My Queen’s Gambit jeans

I've made the Closet Core Morgan jeans a few times now. I have a pair made from IKEA curtains and pair of brown cords from deadstock fabric, not yet blogged but discussed on Instagram. I love this pattern, it’s well drafted and comes together like a dream. I bought the Sew Your Dream Jeans online course a few years ago, using birthday funds, and it’s been the best investment in sewing trousers. I’ve certainly made a few that haven’t worked out, mostly because of errors in fabric selection, but overall I would say my trouser-sewing skills have been vastly improved by using that e-course.

My inspiration for this version was Beth Harmon’s high waist, 1960s cuffed jeans (seen above) with selvedge denim turn-ups. That show is worth a watch on many levels, not least the story, writing and acting, but the fashion, style and costumes are amazing. The character of Beth wears some incredible outfits, but these jeans particularly caught my eye. Much as I love mid-century fashion (see also: Mad Men), I know enough about myself to know what styles will and won’t fit into my wardrobe. These high waist, deep cuff jeans were a winner.

I had the blue denim in my stash for an embarrassingly long time. If I’m honest, I don’t even remember where it came from, but my suspicion is I bought it from a deadstock shop on Etsy, using a voucher gifted to me when I left a previous job. It was perfect for this project though, just the right weight for my machine not to struggle too much over the seams with multiple layers of fabric. I cut these out in January 2022 and batch sewed them alongside the brown cord pair, until the waistband. I knew I would need to make some minor adjustments to the waistband (namely a sway back adjustment, or pinching an inch out of the centre yoke back) and I was reluctant to make the same adjustment to both, in case it didn’t work out. I continued with the brown cords, finished and wore them and then just never got round to coming back to these jeans.

The imminent demise of another pair of jeans, prompted me to dig these out of my unfinished projects pile and crack on. In true sewing-procrastination style, a job I’d put off for over a year ended up taking about 3 evenings to finish. My brown cord waistband adjustments had been successful, so I transferred the same changes over onto this version. I didn’t have enough matching rivets and studs, to do true jeans hardware, but I found these shiny gold buttons in my stash instead.

I finished the edges of the cuff seams with burgundy silk bias binding, made from silk scraps. I like the colour as a nod to the original inspiration picture, of the peek of red you get with jeans made from selvedge denim. It’s a smart way to finish the cuff seams and I’ll definitely replicate that method again.

I’m really happy with these jeans. They’re comfortable and for the first time ever, I don’t want to strip them off and get straight into joggies the moment I cross the threshold. They’re quite a straight, boyfriend cut, so I feel I need to be careful not to match them with anything too boxy on top. I’m embracing the androgynous style though and they look great with boots!