OK nothing prepared me for how much I would LOVE custom fitted jeans. Nothing. I had no idea just how uncomfortable my jeans were before I made the Ginger jeans. I am so in love with my new jeans and the way I was able to alter the pattern to fit my body perfectly. What a game changer in how I feel about wearing jeans, or any pants for that matter. Trust the process, inserting the fly seems odd but it ends up absolutely perfect every time. I can't say enough. I will be making more and I don't think I can ever go back to ill-fitting store-bought jeans ever again!

I bought my first sewing machine at age 58 in December 2020 to make masks, just to give a background of my lack of experience before trying these jeans. I did dive into things head first though--after masks and bowl cozies, and made a collarless jacket and then a collared blazer. In Oct 2022 I decided to try jeans. After a little experimentation, I ended up doing midrise skinny, but opened up the seam allowances down the leg to 3/8" to keep them from being TOO skinny. I used a white stretch denim from Mood Fabrics. I was so sure they'd come out completely botched that I didn't even use a real jeans zipper--just a regular nylon one. Also bought the video tutorial and used that and the online free tutorial for most of my help.

They not only fit me really well in size 8, but came out so well that I wish now I'd used a jeans zipper. The fly wasn't bad at all, nor was the topstitching or belt loops. The only thing I had trouble with was installing the button. I was afraid I'd ruin my jeans, and that was the very last step. Hubby got involved and used a pliers, which slightly dented the button but got it mostly on (still not over that last hump). I don't know how other people are doing it, but that really was the only hard part of these jeans. They took awhile, but I'm a slow sewer. I did the entire thing on an old Kenmore from the late '60s, including a manual buttonhole using the tack stitch, and finished seams on my Juki MO-655 serger. Also, went thru the motions of doing the coin pocket, but didn't actually sew it in, as I wanted these to look a little less like jeans (did topstitching in the fabric color for the same reason). I'm thrilled to death, and have fabric to make many more. Next I'm going to try the stovepipe legs with a low seat adjustment.

The only thing I wish is that there were an option to NOT sew the pocket stay. I don't like all that fabric up front. I made my own regular pocket, and it came out fine, but it would be nice to have that option already with the pattern. Thinking about a hand press for the buttons though.

Everyone raves about this pattern, and Heather deserves all the praise she gets. This experience was really fun. BTW, even without the low seat adjustment, these jeans fit me better than anything RTW that I own.

After a couple of toiles, I think I've got my fit pretty well - only very minor adjustments. A corduroy pair and a denim pair now grace my wardrobe. These are the most comfortable jeans I've ever owned and I can see a lot more in my future! And I love the way the instructions and the sewalong on the site complement each other.

I have made numerous pairs of Ginger jeans. With a few changes, they fit me perfectly. Excellent instructions. Just when I wanted to try non-skinny jeans, there was a new stove pipe leg version. This version is cut out and waiting to be sewn.

These jeans fit so nicely and the pattern is well laid out and easy to understand. These were not my first jeans, and I made some small changes to the pattern in order to make sure that they fit me, the biggest of which being the blending of sizes 28 and 30. These are my favorite make so far and I will definitely make more of these later!