What a better way to start my blog than with my favourite sewing project to date.

Like a lot of people I was shying away from making jeans. Too much work, too complicated and I didn’t even have the problem to find store-bought jeans that fit. I always thought it just wasn’t worth the hassle. And then Heather Lou released the Ginger pattern and it was love at first sight. For weeks I plotted the perfect jeans, collecting all the supplies. For the fabric I even sent my boyfriend to my favourite fabric store back in my home town. Even though he doesn’t know anything about fabric he came back with the most perfect stretch denim, with enough yardage to squeeze out two pairs.

While I was most drawn to the high waisted skinny leg option I decided to start with the lower rise stovepipe leg version, partly because my boyfriend is not a fan of the “old women’s trousers” that have populated my closet over the last years and he made these jeans possible after all. As the fabric was a real bargain I skipped the muslin and dived right in. I did however baste the pieces together and made some adjustments, mainly curving the back yoke and the waist band more. Thanks to the great sewalong, putting them together was a breeze. Even the description for the fly front was totally fool proof.

Trying to slow down my sewing process these days it took me around a week of after-work-sessions to complete them and I love how they turned out. They are really comfortable but still look put together. The only things that I would change next time is to do a darted waist band (the extreme curving meant that the front bit is cut on the bias and stretched out a little) and adding a bit of length to the legs.

For my second Ginger I decided to do the high waisted skinny leg version. Naturally I was too lazy to print and tape the second pattern so I just raised the waistband and tapered the legs. I worked like a charm and they fit beautifully. As I needed a pair of jeans that I could get away with wearing at work, I chose the top stitching thread in the same colour as the denim and I really like the clean look.

Both pairs are holding up really well. The high waisted version even survived a day of cycling through Paris. I love how some garments are connected to lovely memories. Happy sewing!