Me Made Maldives – Almost Didn’t Make It edition

Last of my holiday sewing was this “cut-off” jeans shorts that almost didn’t make it to the Maldives. I think I had 1.5 days left when I started this. And because I’m a slow sewer I thought I’d go shopping for a backup to relieve the time pressure. Bad idea. Got stuck in traffic & paucity of choices (because wrong season). What I ended up buying fitted poorly through the crotch, so I had to take in across the inseam + shorten it. At this point I’ve lost half a day. So it was an all nighter on this me-made. I had to drop the coin pocket – never use that anyway – and started but left off the belt loops until I got back from holiday.

Closet Case Ginger Jeans Shorts – Mid Rise

Size made: 4 with fitting & mid-rise design changes

Fabrics: 98/2 Cotton/Lycra 8oz Elvis Denim from Sherwoods Fabrics UK, muslin from the Stash, brass zipper from Wawak, donut button from Citron Jeans, ring rivets from Thread Theory, Pro-Sheer Elegance Medium Fusible interfacing from Fashion Sewing Supply

Changes:

  • Shorten to bum length
  • Left out the coin pocket
  • Belt loop wasn’t added until I came back from holiday

Construction notes:

  • During interfacing fusing I also made the mistake of fusing to the wrong side. I had initially wanted to use the lighter wrong side of this denim on the outside because the right side looks too similar to my flesh colour, making me look like I have no pants on! Tight deadline meant I had no choice but to use the right side as the outside.
  • I was a bit worried about the donut button being a bit too small, but it worked out OK, & was very easy to install using the tool kit from the same Japanese vendor. It feels very secure – unlike some of the buttons I used on previous Gingers. Highly recommend these.
  • For the rivet I again used the hand press kit I got in Asia. I did still have to trim the tacks down to avoid them poking through the centre of the ring rivets because of the thin fabric. But without this tool I wouldn’t have been able to attach them in time…for it was early morning by the time I got to the rivets. And you know, neighbours.
  • My topstitching is still a bit rubbish. I get loops forming on the wrong side in places though not continuously. So good thing these jeans are just for me. I would be too embarrassed to make one for someone else with my poor stitching.

The Verdict: It’s quite satisfying to be able to make my own jeans. RTW options can be so unreliable. You’re at the mercy of the retail seasons & designer whims. And you may still end up having hack it apart & alter to fit. Hopefully my next pair of Gingers will be even faster. And maybe I should branch out to other silhouetter … like bootleg?

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