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.  

Ginger Jeans

I FINALLY MADE JEANS! To be precise, I sewed the Ginger Jeans from Closet Case Patterns.  And I hacked them to have a pull-on waistband.

Ginger Jeans for a spring capsule wardrobe

Last month I found myself very inspired by the way my striped Blackwood cardigan seemed to invigorate my wardrobe. It goes well with several skirts I had made over the previous year as well as with my first pair of Ginger jeans.  I decided it was time to inject my wardrobe with some versatile basics.  I knew I wanted to use up a cut of navy and cream houndstooth twill that was in danger of languishing in my stash if I didn't sew it soon, and quickly, a capsule wardrobe plan emerged.

These jeans were a piece that I threw in because I knew that I needed them, but I frankly wasn't looking forward to sewing them up.  My first pair of Gingers was a rousing success - they weren't angsty to sew, and I wear them several times per week.  But somehow I had convinced myself in the two months since I made them, that making another pair was going to be hard and arduous.  Especially as I planned to sew them with a proper zip fly, a button and rivets this time.

Well.

I began these on a Saturday and I finished them on a Thursday.  My kids did eat the contents of random cans in the pantry and half-finished freezer items on two of those days, so there's that.  Mama needed some new jeans.

These are View A of the pattern again - the low-rise, stovepipe leg version.  I cut these in a size 16 with a scooped out back crotch curve and a higher yoke (I raised it 1" at the highest point).  (With the higher yoke modification, I don't find these to be overly low in rise.  I think any higher would feel restrictive on my tummy, actually.)  They were tiiiiiight.  My previous pair, which I took in considerably, was made out of super-duper stretchy denim.  This pair was made out of a more respectable Japanese stretch denim that holds it shape spectacularly.  I had to let out the waist and hips 1/2" on each side.

I tried the full inner thigh adjustment that I fudged on my last pair.  It didn't seem to help my back knee wrinkles much, but it did cause some crazy inseam migration to the front of the leg.  I actually topstitched my inseam with navy thread instead of gold because of how much it twists to the front.  The side seam is perfectly straight, so I know it's not leg twist caused by cutting off-grain (plus I was very, very diligent in cutting my pattern pieces on grain).  Anyway, I guess full inner thigh isn't the main problem.  I ended up letting out the back leg only from the knee down, and that took care of a lot of the wrinkles.  After I did that, I took in the legs evenly at the side seams, from the lower thigh all the way down.  Looking at these photos, though, I think the lower leg is still a little baggy for my taste.  I may go back and take the seams in a bit more.  Like last time, I also found that I needed to shape the side seam to follow the weird curve of my knee, in below the thigh and back out again to the calf, to get rid of some of the wrinkles. Maybe my issue really is knock knees, and not full inner thighs?  Next time I plan to lengthen the inseam by 1" to try to address a possible knock-knee issue.

I did not interface the waistband and I used self-fabric for the facing because I wanted it to be stretchy.  I forgot to lengthen the pattern, and so I ended up adding fabric to the bottom for a total of 1" added.  I topstitched it right where I added the fabric, and the addition isn't at all noticeable.  I need to remember, if I ever boot-cut-ize this pattern, to lengthen another inch beyond that at least.

I have to mention how easy it was to install this zipper.  When I read in the instructions that I would likely have to shorten the zipper, I panicked a bit.  I remembered reading blog posts where people had talked about using pliers to remove the metal teeth from the zipper so they could sew a seam and I was intimidated.  But the instructions noted that I could just sew through the zipper - and I did.  And then I shortened it by cutting it with scissors, which blew my mind.  Metal zippers = not so scary.

My machine did not like the topstitching thread I ordered from Taylor Tailor - one ply of the thread kept breaking, and then bunching up through the needle.  I did not have this problem with the navy Guterrman topstitching thread I used for the inseam.  I gave up on topstitching thread when it came to the buttonhole and just used regular thread.

I think I want to try Heather's larger pocket pattern piece the next time I make these.  I think my back view would benefit from larger pockets.

I put three rivets in these jeans at the front but I didn't get any photos of them so you'll have to take my word for it.  They were not difficult to put in, though I found it tedious and time consuming to make a large enough hole through the coin pocket corner, to push my rivet post through.  That probably took me 30 minutes, while the actual hammer-and-cast-iron-pan installation only took five.  No longer afraid of rivets and jeans buttons!

I'm feeling pretty good about the rest of my capsule spring wardrobe - now that the most difficult and time-consuming project has been completed, it should be smooth sailing for the five remaining pieces I plan to make.

When I took these photos, I had worn these jeans for two full days with zero bagging out.  I didn't put belt loops in because I prefer not to wear belts unless absolutely necessary, and I find that tees lie smoother over a belt-loop-less waistband.  Based on how well this denim has held its shape, I don't think that I will need to add them.  Might have to pick up some more of it - do you think it's acceptable to make two pairs of jeans out of the exact same fabric?  If I did, I'd probably try a mid-rise bootcut variation.

If you enjoyed this post, you might like to read about all the other Ginger Jeans I've sewn (including with a pull-on waistband hack).  You can find those posts here. As always, thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!

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.

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.

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.

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.

Me Made May Week 2

Me Made May is halfway over, and I'm really enjoying it since I actually have enough me-mades to make it fun this year.  This year I wore quite a few things that I don't like that much.  I haven't made any decisions to let anything go, but I think that is coming.

Day 8: I wore my pull-on Ginger jeans and a RTW long tee.  I thought about forcing my two-items-a-day rule but I really just wanted to wear a longer shirt and I don't have any that I've made.  On this day, I made a mental note to sew a few longer tops.

Day 9: Same skinny Ginger jeans, a Plantain/Renfrew mash-up tee and a Blackwood cardigan.  This outfit is just "meh." I made the tee out of a remnant bin find that had been sitting in my stash, but it just doesn't really go with anything in my closet.

Day 10: I actually wore two outfits on this day because it was 50 degrees when I left the house and 70 in the afternoon.  This is the second outfit - my mustard linen/rayon Simplicity 1887 and a Kirsten Kimono Tee.

Day 11 was a rainy, rainy day during which we had an outdoor field trip.  I started the day off wearing some Ginger jeans but they got soaked so I changed into RTW jeans.  The top is a Sewaholic Renfrew that I don't wear that much because I forgot to stabilize the shoulder seams, and they stretch out.  I think sewing some elastic to the seam allowance would fix it, but I haven't done it yet.

Day 12: It was overcast and chilly.  I was looking for another cowl-neck Renfrew that I made last fall, but which seems to have been lost in the move.  As I couldn't find it, I wore this Traveler shirt hack with my skinny Gingers.  Though this top fits well and is comfortable, I don't wear it often.  The print was one of those "love it to look at but not to wear" purchases.

Day 13: I wore my newest ponte pencil skirt along with a hacked Kirsten Kimono tee that I made for my 20-year high school reunion and never blogged.  The shoulders aren't stabilized on this one either, mostly because I wasn't sure how to do it since the shoulder and sleeve are one long seam.  The neckline stretches out with wear and shows my bra strap, so although I love how the top looks when I put it on, I never wear it for an entire day.  I wonder whether sewing clear elastic to the shoulder seam for five or six inches would do the trick?

Day 14: I let N pick out my outfit today (I gave her two choices).  She chose my new Kirsten Kimono t-shirt dress (not yet blogged) and my striped Blackwood cardigan.  I got a lot of compliments on the dress today, which is kind of funny because without the cardigan and belt it is totally a sack.  But the color is nice.

May is really a great month to do this challenge because of how variable the weather is.  With the cold snap this week, I realized I had lost one of my go-to cool-weather tops.  I also was longing for some more button-downs, so I bought the Itch to Stitch Bonn Shirt pattern and sewed one up (post coming soon).  I'd like to sew up two or three more long-sleeved knit tops and two or three more long-sleeved button-downs for next fall/winter.

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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.

Me Made May Week 1

The first week of Me Made May is over, and I managed to stick to my pledge, which was to wear two me-made items per day and not to repeat any outfits during the month (repeating items is ok as long as they're styled differently).

Here's what I wore, along with my thoughts on each item.

Day one: Sunny and warm.  I wore a Simplicity 1377 and an Alberta Street Pencil Skirt.  This has never been my favorite blouse, and I still have a lot of issues out it, particularly the way the double gauze stretched out in the neckline (also, I stupidly used linen for my bias neckline finish and it has frayed apart, so this make may not survive many more washes).  But I love the colors and I want to try it with my kelly green cardigan later this month.  The skirt is a wardrobe workhorse for me, but I have long thought that I'd like to shorten it about 3/4".

Day 2: Very warm.  I wore my new Kirsten Kimono Tee and a linen Simplicity 1887 skirt.  I love these two pieces together, but I think I'd also liked a striped tee to go with this skirt and the yellow one I made.  Putting that down for my summer sewing list!

Day 3: A little cooler.  I wore an unclogged Kirsten Kimono tee, a Lisbon Cardigan and my zip-fly Ginger Jeans.

Day 4: Cooler, and I had to work in the city.  I wore my Appleton Top and a self-drafted ponte skirt.  This skirt is another workhorse, and it has gotten a bit pilled since I first made it.  I'll probably have to replace it soonish.

Day 5: Rainy and chilly.  I wore my pull-on Ginger Jeans, a Kirsten Kimono, and a French terry Lisbon cardigan.

Day 6: We drove 13 hours roundtrip to visit my mother's grave this weekend.  On the drive there, I wore my zip-fly Gingers with another Kirsten Kimono (this is my go-to t-shirt pattern, so, yes, I have a lot of these; you'll see them all by the end of May), a brand-new Blackwood Cardigan that hasn't made the blog yet, and a brown lace wool scarf that I knitted a few years ago.  I remarked in my blog post about the orange tee that the fabric I used for it wasn't the best quality, and after this trip I don't know that I'll wear it again.  It somehow managed to both bag out AND shrink upwards WHILE I was wearing it.  Looks like I need to find some better-quality orange jersey to make another one with.

Day 7: I was exhausted this morning, as you can see.  I'm wearing a cotton long-sleeved cowl-necked Sewaholic Renfrew and the same Gingers as Day 6.  This top has no recovery and bags out when I wear it, but I still love it and wear it all the time.

Lessons: I need to make two more pairs of jeans.  In cooler weather I am always either in my boots or my Dansko clogs, and the clogs don't work so well with either pair of jeans.  So I want to make two bootcut pairs.  It's also really not worth my time sewing with cheap knits - not only did the orange shirt thoroughly annoy me, but the knit I used for the new Blackwood cardigan isn't the best either.  I'll talk more about that when I blog it next week.

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.

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.

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.

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:

2017 in Review

I've never done a year-in-review post here before, despite having kept this blog for nearly four years.  But this year I tallied up all my sewing and crunched some numbers so that I could make a fun chart. The results surprised me!

Surprise #1: I sewed more for others than I did for myself.  I was under the impression that I've sewed overwhelmingly for myself for the last two years, but it's not true.  In 2017, I sewed 46 garments for myself (43 percent) and 62 garments for others - mostly my kids (57 percent).  I would have guessed that the proportion of selfish vs. unselfish sewing was more like 75/25 percent.  In 2016, I sewed 40 garments for myself (37 percent) and 58 for others, again, mostly my kids (63 percent).

Here's a graphic breakdown of my selfish sewing for the year:

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

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.

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.

Me-Made-May Week 4+

May is over!  I had such a good time with it this year.  I felt a little sheepish by about the mid-point, asking my kids to take photos of me every day and saturating my IG feed with my clumsy poses.  But seeing my outfits in photo really helped clarify what I like about my wardrobe (and what I don't, which, happily, isn't much at the moment).  It also helped me out of the rut of t-shirt-and-skirt or t-shirt-and-jeans, and inspired me to start sewing woven tops again.  So here's what I wore the last week+ of May:

Day 22: I was bleary-eyed and cranky because I had been up the previous night cleaning toddler vomit out of a crib.  I wore one of my Fjara tanks and a pair of Ginger jeans to meet a cruddy day.  Incidentally, this was also said toddler's second birthday; we didn't manage to celebrate until a full week later.

Day 23: Rainy and cool, so I wore the same Gingers as the day before with one of my new v-neck Renfrew tees with a Lisbon cardigan.

Day 24: I wore my pull-on super-stretchy Gingers with a new, unblogged, somewhat disappointing, Kirsten Kimono Tee and my linen Bonn shirt worn open over the top like a cardigan.

Day 25: Same Bonn shirt, don't care because I loooooooooove it so, with my yellow linen/rayon Simplicity 1887 and rtw leggings.

Day 26: I wore my anchor-print denim pencil skirt and a voile Simplicity 1377 blouse.  I was reminded how much I love the fit of this skirt, and that I should really make more instead of cooking up new versions of the Alberta Street Skirt, which I don't like as much.  This top is just meh, though, - it was an early version of my hacked 1377 pattern and the neckline is too wide while the hips are too narrow.  I should really retire it but for some reason I hung it back up in my closet.

Day 27: We went to the Strawberry Festival.  I was too busy mom-ing to obtain any photos of myself while we were in the mountains with beautiful scenery, so instead I had to pose in front of my front door when we got home.  I wore my yellow Simplicity 1887 skirt again, with another, more successful version of the Simplicity 1377 hack, and a Blackwood Cardigan.

Day 28: Church.  I wore one an Appleton dress.  This one doesn't get much wear anymore for what is probably a silly reason.  One of my sisters told me she did not think it was flattering because it makes me look top-heavy.  That by itself wouldn't have made me stop wearing it, but I was already a little self-conscious about how tight the back is - I feel like it really illuminates the back flab.  Although I was wearing it to church relatively frequently, I did already feel a bit uncomfortable in it.  And after my sister's comment, and it hung rather sadly in the closet, unloved, for a few months.  My husband was happy to see me in it on this day, though, and I think I'd like to revisit the pattern this fall, perhaps cutting a larger size for the back.

Day 29: Memorial Day, and the day we actually celebrated Niko's birthday, poor thing.  I don't even have a single photo of him from the day he actually turned two.  I wore my denim Alberta Street Skirt (which I still haven't shortened as I resolved to), a new, unblogged v-neck Renfrew tee and a Blackwood Cardigan.  This right here is a classic default outfit for me.

Day 30: It was dreary and spitting rain, and I would have been upset but it was actually the perfect weather for my brand-new Bonn shirt (blog post coming soon), which I paired with my zip-fly Gingers.

Day 31: Finally a warm, sunny day! I took the kids to the park and ran errands in my linen Simplicity 1887 shorts and my favorite hacked Simplicity 1377 top.  I love this top so much, and wearing it today made me realize that I need a white button-down shirt in my wardrobe.  No shocker which pattern I'll be using to make that one ... I just need to find the right fabric.

And, that's it.  Moving forward, I will try to vary my outfits as much as I did this month, instead of wearing the same 10 things over and over again.  I have enough clothes to do it, so there's really no excuse.  I had gotten so used to not thinking about what I was wearing that I don't think I realized how much variety I actually have in my wardrobe.  (Though I don't apologize for wearing the yellow skirt and the linen Bonn so much - I imagine those will continue to be on heavy rotation.  They're definitely winners!)

On to summer!