Pattern: Closet Core Patterns – Ginger Jeans as Shorts

Date Sewn: I traced, altered, and cut these out in June of 2019.  I didn’t get them sewn up until July 2020 (oops).

My measurements at the time of tracing were 32 waist, 46 hip – right now I measure 31 waist, 45.5 hip  so very similar.

Size used: Based on my measurements I made a size 12 waist and then the front a size 14 hip, the back I did an 18 hip. To be honest, I was being really lazy and just used the pattern I had traced and altered when I made my jeans back in June 2017 and those were the sizes I had used.

Alterations: besides the above mixing of sizes, I also sewed the inner and outer legs with a 3/8” Seam allowance instead of 1/4 because I had gained some weight since those 1st jeans. After I sewed up the entire shorts, I found the waistband to be about 3” too short.  This happened on my Jalie shorts I was also working on and has happened in the past for me too.  I just sewed on a 3” piece and kept sewing to finish them.  I wear a belt always anyway so it isn’t noticeable that I did this.

Instructions: The instructions for this pattern are fantastic. These are hands down the best pants/jeans instructions I’ve ever encountered.  I’d buy this pattern just for those.  There are nice easy steps, very detailed, and lots of pictures.  There is also a sew-a-long on the Closet Core website; however the pattern instructions are written so well, I didn’t’ need to reference the sew-a-long.

Fabric: “Midnight Blue Stretch Denim” that I purchased in Feb 2016 from fashionfabrics club for $6.25/yd.  96% Cotton 4% Lycra. They were the leftovers from when I made my original jeans.

Thoughts:  I like these a lot.  I lightened some of the photos so they can be seen better but the shorts are very dark in color.  I like how soft the material is.   I have done some extensive pants fitting since tracing and cutting these so I would do differently if I were to make them again.  Mainly I would use a straight size 16 but grade down the waist. Then I would do a knock knee alteration and also I would raise the back rise 1/2” to 3/4” by slashing and spread across the back piece at hip level.  However, as I mentioned, these were already cut out and I just didn’t get to sewing them in 2019. Too many health issues came up and I also didn’t feel like the whole long process of sewing jean shorts.  I wanted jean shorts, I just didn’t want to put in the work! I finished these in July and have worn then quite a bit since.  They still have some fit issues but they are totally wearable.

Health update: I have been a bit absent lately because I have been dealing with even more health issues. It never seems to end.  I have been feeling especially poorly the last year or so and I took some tests in September and found out I had C. diff.  This was a total shock to me.  I finished the gross medicine – which also made me feel terrible and I’m now just waiting to retest.  I also had to start doing b12 injections because I can never seem to get it up by sublingual.  So, two very crazy things and I’m just trying to muddle through and hope I feel functional on the other side. On a positive note I finally received 2 negative H. pylori tests a year apart so I can confidently say I have beaten H. pylori! Yay!  Now that I’ve hopefully cured the C. diff, my stomach has settled down slightly and I feel a bit better.

Thanks for reading!

Kristin