Closet Core Patterns Ginger Skinny Jeans Pattern Muslin #1

It’s no fear jeans month, and I’m 1000% on board! Let’s do this. Over the weekend I watched Closet Core Patterns “Sew Your Dream Jeans” online workshop. It was just the boost I needed to kick off the no fear jeans month. In between watching the videos, I traced out my pattern pieces and got ready to make my first basted muslin.

Size

I am going to take this journey super slow and make sure not to rush it. I want to enjoy the process and not feel like I have to sew something NOW NOW NOW! I ended up cutting out a straight size 14 of Version B. Here’s the size chart for the pattern.

My waist measures 33″, hips 43″, and inseam 35″. I was debating about going between a size 14 or 16 and normally I would’ve gone up a size to give myself wiggle room with the pattern, but cutting out the size 14 was absolutely the right decision.

For this first pair, I am using stretch denim from Joann. I did NOT prewash the fabric as I didn’t want to stress out about making this a wearable muslin. I put too much pressure on myself with muslins sometimes. I don’t want to be wasteful. This was a no pressure situation. I also only made this a basted muslin. What I did was just cut on the front and back pieces, the back yoke, one waistband, and pocket facings for the front to complete the pocket area. I sewed the pants together with a super long stitch so that I could unpick easily.

Waistline

Starting at the waistline, the first thing I noticed is that I have a LOT of gapping in the back along the center back seam. The waistband doesn’t feel like it needs to go any tighter though.

The second thing I notice is warbling along the side seams. The pants feel like they are a little too high waisted all around.

The bottom of my finger is where my belly button begins. Even if you consider that the top ⅝” is going to be folded down when I finally make the pants, that’s still significantly above my belly button.

Crotch

For the crotch area, the front doesn’t look too bad. If I make sure my pants are fully hiked up, the front crotch doesn’t have any odd draglines.

I did notice that there was a little bit of fabric I could pinch out along the back crotch area. I assume that excess fabric will pool up over time as I wear the jeans and they stretch out throughout the day.

Knee & Calf

The next issue is around the knee and calf. Holy cow. The fabric is twisting a bunch around the knee, and it is SUPER tight across the calf. So unsightly.

Length

The last issue is the length. These basted muslin pants aren’t even hemmed in these photos. I am going to have to add several inches. Tall girl problems!

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Amazingly, I find this pattern nearly perfect. The few problem areas are actually rather minimal in my book. Lengthening a pattern, well that’s just what I do! I’m tall. Minor things are needed for the waistband and crotch areas. Any pant pattern I’ve ever worked with requires some major alterations. I’m so relieved that this pattern is already so close to perfect.

I am just featuring my first muslin for this post. Next post, I will let you know what edits I make and go into detail about all of that. Right now, here are the pants in all their glory! Stay tuned for edits and my second muslin!