A Ginger/Ash Jeans Mash

I have a confession: over the last few years, very few of my handmade bottoms have turned into something I wear regularly.

Another confession: neither will these.

My inspiration was pretty low for this pair of jeans. It definitely felt more like sewing for work than sewing for fun, and unfortunately the chore didn’t really pay out. The pants aren’t terrible by any means! They just aren’t…IT.

Years ago I sewed a pair of Ginger jeans and then a pair of Ash jeans to compare the two. Both patterns were great but they each had a couple features I preferred so I wanted to make a pair of jeans that combined all the things I love.

I’m trying to remember if I’ve ever mashed two patterns together like this before, beyond pockets and small features like that, but nothing comes to mind. And let me tell you, mashing patterns is a tricky business! I definitely made some errors along the way and will have more work to do to perfect this new mash-up of a pattern.

For how many features are shared (i.e. belt loops, coin pockets, etc.), it was surprisingly easy to have an opinion about which features I wanted to draw from each pattern. I wanted the main body/shape from the Ash jeans. I chose the straight leg view. But then I wanted pockets, pocket stays, and all the fly/zipper pieces from the Ginger jeans pattern. For the waistband, I did something possibly ill-advised which is to just cut out a straight rectangular piece rather than the curved (I’ve yet to have luck with curved!). In my opinion, the Ginger jeans fly method is the one that will give the cleanest results. But ensuring the Ginger’s pattern pieces would work in tandem with the Ash’s was a real struggle.

One example of the difficulty of this is that the Ash jeans has the fly in two separate pattern pieces, while the Ginger’s fly is one piece that is cut on the fold. I tried to pay attention to seam allowances, angles and curves, but in truth I should have been a lot more methodical (and maybe mathematical?) in my approach to making these puzzle pieces fit together better. There ended up being more factors at play than I initially took into consideration. I ought to have spent more time checking seam allowances and truing converging pattern pieces. Probably a solid C letter grade for me, but definitely nothing above. Room for improvement!

I also just totally spaced redrafting the pocket stays from the Ginger jeans but with the Ash lines, so the ones I sewed in were secured to the fly as intended, but then were about an inch short of reaching the hip seam. Of course, I didn’t realize this until I’d completely sewed the pockets together including the coin pocket. I was wholly uninterested in recutting or unpicking and redoing the entire thing, so I just did my best to tack down the pocket edge in places that wouldn’t be noticed and called it a day.

Once I finagled my way through completing pockets, pocket stays and the fly, I had absolutely zero sewjo to finish these so I set them aside for several months and then finally mustered the mustard* to finish these. I did a basting fit check and was surprised when I didn’t need to do any sort of sway back adjustment, a first for me and, I believe, a fluke. I did have to adjust the seam at the hip to be slightly less curved. _{(*Not an actual saying, but probably should be)}

As I was going the “Just Get it Done” route, I used my serger for finishing the seams, though I still put in the effort to do two lines of topstitching on in the inseam for a faux flat felled look. I chose a dark grey thread for topstitching but I’ll admit it ended up looking a bit blue-ish next to the black/white variegated warp/weft thread of the denim (have any of you ever found a true black wash denim you really like? I seem to only ever find what I described above which definitely comes across more like a shiny, dark grey).

After sewing leg seams, I had to attach the waistband. I had enough fabric leftover that, if needed, I could rip it out and do a curved waistband instead. But actually, I like my regular old rectangle waistband. One thing I hated from my old pair of Ash jeans was the waistband. It was cut crossgrain for the least amount of stretch, plus interfaced, which does not leave much room for stretching out or, you know, being comfortable. So this time I did almost the opposite with my rectangle waistband-I cut it in the direction of greatest stretch and did not attach interfacing (except for at the button and buttonhole, because I was playing it a little loose, but not that loose).

After attaching belt loops, the last thing was placing the rear pockets. I always try out where it’s recommended on the pattern and it never works for me! It’s always just slightly off. That was the case here, they had to be shifted slightly inward and upward, but not by very much.

As far as hemming, I am clueless as to the rules of appropriate jeans hem length as of right now. I just know that I personally don’t want material dragging on the ground. If you’ve looked into making your own jeans ever, you probably know that jeans typically continue to stretch out and lengthen slightly after wear and it’s often suggested to wear them a couple times before hemming them. So as a sort of non-answer, but a technically sound one, I opted to just not hem the pants at all.

And as for the end results? The jeans are perfectly fine and nothing more. The most glaring error is made obvious in the above photo-the zipper shows! After the big to-do of trying to figure out how to translate the Ash fly to read more like the Ginger, I failed! I didn’t give it enough space, darn it! You can see from the other photos that it’s not always peeking out but nobody wants to spend their day fiddling with their clothes and making sure everything is laying how it’s supposed to!

That said, the denim I used here is fantastic. I can’t remember at all where I bought it-sorry-but it’s a good denim with a medium weight and a silkier feel to it. It has a good amount of stretch which I think more closely resembles RTW jean fabric (not exactly the goal, per se, but easier for someone who has been wearing a lot of, say elastic waist pants and leggings, as an example from the top of my head, ahem). Anyway, there was a lot of waffling back and forth but we’ve come to the point where I have one final confession: these have already been donated.

Bummer, but it was for the best. Even so, I’m glad to have had the experience of trying to mash the two patterns together. Now I know it is a serious project that takes a lot of double and triple checking your seams and work. It’s no slouch! And if I’d been more thorough, I’d definitely have better results to show off. In this case, the learning that happened was more impressive than the final product. I didn’t totally hate the end result but definitely felt like realistically I wouldn’t be wearing them often.

Pattern: Ginger Jeans/Ash Jeans mash up
Size: 12
Alterations: Lots! Info in post
Fabric: a cotton spandex blend (can’t remember where I bought it, or the cost of it, sorry!)
Cost: everything from stash
Would I make this pattern again?: I might attempt it again, but probably not for awhile!