I love making jeans, and when I found some heavy denim, 12oz in fact, at The Fabric Store in Adelaide for only $8 a metre, I knew they would be perfect for some hardwearing jeans. They would also be ideal for my talk at the Mitcham Hills Sewing Guild group who wanted to learn about working with denim as their project for the year was a denim jacket. And slipping in that jeans are possible to sew and shouldn’t be put in the “too hard” basket, doesn’t hurt.
Jeans Pattern Used
The Seamwork Tessa Jeans pattern is designed for denim with no stretch so this is the perfect fabric and pattern.
As this is my third time using this pattern I knew from the outset that I’d be making a size 18. My previous pair were in a size 20 in a selvedge denim, so they were stiff and showed every fitting flaw. Clearly showing that I should have made a smaller size as they are baggy all over.
This was also a great opportunity to spend some time on improving the fit.
Fitting the Jeans
I measured the pattern in a size 18 and could tell from the outset that I’d need to add extra width to the calf area. So 2cm was added to the Back piece and 1cm to the Front.
I made up the pattern in calico and set to work on getting them to fit well. Using Google and my fitting books I added to the back crotch seam, then unpicked the crotch and some of the inseam, used 5mm seam allowance for upper inseam, lowered the back crotch curve, put darts in yoke and still didn’t look right.
The bagginess in the back of the thigh above the knee looked like it was caused by knock knees shown in a fitting book. I made a copy of the pattern with a knock knee adjustment and made up another pair in calico. Only to determine I don’t have knock knees. So scraped that idea completely.
Knowing that I could waste a lot more time on fitting I went with changes to the size 18 pattern that did make a difference:
- Yoke: Remove 3cm from top edge by slashing the pattern and making overlapped darts – spread over 2 darts.
- Back: Add 1 cm on each side of the calf, grading from 5cm above knee to hem.
- Front: Add 5mm on each side of the calf, grading from 5cm above knee to hem
- Back and Front: Shorten by 3cm (I’m 170cm or 5″ 6)
I have since found a YouTube clip by J Stern Designs – Pants Fitting: How a Prominent Front Thigh Affects the Back Leg, that showed the same bagginess behind the thigh that I found in my first calico toile. She called it “athletic thighs”, meaning more flesh at thigh front, which is definitely what I have. So my next pants or jeans I will try out these changes.
Cutting Out
The jeans were cut out so all pieces were in the one direction. I used the waistband from the Closet Core Ginger Jeans that is also curved like the one from the Tessa Jeans, but I know fits me perfectly. Fusible interfacing was applied to both waistband pieces as I like it to be sturdy.
For the back pockets I cut out fusible interfacing to cover the area where I was going to do some topstitching to provide some stabilisation.
I used some yellow cotton with pink daisies for the front pockets and plan to have the right side of the fabric facing my body so I can see that pretty fabric when I put on my jeans.
Sewing the Jeans
Pretty smooth sailing with sewing up these jeans as it has been the third time for this pattern.
The topstitching detail on the back pockets comes from the free 33 Back Pockets Designs download from Closet Core Patterns. I used design #9 as inspiration, but I did make the curve a bit flatter and used a mirror version to give a nice wave look.
Sewing the Zipper
As I’ve sewn quite a few pants and jeans I have come to my preferred method of inserting the zipper. I have written up in a previous post, How to Sew a Fly Front Zipper without an Overlocker, where I have sewn the interfacing to the fly extension, then fused it. I have done this technique on these jeans too. But I defer to different instructions in some areas as the post was for pants that don’t have the same topstitching detail.
Instead of overlocking the long raw edge of the zipper guard I covered it with the same fabric I used for the pockets.
With both the pockets and the zipper guard finished in this cheery yellow print it’s a delight to put on these jeans. Also see the bottom of the pockets are finished with a french seam whereby two rows of stitching are used to create a strong, clean finish.
Jean Review
There is still some bagginess on the back legs that I will address next time with an “athletic thigh” adjustment. Overall I’m really happy with how they turned out. I can’t believe it was only a few years ago I didn’t think I could sew jeans with all that topstitching detail, now with a lot of confidence I don’t think twice.
I have only worn these jeans for photos so far as they have been my demonstration jeans for my talk for Mitcham Hills Sewing Guild, and will be used again for another talk at the Marryatville Sewing Guild group for the topic of “Sewing Pockets”. So I can’t comment yet on how comfortable they are and if they (as I suspect) will be for cold weather only.
In the photos below I am wearing the Tessa jeans with my Aqua and Navy Circles Top.
Pattern: Seamwork Tessa Jeans, Size 18
Fabric: 2m x 12oz Denim, 100% cotton from The Fabric Store – AU$16.00
Pocket Fabric: 30cm x Yellow with pink daisy, 100% cotton from Spotlight – AU$1.00
Interfacing: Black Collars and Cuffs Interfacing from Melanns (interfacing name is unknown) – approx AU$2.00
Buttons: 1x 16mm Hemline Jeans Button from DK Fabrics – AU$1.00
Zip: 25cm Black Jeans Zip from Melanns – AU$4.50
Rivets: 8x Jeans Rivets from DK Fabrics – AU$0.55
Sewing Machine Thread: Rasant Polyester 3356 (Navy), Gold Topstitching Thread from AliExpress – approx AU$0.50
Overlocker Thread: Serafil 120/2 Col 1000 (off white), Woolly Nylon (beige) – approx AU$0.50
Cost of Jeans: AU$26.05
Sewing Machine Settings on my Memory Craft 3500:
- Sewing Machine Needle: Universal 90, (Universal 80 for lining)
- Seams: Tension of 4.0, Stitch Length of 2.6
- Topstitching: Tension of 4.0, Stitch Length of 3.0
- Buttonhole: #7, Width 5.0, Length of 0.3
Overlocker Settings on my Janome 644D:
- Needle: HAx1 SP 90
- 3 Thread – Serafil in needle, 2x Woolly Nylon in loopers
- Thread Tension: 4.0 2.2 3.8
- Stitch Length: 3.0
- Differential Feed: 1.0
Have you tackled jeans yet? Go on you’ll love the challenge.
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