like, and how to fix it. Pants fitting is always a bit of trial and error, but hopefully this post will help! If you need more help with fit or construction, check out our jean-making online sewing class. We cover everything in. much greater depth and can give you more one on one fitting help if you need it. Looking for denim? We've got the best stuff at Core Fabrics.

We've also made all of this information available in a PDF ebook you can download and save for later. To access it, you'll need to sign up for our newsletter below; we'll send you the password to our members-only Sewing Resource Library where you can download all our free patterns, fit guides and downloadable sewing resources. Already a subscriber? Check the yellow footer of the last email we sent you and you can find the password there!

How to Access Files

Sign me up! I AM ALREADY SIGNED UP BUT FORGOT THE PASSWORD Access the Resource Library

GENERAL ADVICE FOR JEANS FITTING

Oh jeans. Does anything strike more terror into the heart of a sewist than these two tubes of fabric? Sometimes I'm not sure if people are talking about jean fitting adjustments or the apocalypse, for all the fear and anxiety tied up in it. We all want our best-fitting jeans, but here's the thing...

Chill out. While I think it's commendable that a lot of people strive for fit greatness, I think far too many of us get so caught up by drag lines that we can't see the forest for the trees (or the jeans for our knees!) Nobody else is paying that much attention to the back of your thighs and you're still looking better than you do in RTW, so just take a big, deep, cleansing breath and be okay with it not being 100% perfect. If you need a reminder of why perfection and fear will ruin your sewing, read this post and stop talking yourself out of trying new things or enjoying the things that you make.

Here are my recommended suggestions and order of operations for testing jeans fit:

Make a muslin! Try to use a similar fabric to your final jeans for the most accurate results (ie. if you're making stretch jeans, use a stretch woven with similar stretch). At the bare minimum, quickly baste your pieces together before doing any final construction or topstitching so you can catch problems early. Always baste your waistband on to avoid stretching the waist seam.
In a well-lit room, take pictures of the front, back, and side with your butt at eye/camera level. I find looking at pictures helps you be more objective and spot things you might not notice in real life.
Start with the front. Is the crotch laying smooth against the body? Do you see any frown or smile drag lines radiating from the crotch? Any camel toe? Is the fit good through waist and hip or are you feeling/seeing some tension lines? What about the leg - is the fit through the leg good? Too tight? Any weird lines around the knees?
On to the back. Is the waistband gaping? Is it the yoke or just the waist? How is the bum - too tight, too loose? What kinds of lines do you have under your bum? Again, how do the legs feel - too tight, too loose? Any lines around the knees? Do you feel enough room in the calf or is it riding up?
Note or draw any drag lines you see, or any general feelings about fit (ie. legs too loose, waistband gaping etc). Try to make adjustments while you're wearing them, or take note of what you'd like to change, take them off and pin or baste adjustments as needed. With your muslin you can try shaping the legs, take in waist or hips and remove wedges from a gaping back. If you have enough of a seam allowance, you can also let out seams where needed. This is a step-by-step process so take your time. I suggest starting with front/crotch adjustments before tackling the back. Adjustments to the legs should come only after you've dealt with the waist/hip/crotch area first.
Many adjustments don't require cutting a new muslin or pattern pieces, but the following do: full calf, knock knees, bow legs, lengthen butt/crotch, add width to thigh, full tummy, gaping yoke or waistband.
Copy any adjustments over to your pattern pieces. Use a measuring tape or ruler as a guide when transferring.

You can repeat the muslin process as much as you need to, but I generally move on to the final pair after no more than two rounds of adjustments, otherwise you can easily lose steam. It's important to actually wear jeans as well, and see what changes you need after actually living in them. Maybe that drag line you noticed the first time won't bug you once you're actually wearing them.

My biggest piece of advice is to ALWAYS baste your side seams and test the fit before sewing them for real, each and every time. Denim varies SO much that I often find I need to let out or take in jeans with each make. For non-stretch jeans, it's important to actually wear your first pair for a full day before you come to any conclusions. Denim can relax a great deal and things you notice when you first try them on might become non-issues once you've stretched out your seams a bit. This is especially true with that back seat curve! I find it a smidge tight on my prodigious booty whenever I make a new pair, but its generally feels perfect after it loosens up after a few hours.

WHAT IS GOOD FIT?

Good fit is different for everyone. For some, it might be a totally smooth, drag-line free pair of jeans (as nearly impossible as this is to achieve!) For others, it might simply be a pair that fits their waist/hip ratio, or has enough room for their tummy. Personally, good jeans fit for me is a balance of comfort, appearance and function. They should not dig in or feel uncomfortable. They should have a minimum of drag lines in the front crotch and bum area. They should be easy to sit and bend over in. Anything over and above that is just a bonus. For those of you who like visuals, here is an example of a pair of Ginger Jeans on me that I think has nearly perfect fit:

The front crotch is quite smooth - there is a slight drag line on one side but nothing to lose any sleep over (probably the result of slight body asymmetry). In the back, the waistband sits close to the body with no gaping. The butt fit is great. There are some horizontal lines under the bum but in a skinny jean like this, you need them for sitting ease (or else you can't bend over!) The legs fit well with enough room in the calf.

What about fit that needs a bit of work? Let's look at an example:

For these Ginger Jeans, the overall fit isn't bad although we do need to make a few tweaks. There is a little bubble at the front crotch and it's not immediately clear to me if the front inseam needs to be taken in a smidge (around 1/4") or if we need a round pubis/camel toe adjustment. I would start with the inseam and if the problem persists, try scooping out the crotch curve for a camel toe adjustment. It's also possible we need to add a small wedge to the center front seam for a full tummy adjustment. I am seeing some lines around the knee, and in the back the issue becomes more apparent. Our model has slight knock knees, which makes the inner seam of her leg longer than the outer seam, which is why you're seeing that bunching along outer back knee. The butt fit is pretty good, but I've tried pinning out a wedge on the left side to see if she needs a small seat adjustment - you can see that doing that has helped reduce the diagonal lines right under her left cheek. I could do that by removing a wedge along the seat curve, or remove a wedge at the inseam for a fast fix. There is some puckering along the side seams that came from a pretty drastic graded hip curve, so we'll try and smooth that out as well. There may be a few more tweaks, but I would try the above before trying anything else.

JEANS FITTING ADJUSTMENTS

Here's how to understand the following graphics: in the technical flats on the left side of each graphic, I have highlighted the drag line in grey. On the right side, the fit adjustment is indicated by a pink dotted line. I've taken this advice from the books Pants for Real People, Fitting and Pattern Alteration and my own experience fitting hundreds of people. Some of these alterations can be more involved than I show here, but these are quick and dirty tips to get the fit up to snuff without too much fuss.

SHORTEN CROTCH ADJUSTMENT

If you see lines radiating downwards from your front crotch, it is likely too long for you. Simply shave a little off your inseam on the front thigh. Work in 1/4" increments - small adjustments make a huge difference here.

LENGTHEN CROTCH ADJUSTMENT

If you need a little extra room in the crotch, you'll have diagonal "smile lines" radiating from your crotch. Add a little to your front inseam to lengthen your crotch curve.

ROUND PUBIS ADJUSTMENT (AKA CAMEL TOE)

Also known as a prominent pubic area, I fully admit that this is a weird name for a fit issue but it sounds better than "Oh camel toe" doesn't it? If you find your pants cleaving to you in an unwelcome way (also manifested as vertical drag lines around the front crotch), simply scoop out that front crotch a little. It adds depth to the crotch curve, making more room for you. A 1/4" or even 1/8" can make a difference here.

FLAT PUBIS ADJUSTMENT

If your pubic bones is set a little further in, you may get horizontal wrinkles across the front crotch. Fixing this just means drawing a shallower crotch curve in, again working in 1/8" to 1/4" increments.

FULL TUMMY ADJUSTMENT

If you have a full tummy, you may see diagonal drag lines radiating from your stomach. The side seams may also come forward around the stomach, along with a little tightness in the crotch. To correct, slash along the center front to the hip and spread to add length and width through the abdomen area. You may also find you need to add a little length to the crotch curve by letting out the inseam.

FULL SEAT ADJUSTMENT

If you have a fuller bottom, you may notice drag lines all pointing to that back crotch seam and your back waistline may be tugged down. Essentially you need to add length and width to the backseat curve. The proper way to do this is by slashing and spreading in various spots to add length to the lower crotch extension and the center back, but you can also just add a little to the inseam and top seam as I am showing here (#quickanddirty). You may also find that you need a deeper seat curve - if you scoop out that curve more, please note you will have to add a little to the hip since you are removing width across the hip with this adjustment.

FLAT SEAT ADJUSTMENT

A flatter seat is indicated by bagginess under the bum and diagonal drag lines pointing to the hip. To correct it, try removing width from your inseam. You can also try shortening the overall length of the back rise by taking a wedge off the top (the proper way to do this is by slashing and spreading so that the top edge stays the same length).

LOW BUTT ADJUSTMENT

If the curve of your heiny sits a little lower than the pant has been drafted for, you'll find horizontal drag lines under your seat. Simply scoop out that seat curve a little bit to make room for your bum.

SWAY BACK ADJUSTMENT

If you have a sway back, your pelvis tilts forward, forcing your bum out and creating a shorter distance between waist and top of the bum. This generally manifests in pooling or folds of fabric at the lower back. Fitting & Pattern Alteration has a complicated adjustment for this involving numerous slash and spread adjustments, but I think you can do a #quickanddirty adjustment by taking a wedge of the top pant (or folding out the amount from your pattern piece and redrawing your seams). I've also found that you can take a quick wedge off the CB (including the yoke) to prevent gaping if that is also an issue. This will change the pitch of the pants so keep that in mind!

FULL THIGH JEAN FITTING ADJUSTMENT

If you need more room in the thigh, your pants will tell you with diagonal drag lines or wrinkles pointing towards your crotch inseam. Extend your back crotch at the inner thigh to give yourself more room.

THIN THIGH ADJUSTMENT

If your thighs need less room, you should see vertical drag lines along the back of your thigh. Taking width off the back inseam will help; you may also need to remove a little from the front inseam as well.

FULL CALF ADJUSTMENT

If you're spotting horizontal drag lines above the back of your knees, you will need more room in the calf. Cut your pattern as indicated and swing seams along your lower leg out to create more width along the back of your calf.

KNOCK KNEED ADJUSTMENT

If you're a little knock kneed (possibly the cutest sounding fit issue) you may find that the fabric is tight along your inseam and looser at your side seam. You'll notice diagonal drag lines radiating from along the side seam above and below the knee. With this adjustment you need a little more length at the inseam and a little less at the side seam. To achieve this, slash to a center point in the center of the thigh on either side and rotate the entire upper pant so that you are reducing the length along the side seam while slightly adding to the inseam.

BOW LEGGED ADJUSTMENT

Most jeans are cut straight in the leg so if your knees bow out, you'll notice drag lines radiating out from the side seam around your knee and calf. This is the exact opposite adjustment we made for the knock-kneed; you need more length on the side seam and less on the inseam. To achieve this, slash to a center point in the center of the thigh on either side and rotate the entire upper pant so that you are adding to the length of the side seam while reducing the length of the inseam.

Phew! Hope you find this helpful. Again, if you need more help, our Sew Your Dream Jeans sewing class is a great place to start!

Ginger Jeans // Construction Details & Pretty Guts

29 March 2016 by Heather Lou 23 Comments

Ginger-Jean-construction-details — one // two // three // four // five // six // seven // eight

One of my favourite things to do when I'm lying in bed and trying to make the transition from dead-eyed sleep zombie to sentient human being is to scroll through CCF hashtags and see what you guys are making. Since #gingerjeans has now been used over 1800 times on Instagram (so, so crazy) I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the beautiful detail and in-progress shots (aka Pretty Guts) you guys have shared over the last few months for your Ginger Jeans. Whether it's embroidered pockets, hand-sewn buttonholes, striking topstitching, inspired fabric choices or simply meticulous construction, it's mindblowing how many ways you have made this pattern your own. Your collective creativity is awe-inspiring!

Here are some of our favourite Ginger Jeans details from Instagram....

[Read more...]

Ankle Zipper DIY

12 March 2015 by Heather Lou 11 Comments

Based on the enthusiastic reaction to my latest pair of Ginger jeans, I guess I'm not the only one with a yen for 80's Guess-era ankle zippers. It's fun doctoring up classics with new details, and I'm constantly pinning and imagining new ways to tweak the Ginger pattern.

This isn't a really hard mod but it does require some precision. First things first, we have to stabilize the fabric. Before you sew your outer side seams, apply 1" wide interfacing to the ankle seams, roughly the length of your your zipper.

I suggest ironing the hem up as if you're finishing your jeans. This lets you know where your zipper teeth will end.

Once you've got the interfacing bonded to both sides of the leg seam, lay your zipper next to it so that the "top" of the zipper is aligned with the final folded hem of your jeans. Mark where the zipper stop at the "bottom" of the zipper will be located with a horizontal line. Draw in your 5/8" seam allowance above the zipper. In order to expose the teeth of the zipper, we have to increase the seam allowance. My zipper teeth were 1/4" wide, so I added just over 1/8" to the seam allowance to create a little 3/8" rectangular opening for the zipper when the seams are pressed open. Draw your new seam allowance on the leg as shown above.

Once you've got these lines drawn on both legs, sew your side seams using a straight stitch, stopping at that horizontal mark that indicates the start of your zipper. Backstitch to secure. Finish your side seams. In this case, I serged the side seams together until a few inches above the zipper location, and then finished each "free" seam with its own serged finish. This creates a weird joint where you go from side seams being sewn together and pressed to the back, to side seams being pressed open, but you won't really notice on the inside.

After the seam is sewn, snip a triangular notch from below your horizontal zipper mark to the corner of your new seam allowance

This snipped notch will let us fold the new seam allowance further back to show the exposed zipper teeth.

Press the side seam open and the snipped notches up. Fold your new seam allowance in on each side of the un-sewn side seam (approximately 7/8") and press. You want to create a nice, square opening at the top so ensure all those little corners are lying nice and flat.

Ensure the space you created in the seam is wide enough to see your exposed zipper teeth.

If you want to baste the zipper to the seam allowance first, go ahead. I found it easier just to pin the zipper into place and then topstitch it directly. To do this, only pin one side to start, since it can be tricky to sew if both sides of the zipper are pinned. Start on one side and sew all the way around, about 1/8" from the pressed seam allowance. At the top, just above the zipper stop, leave your needle down as you are turning to get sharp corners. One the other side, I didn't bother pinning; I just fed the zipper into place as I went.

To secure the zipper tape and those little notched seams in place, sew a bar tack just above the zipper stop, and then finish hemming your jeans. This is what it will look like on the inside:

And voila! A little ankle zipper to fulfill all your Guess girl fantasies!

Hope y'all found this helpful. I'm considering making another pair with the zipper on the inside seam since I love the way it looks when it's unzipped. Have you been experimenting with any other jeans hacks I should know about?

Ginger Jeans Roundup

12 December 2014 by Heather Lou 32 Comments

G'day friends. I finally had a chance to round up the finished Ginger Jeans I found in the wild. And in so doing I realized there was a Colette pattern also named Ginger. Sorry Sarai ;( Yes, that frowny emoticon is winking because I love to break the rules.

Here we go!

ginger jeans by heather b — Handmade by Heather B.

ginger maternity jeans — Maternity Jeans bu Lauren Dahl

And just in case you haven't see them, here are the tester versions that have been blogged:

Processed with VSCOcam with c1 preset — Ebony H

That is a lot of jeans! Now, onto the giveaway with prizes generously donated by our sponsors:

GINGER GRAND PRIZE

The Craftsy Pants Fitting Class
$25 Gift Certificate to Pattern Review
$50 Gift certificate to Grey’s Fabric

Congratulations Mrs. Whiskerson! I'll be in touch with your prize.

MOST CREATIVE GINGERS PRIZE

$40 Gift Certificate to Girl Charlee
Your choice of the True Bias Sutton Blouse or Hudson Pants pattern
a copy of The Magic Pattern Book by Amy Barickman

While I loved everyone's Gingers (and there are some fantastic guts on the flickr page) I think this one has to go to Handmade by Heather B. for her cat-tastic animal print Gingers. Stupendous!

Congrats ladies, and thanks everyone for sharing your finished makes. If you've posted yours and I missed it, please leave me a link in the comments below.

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.

SIGN UP FOR JEAN-MAKING WORKSHOP

GRADING & PREPPING SEAMS

MARKING THE BUTTONHOLE SIZE AND LENGTH

BUTTONHOLE TIPS & TROUBLESHOOTING

SEWING A CORDED MACHINE BUTTONHOLE

SEWING A MANUAL BUTTONHOLE WITH A ZIG ZAG STITCH

SEWING A JEANS BUTTONHOLE BY HAND

You will need:

SUPPLIES NEEDED

UNDERSTANDING DENIM

APPLYING INTERFACING

RESTITCH THE WARP THREADS

RESTITCH THE WEFT THREADS

PARTY JEANS

BACK POCKET MAGIC

GREAT FIT

PERSONALIZATION

PATTERN HACKING

GINGER FLARES

SIZE CHART VS. FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

USING EXISTING JEANS TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT SIZE

ADDITIONAL FINISHED GARMENT MEASUREMENTS FOR GINGER JEANS

GRADING BETWEEN SIZES

How to Access Files

How to Access Files

GENERAL ADVICE FOR JEANS FITTING

WHAT IS GOOD FIT?

JEANS FITTING ADJUSTMENTS

SHORTEN CROTCH ADJUSTMENT

LENGTHEN CROTCH ADJUSTMENT

ROUND PUBIS ADJUSTMENT (AKA CAMEL TOE)

FLAT PUBIS ADJUSTMENT

FULL TUMMY ADJUSTMENT

FULL SEAT ADJUSTMENT

FLAT SEAT ADJUSTMENT

LOW BUTT ADJUSTMENT

SWAY BACK ADJUSTMENT

FULL THIGH JEAN FITTING ADJUSTMENT

THIN THIGH ADJUSTMENT

FULL CALF ADJUSTMENT

KNOCK KNEED ADJUSTMENT

BOW LEGGED ADJUSTMENT

GINGER GRAND PRIZE

MOST CREATIVE GINGERS PRIZE

Elevated sewing patterns to create the wardrobe of your dreams.

Navigate

Support

Get Sew Inspired