I didn’t think it would take me another month before I worked on my second muslin for the Ginger Jeans. I’ve been taking weekly machine knitting lessons and practicing what I learn during the week. So, that’s taken up all my free crafting time. To recap, I’m working on a muslin for Closet Case Patterns Ginger Jeans, high waist, skinny view.
I wanted to try one alteration at a time for these jeans as I was worried about doing too many at once and not nailing down the fit issues. For reference, I’m sewing a size 16. For this version, I:
- Made the suggested full thigh adjustment featured here on The Sewing Divas blog.
- Took two inches out of the yoke
- Took three inches from the waistband at center back.
- Shortened the leg at the knee by three inches. I’m going to add another inch back in.
- I also ended up taking about 1/4 inch out on each lower hip — just below the pocket bags after sewing.
The fabric is a mix of stretch denims I picked up a few weeks ago. They didn’t have enough of any one fabric for me to get a full pair of jeans. But, I liked the quality (nice and hefty. the way jeans used to be) and the price and decided it was fine to mix and match like for a muslin. The instructions for the pattern are really good and the sew along is very very helpful.
My back pockets should be closer together. But, I think they are evenly spaced,so score! Sadly, photos don’t lie and I think my first muslin without the forward thigh adjustment looked better. Here, I’ve got mom butt. I asked Jordan what he thought and all he noticed were the back wrinkles.
I see folds all along the inside of my leg in sort of an X shape. I think calls for a full inner thigh / knock knee adjustment. I also don’t like how these shape under my butt either. But, that could be middle age approaching. That said, I usually really like how I look in jeans. So, in keeping it 100, I admit these aren’t working– yet.
lightened so you could see the wrinkles in shadow
** Edited to add side seam photos
So, I’m going to still wear these because I have no more hole-free RTW jeans left in my drawers. I’m going to make these up again without changing the front leg and give the knock knee adjustment a try. I do really like the front. I think I have a little extra fabric between the abdomen and the crotch point. I like to think I need a flat abdomen adjustment. But, probably not as my abdomen is most def not flat.
Miss Celie's Pants 
Can you show the side seams?
For some reason, I can’t seem to get back into edit the post. Here are some side seam photos: http://s100.photobucket.com/user/cidell/media/2015/Ginger%20Musline2/20150823-DSC_0266_zpstqiqz2o5.jpg.html
http://s100.photobucket.com/user/cidell/media/2015/Ginger%20Musline2/20150823-DSC_0290_zpsbz4xgjgr.jpg.html
On Sun, Aug 23, 2015 at 2:54 PM, Miss Celie's Pants wrote:
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One word: Jalie. I’ve not seen a pair of Ginger jeans that looked like they fit properly. I’ve made 12…14…I lost count…pairs of Jalie and have never had this many issues. I am not convinced there isn’t something wrong with the draft of this pattern. For reference, I have 41″ hips WAY and more tummy flab. =) Give J2908 a try; I think you’ll like it.
So how many muslins do you think it will take to get the fit right? I have no idea what the “perfect” fit for jeans is since I’m not really a jean wearer so this process is fascinating to me.
I’d be curious to see a Jalie or a Burda Jean on you – most of the great Gingers I’ve seen have been skin-tight, which suggests the pattern needs that extreme negative ease to fit really well (my gingers were a little loose and gave me extreme droopy butt). I like the front and the sides, but agree that the back still needs work – I’m at a loss about what that work might be though. Is this the skinny leg? What I’m seeing is excess fabric in the back thigh, but I don’t know enough about pant fitting to understand how to fix that.
I’m going to also revisit the Jalie jeans. I have a pair cut out now in a size Z. When I made them before I sewed a W. Times have changed 🙂
On Sun, Aug 23, 2015 at 3:49 PM, Miss Celie's Pants wrote:
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All the effort is really paying off! The issue between tbe abdomen and crotch may be solved by using a stretch denim. An old Palmer and Pletsch fitting publication displayed the crotch problem in regular denim and how it completely disappeard in stretch denim.
These are actually stretch denim
On Sun, Aug 23, 2015 at 3:57 PM, Miss Celie's Pants wrote:
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I’ve gotten a more exaggerated version of those “X” wrinkles on a pair of Burda jeans that I’ve been working through the fit on. I’ve also come to the conclusion that I need to do a full inner thigh/knock-knee adjustment, which I’ll be adding to the next pair that I make. I think these are looking really good, otherwise–maybe just shorten the crotch length in front a tad (as you mentioned).
We can conquer this! I just read your clog post on CSC. I’m glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t mind sewing a bunch of different ones to find what works. I’m going to make up the Jalie 2908 again and probably pull out the Burda straight leg pants from last year.
On Sun, Aug 23, 2015 at 5:42 PM, Miss Celie's Pants wrote:
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I have no pant-fitting wisdom to share, just wanted to say that I think the two-tone effect is actually really cool!
What she said. I may copy the 2-tone look.
Thanks! They are much closer in tone IRL. But, that’s the beauty of taking pictures outside. You can see dark colors far more clearly!
I think you have a really good fit and after the washer and dryer a few times, the fit will be that much better!
All I can say is that if I had a pair of jeans that looked that good on my, I’d be one happy camper. Might have to give these Gingers a try.
LOL. Nancy, I really liked my muslin a lot better. That said, I also think these look better IRL than on screen.
On Sun, Aug 23, 2015 at 8:30 PM, Miss Celie's Pants wrote:
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Please,please, please, when you work on the X wrinkles post it on your blog.
I sure will. Debbie Cooke covers it on her blog and a few methods. I’m probably going to try the Fast Fit method in a few weeks.
On Sun, Aug 23, 2015 at 9:23 PM, Miss Celie's Pants wrote:
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I’ve never sewn the Jalie’s though I own them.
One thing I’ve noticed on nearly every pair is a too “tall” yoke. And I think that contributes to “mom butt”.
I think Debbie of Stitches and Seams addressed X wrinkles before.
That’s kind of disjointed. I mentioned the Jalie’s to agree that I’ve only seen “good” Gingers that were second-skin tight.
Yes, she did. That’s how I was kind of familiar with it. I’m going to try the Sandra Betzina Fast Fit method first. I also own the Jalie pattern. I made them five years ago and thought they were just ‘ok’ on me. That said, I’ve got a pair cut out now to try again. I remember my butt looking really good.
On Sun, Aug 23, 2015 at 9:35 PM, Miss Celie's Pants wrote:
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I think it may be helpful to consider a lower crotch break in back and deepen the curve a little as it heads toward the crotch point at inner thigh intersection. The diagonal folds would lessen if you smoothed them upward so a deeper curve (like removing a seam allowance of depth) might help that. The slight wedgie effect is why I suggest lowering the breakpoint a little bit. You may still need the thigh and knee alteration but these two changes are fast and easy to try out…..The front crotch pouch can likely be improved with a shorter center front from crotch to waist seam. I have a very tilted waist and make a 2.5 inch shortening adjustment on my pants.
I think they are fine. Kudos to you for the ‘keep on sewing’ attitude until they fit perfectly.
A trip through the dryer might resolve some issues.
I liked the two tones as well.
Great post. I like how you used the two different materials and made it work. A few more tweaks and I think you’ll be there.
Best wishes on your next muslin!
Thanks for the great post. I agree with Kathy H – wash and dry might make a difference.
I did this adjustment and I am way more middle aged than you! LOL
http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/17051/a-fix-for-a-baggy-seat on mine but made it more of a wedge. I think it helped quite a bit.
Close! (but no cigar) One thing I notice is that on most of the RTW I see, the yoke is very very narrow at the side seam, maybe 1/2″ This one looks like there’s a lot of space on the side of the yoke. The other thing I’d say is that the fly seems to be about 2 inches too long, and so is standing away from your body in the front. I wonder if that area would look better with a shorter fly? Still, I found my jeans look better in person than pictures so I do believe that the pictures can make us a little too nitpicky about fit.
What wonderful fit progress! I wonder are you putting a lot of steam in the leg seams as you work? I once had a sewing teacher who constantly preached the benefits of iron and steam as you work. When I steam, I use a Dritz metal hem guide as a little shield so I do not get extra seam allowance-type crease marks. So simple but it really helps in refining the fit.
If you look closely at the back photos on the Ginger Jean pattern website, there are lots of wrinkles. Both under the butt and around the knees. So it’s not you, it’s the pattern. Try another as others have suggested.
[…] been getting a lot of wear from my two-tone Closet Case Ginger jeans. I probably wear my pair three times a week at least. But, the underbutt wrinkles were making me […]