One month, in pre-demic times, I tried three different jeans patterns for the first time.

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The Gingers and Jamies got a lot of wear, but the Morgans just… didn’t.

I think the fabric I used for that “wearable muslin” of Morgan has the most to do with why I didn’t ever reach for them. I used a Robert Kaufman Canyon Colored Denim, mahogany, the weight of which is 6 ounces per square yard. That weight is better suited for shorts or a skirt, perhaps, but it doesn’t give quite the right feel for a solid pair of jeans.

Fast forward a few years. I’ve been making pandemic pants (soft pants; think stretch and elastic) on repeat.

The thing is though, my stash harbors quite a bit of “hard” fabric, aka non-stretch stuff.

Circa label by Kylie and The Machine. Washable paper sourced from Citron Jeans.

Long story short, pairing a 10 ounce railroad denim (LA Finch Fabrics sourced, early 2020) with the Morgan pattern was much more successful than my first attempt.

I was hoping I could get a fit similar to a pair of ready-to-wear (rtw) jeans I love. As such, after cutting the main pieces of Morgan, I compared them to my distressed rtw jeans. I was quite pleased when everything was right on track for the front and back. The biggest difference was the yoke on the jeans I was recreating was quite a bit smaller though. Fact is I had altered them for a better waist fit, using large darts to achieve the shaping. I traced the rtw yoke onto tracing paper, then added a 5/8” seam allowance. I trimmed Morgan’s yoke down to match.

The construction is very straightforward and without surprise. I did opt to install a zipper instead of the concealed buttons at the fly. This doesn’t require any change to the pattern pieces. I followed the Ginger sewalong for the zipper insertion. (Hey June has another great zipper setting tutorial.)

I chose to finish the waistband facing with bias binding. It’s a finish one finds on trousers for whatever reason, but I couldn’t resist the extra pop of accent fabric.

My favorite hardware source is Citron Jeans on Etsy.

I need to back up a smidge! The waistband took 2 tries. The Morgan band, while somewhat contoured, resulted in a big gape at the center back. That’s the number one place I’m always making fit adjustments.

Morgan waistband vs more contoured band (right)

I grabbed my favorite waistband, the band from the Bryce cargos, for comparison.

It turned out simply swapping in the more contoured band was just the ticket.

Quality Shit and Look After Me labels by Kylie and the Machine. Personal label by Dutch Label.

I’m still planning to add some accent color bar tacks, but that requires a trip to the store for color matching.

So I LOVE these jeans. I feel like they fit marvelously right off the machines. And so far I haven’t even brought up a discussion of sizing. I had prepped a size 10 in 2018 when I made Morgans the first time. I can’t say exactly what my measurements were three years ago. Upon reviewing the size chart and my current hip measurement of 39”, I decided to stick with that same size this time (which also fits my lazy style). Now, though, I do wonder if it may make sense to actually sew Morgan in a size smaller, given rigid denim’s propensity to relax with wear.

The answer to all sizing questions is always C, make a muslin.

I included comparison images below of my Morgans after a day of wear.

I will also mention I didn't interface my waistband since I figured the rigid denim didn't need the extra stabilization. I'm strongly considering opening the band and adding some since I didn't put in the effort of the bar tacks yet.

But is this actually selvedge denim??

I honestly hadn't given it that much thought until this comment was left when Closet Core shared my images. (Insert long discussion of social media reporting etiquette here.)