This post is going to be a 2 for 1 but I’ve made both of these patterns before! I made the Grainline Studio Willow Tank and the Closet Case Patterns Ginger Jeans as shorts. I’ve made two versions of the willow tank before (a cropped version and a regular version) and I’ve made three pairs of Ginger Jeans before. Version one is the high waisted version. I actually used left over denim from that version to make these shorts so its a pretty interesting comparison to see how far I’ve come since my first Ginger Jeans! Version two and version three are both the low rise version.
Don’t tell my other willow tanks but this version is by far my favorite. The fabric just hangs away from my body and is so light and airy. It feels amazing to wear and I’m sure this is going to get lots of wears! I used the Loominous fabric by Anna Maria Horner. The design is completely woven in to the fabric!
Just look how cool that fabric is! I got this fabric from a local quilting shop and they didn’t quite have enough fabric but I made it work and was able to fit it all on the fabric I had.
I’ve made the high rise Ginger Jeans and two pairs of low rise but I’ve been wanting something more in the middle so I decided I wanted to try the mid-rise version. Since I’ve been struggling a bit with the fit I wanted to make a short muslin of the mid-rise before I go for the full length jeans. These shorts are definitely my best fitting pair so far but I’m still struggling with the crotch. This fabric does stretch out throughout the day and is a bit thinner and with a higher sheen than the cone mills denim I used for my other pairs so it definitely shows the wrinkles more. Other than that they fit pretty well though… I’m thinking that I might try the Megan Nielsen Ash Jeans though to see if those have the same issues with the crotch. Have any of you tried the ash jeans? From pictures it seems like people aren’t having as many crotch issues but it also calls for fabric with more stretch…
I adjusted the back yoke since my last pair and they are fitting much better in that area! I feel like I’m really close on getting this pattern to fit exactly how I want it to but I’m also a bit discouraged that after 4 versions I still haven’t figured out the crotch… I took apart a pair of ready to wear jeans that were threadbare and I’m hoping to compare those to my pattern for the Ginger Jeans that I’ve been adjusting and the Ash Jeans and then decide what my next step will be.