As I shared in my last post, jeans drafting and fitting has been a nice little quarantine project and a welcome distraction from tomorrow's election drama in the US. Since making my first wearable pair with lots of adjustments to the back crotch curve, I have since made a few more pairs with some adjustments to the front crotch curve. So I thought I'd share my thoughts on that today.
Fabric: 2 yds Robert Kaufman super stretch denim
Cost: $30
I really loved how my first pair of jeans felt, but in the photos I noticed a lot of crotch wrinkles at the front. The first thing I usually do to fix this is pinch out some of the height. You can literally do this while wearing them - grab and pinch that wrinkle and note how much you want to take out and where. Below you can see those pesky wrinkles (left) and the pattern adjustment (right).
This adjustment, along with lowering the waistline a smidge, seemed to make a difference on my next pair. I had also tried a new fly front technique on my first pair which didn't go over well, so I went back to my tried and true fly front construction from Close Core's Ginger Jeans - much better!
However, while the upper wrinkles had somewhat subsided, I was still bothered by the little whiskers around the front crotch. To address this, you can trim some of the excess fabric from the inner thigh.
Rather than making a whole new pair, I opened up this second pair at the inner leg seam and took in the excess fabric. I'm pretty happy with the results!
That said, perfection is elusive. Little wrinkles can appear based on how I stand, the fabric I use, and how much it bags out during the day. You can see this in the image below, where some of those little wrinkles seem to pop back up again. So I'm trying not to let perfectionism be the enemy of the good and just enjoy my pants and the small changes as I sew them. Plus those wrinkles give you some wearing ease and space to move around, which you need if you're working with anything other than leggings.
I'm also loving this Robert Kaufman super stretch denim. I've heard it recommended and it was finally back in stock online so I ordered a couple of yards. It did not disappoint! It's stretchy and soft and makes for some pretty comfortable jeans. They do bag out a little but not too much. But be warned - they do tend to bleed indigo (as advertised) and my hands were very blue after sewing them up. Those issues aside, this pair of jeans has quickly become a favorite in my closet.
I also made up a pair of pull-on pants with this pattern in a stretch ponti-type corded fabric. This was before making any adjustments to the front crotch and you can see that this fabric is much more forgiving as far as wrinkles go. It's all a bit maddening trying to figure out!
So what's next? I'm planning to put the skinnies aside for the time being and use this pattern to make a slightly less fitted pair. I plan on keeping the fit through the hips but with more of a straight leg for my next pants. Maybe in a plaid for the holidays? So many possibilities!
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