I finally managed to finish and photograph these jeans. It’s tricky at the best of times to get great photos of black garments, but even more so on bright sunny days, like we have in the UK at the moment. I love days like this and relish the opportunity to get outdoors and either walk the dog, stroll along the prom or take part in my revival hobby of rollerskating. As such my pretty summer dresses have taken a back seat and Jeans like these are perfect for these hobbies.

When skating I like to wear something that covers my legs (it’s not warm enough for shorts yet IMHO) and is stretchy enough to allow me to move well. I need to squat low and don’t want anything constricting or too flowy for that matter. This denim is perfect for this type of garment.

I don’t think I’ve ever sewn with denim with this much stretch before and it is perfect for those jeggings style patterns. It’s a very well behaved stretch fabric and doesn’t curl when cut. The reverse is soft and feels comfortable against the skin. Despite being black denim, this does have some white fibres running through it and is white on the reverse. I did need to stake a black sharpie to the edge of my buttonhole once it was cut as you could see the white fibres.

I used a lightweight knit interfacing in the inner waistband and at the fly front, just to give a little stability. I also interfaced the buttonhole and button area and the top edge of the back pockets.
Due to the fabric having so much stretch I decided to use the leftovers of stretch cotton that remained after making my layered shirt (https://www.minerva.com/posts/1067305). I thought that a stable fabric might be too constricting.

This is the 3rd iteration I have made of the Ginger Jeans and I have the pattern traced with all my adjustments on. Even so, I always baste the jeans together to check the fit as every denim behaves differently. My initial fit of these was quite loose and not as sung as this type of denim needs to be. After taking these in I am left with a few wrinkles, but I often get this with my very skinny jeans too.

What I love most about this pattern is the fact that I can customise the fit, but it’s daily close to my measurements to start with. I have a long torso, so even the high waisted version doesn't come quite up to my true waist, but that’s fine. I like the fit. My waist is usually one or two sizes smaller than my hip measurement. This means when I buy jeans they ALWAYS gape at the back. Since having this pattern I actually have jeans that stay up and fit. As I don’t need them to have a belt to keep them up I left off the belt loops. I won’t use them on this pair at all.

The last pair of Ginger jeans I made two years ago is probably the garment I have worn most. With at least 3 wears per week - summer or winter. I hope that these new pair get as much wear as the old ones.

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