I made some jeans!

I’m very proud of them.

There was also a lot of Learning™ to be had during this process. Let’s talk about it!

This whole process came about in half because I came across this fabric and became obsessed with the idea of some yee-haw cow print jeans (in the queer way, not the conservative way) and in half because I bought a pair of Peachay jeans and had a revelation that I could actually wear 100% (non-stretch) jeans.

As most women will tell you, jeans shopping is an experience best reserved for the deepest level of hell and I mostly avoid it where I can. I found one style of jean that worked for me and bought a few pairs in 2018 and that’s been it for the last 5 years. Based on those experiences, I genuinely believed non-stretch jeans were a physical impossibility for my body type (mostly due to my large waist to hip ratio).

Writing that down is actually a tad embarrassing – imagine thinking that your abled size 8-12 body was so unique that an entire category of clothing was impossible for you to wear. Yikes.

But, to give myself a little grace, I think it shows the toll that a lifetime of ill-fitting jeans and stress in fitting rooms can have on a person.

Anyway, armed now with the knowledge that I could physically wear non-stretch jeans, I began my deep dive into the process of making my own.

I decided on the Dawn Jeans by Megan Nielson – I liked the high waisted, tight fit across the waist and hips and the straight leg option. Basically, I was just trying to find a pattern that would emulate my Peachay jeans the best.

However, after buying the pattern I did a deep dive into reviews of the pattern, some of which were very unflattering and made me second-guess my decision. People had issues with the crotch-curve, the rise, the instructions for the zip fly, the inseam length, the thigh width and the waistband size. Basically, seemed like people had issues with everything but the pockets.

But I was not daunted. I was going to try the hot new fitting method that promised immediate success with all pants; Top Down Centre Out. I was going to win!

(Spoiler: I did not win)

I tried very hard to make TDCO work for me – I could not figure it out. I’m not sure whether it was the presence of a yoke (people seemed to disagree whether the yoke should be treated as part of the waistband or the leg) or whether it was because (I think) the back crotch curve wasn’t suitable for my body. I think I will have another go at it later (with something that is not a jeans pattern) but for this project, I went back to my old and trusted fitting process – occasionally mathematical, mostly spiritual.

I was now staring down a big project of a brand new type of garment, expensive fabric and a pattern I’d had zero luck in fitting so far. I was not feeling super confident. So I did what every stressed sewist does in this situation – went to Spotlight and got some more fabric. I picked up some cotton canvas on sale and decided to just go for it and fix the issues as they arose. I had spent all this time researching and googling and watching youtube videos and reading pattern reviews and ended up feeling paralysed.

I was so focused on making “the perfect pair of jeans” I had completely forgotten where I started; which was to just have a pair of jeans that fit.

Basically, if the pants went over my thighs and hips and they didn’t gape horrifically in the waist, they’d already be better than 98% of the jeans I could buy OTR. Anything above that is just a bonus.

God, the bar is so low.

But, it was what allowed me to cut into my canvas. I have made pants that fit before – I could do it with these. And I did! They fit pretty well! And while obviously I’ll be diving into the things I’d do differently next time, I think it’s incredibly important to keep that in mind – these jeans fit me. And they fit me pretty well. And, it wasn’t that hard to get a good fit, I just had to be patient and follow the process (and try them on approximately 300 times).

In terms of pattern specifics, I made a 14, grading to an 8 in the waist. My measurements technically put me in a size 12 at the hip but considering the pattern only has 0.5in of ease at the hips, I thought it prudent to size up just in case. In hindsight, I could have made the 12, I took a huge 2.5in out of the back centre seam and used 1inch seam allowances for the side seam. Surprisingly, I ended up taking the waist in quite a bit so the final measurements of the pants ended up a smidge bigger than a 6 at the waist and a 12 and the hips.

I also scooped the back crotch curve out (not down) by an inch, based on people’s reviews and my own spiritual assessment that the crotch curve looked quite shallow. I’ve still got a lot of drag lines in the back (just under my butt) so I clearly haven’t quite nailed the fit but I definitely think it was the right thing to do.

The other main changes I made were to curve the yoke, cut a longer waistband (size 10) and cut the leg length between the regular and tall length. These changes are where my opinion of the pattern starts to go downhill…

Firstly, the yoke. Turns out, the point of the yoke in jeans is to provide shaping – it’s basically the pattern piece you end up with when you rotate your standard back darts to the side seams. Who knew? (Certainly not me I think I’d just assumed a yoke was more aesthetic than functional). Also, turns out that a lot of the shaping happens through the curve of the yoke. The Dawn Jeans have a straight yoke and a curved waistband, meaning that you do get shaping through the shape of the waistband but it was definitely not enough for me. According to my googling, a straight yoke is not a common feature for jeans at all and I can’t really see it working for anyone that is used to having to grade down at the waist. Very happy to be proven wrong here though – would love to know if I’ve misunderstood something about yoke function. Either way, I had to make some serious changes to stop the yoke from pulling in some weird directions.

Secondly, the waistband. When I posted that I was making these jeans on Instagram, I had multiple people reach out to me to tell me that there was an error on the waistband piece and that I needed to cut a longer piece. Luckily, I’d already found that out myself from various pattern reviews and cut a size 10 – which was the right move. Clearly there is an error in the piece and it’s actually not big enough for the corresponding leg pieces. I understand that everyone makes mistakes but considering this pattern has been out since 2018 and to my knowledge, there have not been any pattern updates, it feels pretty poor…

Thirdly, the inseam (which is something I never thought I’d be writing about). For context, I have short legs, way shorter than my overall height would indicate. I was not blessed with limb length. I always shorten pants. For these, I actually cut them LONGER than the regular length (halfway between regular and tall). Again, I only did this thanks to bloggers doing the good work of communicating this very weird choice in length.

It does technically state in the pattern that the regular full inseam is 27.5in and the tall full inseam is 31.5in but it is in very small print and to be honest, who checks for inseam length? I never check but 19 times out 20 I take out 1-2 inches from pants and they nearly always require further shortening. In my experience, it’s one of the few things that is very very standard across the industry. The only time I’d specifically check the inseam is if I was making something from a brand that caters to a very specific look or body type (e.g. Charm Patterns or Muna and Broad). For a company that caters to the average Aussie woman, I’d expect it to be pretty standard and if it’s not standard, I’d expect that to be brazenly said, in large bold letters, and not hidden at the bottom of a size chart.

Overall, the pattern is quite good – I found the instructions to be very clear, comprehensive and easy to follow. However, those few weird choices would honestly make me think twice about buying from the company again. We are so blessed to live in the age of the internet and there are so many incredible patterns circulating in the community that I can access with a tap of my finger – I don’t want to spend my time and money on patterns that I feel like I have to second guess. If I wanted to second-guess every decision, I’d just self-draft.

But, let’s not forget that I have a pair of jeans! That I made! And that fit me! And that as straight cut jean in millennial pink make me feel like the fashionable zillennial I am.

Next stop, cow-print!