Pattern Comparison: Liana Stretch Jeans vs. Ginger Jeans

Sewing your own jeans for the first time is intimidating, and trying to decide which pattern to start with can be one of the stumbling blocks.  I've written this pattern comparison of the Liana Stretch Jeans vs. the Ginger Jeans sewing patterns to help remove one obstacle from your jeans-sewing journey. I've sewn both multiple times and am sharing my detailed thoughts on all aspects of the patterns.  

My favorite TNT patterns

Hi friends!  There isn't any sewing going on here these days, because I'm on vacation. We have been having a fantastic time visiting family and friends and enjoying the warm weather and everything that goes with it.  I've also really enjoyed wearing my handmades on this trip.

May 2019

May was a super-productive month for me! I sewed mostly simple projects with the exception of one button-up shirt, and made three summer pieces for each of my girls. They wore them on our recent trip to Cartagena on Colombia's Caribbean coast, and will wear them for the two months we are home this summer.

Chambray Traveler Shirt

I sewed Simplicity 2246/Lisette Traveler last in 2014. It was actually one of my very first sewing blog posts.  I wore both versions constantly until I got pregnant later that year and couldn't fit into them anymore.  I packed them away into a bin of "skinny clothes," and there they sat until a couple of months ago, when I had finally lost enough weight to integrate them back into my wardrobe.  Once again, they are my favorite shirts to wear, so I decided it was time to make a new one.

Yasmin Yoke Skirt

Back in January, I decided to try the keto diet. Although I hadn't been happy with my inability to take off the baby weight since Niko was born in 2015, I had begun to accept my shape, and had sewn enough clothes to wear 100% me-made every day.  Sewing really helped me accept the shape I was then, and I had put thoughts of weight loss on the back burner.

March 2019

I made some good progress on my Make Nine goals this month.  I don't know that I'll make it all the way through my Make Nine, as my priorities are already starting to shift, but I'm happy with the things I've made so far.

I'm not sure I will get to that Yuzu Coat after all, and I'm less interested in the Cynthia Rowley dress than I was when I made this list.  I do still definitely want to make the Extra-Sharp Pencil Skirt and the Classic Shirt, as well as a new Traveler shirt dress.

2019 Sewing Goals

I wasn't planning to make a sewing goals post this year.  I actually wasn't really planning to make any sewing goals, since my time at the machines has been so limited.  But while browsing Bloglovin' this evening, I was energized and motivate to lay out some priorities and plans for the next twelve months.  I think this may actually help me to maximize the sewing time that I do have, since I won't be floundering around wondering what to do.

2018 in Review

Well, it's time for another review post! Writing this post last year was an involved process, but I've been happy multiple times this year that I put in the effort. That post (and the monthly round-ups I did this year) have been very helpful references for me.

My sewing was broken up by our move in 2018, and it's taking me some time to figure out how to fit my hobby into life here.  But I feel as though I was definitely more purposeful in both my sewing and fabric purchasing in 2018 than I have ever been before.

First, let's talk about the sewing.

In 2018, I sewed 73 items.  (If that sounds like a lot, consider that I really do mean "items" - so whether I spent four weeks working on a dress, or hemmed a square of fabric to make a bandana, either way that counts as one item.)  Of those 73 pieces, 47 percent (34 items) were for myself, and 53 percent (39 items) were for others.  Here's the visual breakdown of what I sewed for myself this year.

July and October 2018

Oooh, this move has really kicked me in the behind a little bit. I have found it difficult to find time for sewing, much less time for blogging. I really miss both, but just haven't been able to figure out how to get the time in.

In any case, I've determined to finish up what I started with my monthly roundups and yearlong tally of fabric in and out, so there will be a few posts forthcoming even though I haven't sewed much of anything lately. There was no sewing or fabric-buying activity at all in August and September, but here are the stats for July and October.

JULY PROJECTS COMPLETED:

A Blackwood cardigan using 2 yards of cotton windowpane knit I bought from Cali Fabrics in June. Due to fabric shortage the windowpanes on the neckband don't line up with the ones on the body, and the neckband pulls the body a little too tightly.  I haven't worked out how to salvage it yet, but I do wear it around the house because it's cozy.

JULY FABRIC PURCHASES: 

4 yards of olive green cotton/lycra bottom weight for a pair of Ginger Jeans and maybe another pinafore.

OCTOBER PROJECTS COMPLETED:

2.5 yards of the olive green bottomweight I bought in July for another pair of jeans.  Blogged here.

Army green Gingers #5

I made another pair of Ginger jeans.  I've had army green jeans in my head since last winter, but I only found the fabric (cotton/lycra bottom weight from FabricMart) back in July.  It went on sale after I'd packed up my sewing room, so I ordered it and then threw it into the shipment.

I'm still here, with a pinafore dress

If anyone is still reading, hi, it's been a minute! Since I last blogged, we had a great summer with family before moving south to Bogota, Colombia two months ago.  This fall we've been acclimating to our new home and waiting for our stuff to arrive.

Ginger Jeans 4.0

Immediately after I sewed Ginger Jeans 3.0, I got to work on re-adjusting the pattern from scratch in preparation for Ginger Jeans 4.0.  To refresh, I had royally screwed up my pattern with some half-arsed pattern adjustments last time, resulting in some seriously twisted inseams.

Ginger Jeans 3.0

I was hoping that this post would be a triumphant show-off of my new Ginger jeans, complete with diagrams showing my clever fitting modifications and their consequent improvements.

May 2018

It was a busy month, in which I spent a lot of time testing a pattern, bought a good amount of fabric than I probably should have, and also completed two pairs of jeans and a cardigan that will be very useful in Bogota.

PROJECTS COMPLETED:

Me-Made-May - second half

Starting from the top, left to right:

Day 16: A Sewaholic Renfrew shirt and a new pair of Ginger Jeans (now all finished, to be blogged).

Day 17: A Bonn shirt and denim Tillery Skirt.

Day 18: A Josephine top and Chi-Town Chinos.  I love this outfit but it needs work.  I need to loosen the elastic in the sleeve hems of the top, and just make a new pair of the chinos, since these are too tight in the thighs and bag out to the point of falling down within a couple hours' wear.
Day 19: A Plantain tee with a brand-new cropped Blackwood Cardigan and my first pair of Ginger Jeans.

Me-Made-May - first half

Me Made May is halfway over, and I'm rounding up my outfits the last fifteen days.  My goal this year, like last year, was to wear handmade every day and to avoid repeating full outfits.  Wearing handmade every day isn't a challenge for me anymore, as most of my clothes are made by me.  But I do tend to wear the same dozen pieces over and over again, so forcing myself to come up with new combinations is definitely an exercise.

I decided to just take crummy bathroom mirror selfies this year.  That way I'd be sure to get a photo in.  While not necessary for the challenge, having all of these photos is helpful to me to see what I like, what works, and what doesn't.  I also just enjoy the fun collage.  While the picture quality is abysmal, I've linked all the blogged items below so you can click over if you want to see more.

April 2018 and my MMM pledge

Are you participating in Me-Made May?  This will be my third year, and I've been looking forward to it for months.  I feel very prepared for it this year.  Like last year, I'm pledging to wear at least one me-made item every day.  Additionally, I am going to try not to repeat any outfits during the month (repeating garments is ok, and necessary).  I'm looking forward to the challenge, and am planning to post on IG, but probably not every day.  I will post a few round-ups here.  As for sewing, I'm currently redrafting my Ginger Jeans pattern to address my back leg wrinkles, and am hoping to sew up a pair or two during May.

But enough about May (at least, until tomorrow).  This post is about April.  It was a busy month with Easter, two weekend trips and my older daughter's spring ballet show, but I still managed to knock out a few things, including a shirt for my husband, which has been on my sewing list since we bought the fabric for it in October.

PROJECTS COMPLETED

1) Art Museum Trousers for G to replace a pair he had recently outgrown.  I sewed a size 4 lengthened by 1" with enclosed welt pockets and no belt loops.  I used 33" of pinstriped denim plus scraps of airplane quilting cotton. Sewed everything in 3 hours, including time to interface my welt pieces. Ended up using a hem allowance of 3/4", so I should have lengthened by 1.75" instead of 1".  Width is perfect.  Completed 4/4

2) Bow tie for G using this tutorial and scraps. Completed 4/4.

3) Another OOP Lisette Portfolio/Simplicity 2245 for me, using 1.89 yards of 50" wide fabric bought last July.  This dress is evidence that sometimes it's good to stash fabric without a purpose. I had actually envisioned this dress in a vivid emerald green linen and kept putting it in my cart, when I remembered this cut of designer fabric that I had bought without purpose.  The linen/viscose blend fabric is cool and breezy with a gorgeous drape that was better for this dress than the linen I had originally chosen. Stash win! Completed 4/10.  Blog post coming soon.

4) Fairfield Button-Up as a birthday gift for J. I used 2.5 yards cotton shirting purchased in October to make this shirt. Completed 4/22. Will be blogged soon.

5) Four bodice muslins for a pattern test I'm doing.  88" used of an old sheet.  Completed 4/23.

I also took in the waist and hips of my houndstooth Alberta Street skirt, which has been bothering me all year because it was just too big in those areas.  It took me less than an hour and I feel like I have a whole new item of clothing in my closet.

FABRIC PURCHASES

4/21: I bought 5.33 yards of fabric to make elf costumes for my girls and my niece.  I'm not sure whether they will be helping me with the sewing or not.  All of it was bought at Joann's - one cut of sale yardage, and the rest from the remnant bin.

FABRIC IN/OUT

Fabric in: 5.33 yards
Fabric out: 7.75 yards

Fabric in YTD: 60.58 yards
Fabric out YTD: 48.23 yards

Tote Bags

This tote bag is a long time coming.  I bought the fabric about five years ago, I think from this shop.  I knew I wanted to make a tote bag, but after the fabric arrived, it just languished in the stash.

Cable Blackwood

Since making my long wool Blackwood cardigan, I've been on the hunt for another sweater knit fabric.  I was having trouble committing to one online because I couldn't feel the fabric through my computer screen.  But when I was at Joann's last month, looking for grosgrain ribbons for my girls' Nutcracker performances, I found this pretty cream-colored faux-cable knit.  It is a polyester/lycra knit, something I generally stay away from, but it felt very nice in the store aaaaand I had a coupon, so I bought 2.25 yards.  I haven't been able to find it online, but as it turns out, I can't really recommend the fabric anyway.

2018 goals and changes

You wouldn't know it by reading my 2017 statistics post, but I am actually drawn to slow fashion and minimalism.  I read a lot of blog posts promoting slow fashion and find myself vigorously nodding my head at the idea that stashing tons of discount fabric and sewing a garment a week is just a different form of fast fashion.  But I also enjoy sewing too much to limit myself to a project a month. I don't have any guilt about the 46 garments I sewed myself last year because I really did need that much clothing, and I wear the overwhelming majority of the clothes I sewed frequently.  But going forward, assuming my proportions don't change too much, does my wardrobe really need 46 additional garments every year?  I don't think so.

As it turns out, the Itinerant Family will be experiencing some big changes in 2018, and as a result, I've been handed a ready-made set of sewing goals.

We are moving to Colombia in a few months!  I'll have no choice but to sew fewer garments this year as I'll be separated from my machines for about three months during the transition. We'll be in Bogota for two years for my husband's work.