My First Pair of Jeans!

I have a couple of PDF patterns for jeans and decided to settle on the Megan Nielsen Ash Jeans. The Ash Jeans come with a few variations to choose from including a slim, skinny, flare and wide leg. For this pair I decided to do a skinny leg pair as I would mostly wear skinny jeans. In the pattern instructions there is a very helpful section about choosing stretch fabrics and choosing your size. These jeans are meant to be close fitting so I wanted to ensure I didn't choose too big a size like I have in the earlier days of sewing. My measurements are a 29" waist and 39" hips so I chose a size 29 according to the pattern. I also chose the longest length and then trimmed the jeans to my desired length around my ankle. 

As it was a stretch denim I was using, I used a stretch needle. 

Before jeans making I had done my first zip fly in my Tilly and the Buttons Ness skirt - I used a video tutorial to assemble mine. But this time I followed the instructions on how to do the zip fly and I have to say they were so clear and easy to understand. I got it right the first time round! So if the zip fly is putting you off making your first pair of jeans, fear not! 

Do take your time top stitching around your zip fly. There is a little imperfection in mine around the base of the zip but I fixed it the best I could. 

I quite enjoy making pocket bags now having also done it before on my Ness skirt. It's always fun to choose a contrasting fabric. I chose some of the lilac stripe Irish Linen that I used in previous projects. The pocket bags are always handy for using up smaller fabric offcuts. 

I will also add starting out I planned to use an ochre colour for topstitching thread and a navy for all other seams. But I soon got fed up with changing the thread so I used all ochre coloured thread for all stitching. If you do prefer to use different threads, the instructions tell you when you need to switch threads. 

For the back pockets I really wanted to do a fun design but couldn't settle on one at the time, so was happy to have plain pockets for my first pair. 

When it came to doing the inseams and side seams, I was tempted to sew these all at the same time. But then realised it would make it way easier to topstitch the inseams before sewing up the side seams. 

One of the things I struggled with was getting the waistband even all the way round, but I settled with it pretty much even all the way round. When attaching the waistband, make sure you attach it along the zip fly. I didn't do this and instead of unpicking the whole waistband and all that topstitching, I added an extra piece of fabric to the end which is covered by the button anyway.

To finish my jeans off I used the vegan leather patch from Megan Nielsen which says 'Megan Nielsen Patterns I Made These'. It really gives a professional finish to the jeans and I love promoting the fact I made my own jeans. 

My next pair of jeans that I want to make are the Megan Nielsen Dawn jeans. I have a fabric from Pound Fabrics which will be perfect to make sure I get the correct fit in those before buying more expensive fabric. I would definitely recommend Megan Nielsen patterns for starting off in jeans making. 

Thanks for reading, Rebekah x

Keyword: Dressmaking 

ref: 22 | My First Pair of Jeans!