Megan Nielsen Wide-legged Dawn Jeans

 

I'm really enjoying long, in-depth sewing projects at the moment so making a pair of jeans was high up on my list of sewing plans. There's something about the combined effect of the month of January and being in lockdown that makes sewing a necessity. Having lots of sewing time at the moment does mean that I've been making things quite quickly though, so I really wanted an involved project. I also really enjoy sewing jeans, there's nothing quite like the satisfaction of being able to wear a pair of jeans that you've made yourself. A sewing goal of mine for the past few years has been to make trousers (especially jeans) that fit really well and I'm slowly getting there. Each new project brings me a little closer to the perfect fit that doesn't exist with ready to wear clothes.

I'm constantly talking about my sewing plans and have had a pair of light wash denim jeans planned for ages. My mum is great at choosing fabric and for Christmas my parents gave me this gorgeous pale blue denim fabric from Fabrics Galore. It's really good quality 12oz denim, perfect for a pair of rigid jeans, but what I like the most about it is the colour. There are so many different shades of denim and finding the right one is really difficult. This one is the perfect pale blue. It was such a lovely denim fabric to sew with and I'm really tempted to buy it in the other colour ways and make jeans in every shade!

I knew I wanted to make a pair of light denim jeans but it took me a long time to decide what style. The Megan Nielsen Dawn Jeans pattern is such a great rigid jeans pattern to have, with four different views to choose from. I made the tapered leg version last year out of corduroy and have been wanting to make a denim pair since so I was tempted to make a classic pair of mom jeans, perhaps with a raw hem. However, I've noticed an emergence of long wide-legged jeans recently and I wanted to have a go at making a pair, so the denim was destined for View C of the Dawn Jeans pattern.

I've liked wide-legged trousers for a while but have only recently started wearing them frequently. A large feature of this style of jeans is that they overlap the shoe by quite a large amount, rather than ending at or just above the ankle which is what I'm used to wearing. When I made my black Lander Pants at the start of 2020 they felt like quite a different style to my norm. It didn't take long for me to enjoy wearing them and I then made a pair of longer Lander Pants at the end of last year. These jeans still feel different to those longer Landers though. I think it's because the leg is quite a bit wider, and also the blue denim feels like a bit more of a statement than the cream corduroy.

I'm sure it won't take long for this length to feel completely normal though, it's amazing to see how quickly my sewing has evolved and what I wear now that I never would have before. I do really like the long length overall and it definitely matches the look I was going for, but I was tempted to hem them about 2" higher when I first tried them on.

I left quite a deep hem on the denim which I think always looks better when using a heavyweight fabric. I did run out of topstitch thread right at the end though so was only able to do a single row for the hem. It isn't really noticeable, but I'd like to go back and add another row once I've bought more thread.

It always takes me a while to decide what colour thread to use for topstitching. I really like contrast topstitching and have enjoyed using it as a feature on makes such as my Rosa Shirtdress. For this denim I thought about using a pale grey thread like the one I used on my Moss Skirt, and I think it would have looked nice but I decided to stick to a matching colour thread. Using a topstitch weight thread means that you still get a nice texture even if you use a matching colour. I've never actually used a contrast thread on jeans before as my Ginger Jeans also have matching thread, so it's something that I'll have to try next time.

Like I said I did run out of topstitch thread right at the end - very frustrating! In order to finish the jeans enough to wear them I just did one row of topstitching around the back pockets and the hem. I'm hoping to have enough fabric leftover to make a pair of shorts so will be buying more thread anyway and I'll go back and add a second row at a later date.

One of my favourite design features of jeans are the small details like bar tacks and topstitching which stand out to me even in a matching colour thread. I've never added an embroidery detail onto the back pockets of jeans but I'd like to give that a go at some point.

The ultimate goal when making a pair of jeans is, of course, to get the fit right. This is something that I've been struggling with for ages and always spend a long time trying to get just right. I have quite a large difference between my hip and waist measurements meaning that if I get the waist the right size trousers are often too tight on the hips. Rather than grading between sizes I cut out a size 6, which is the size my hip measurements put me in, and then took out about 1cm from either side seam (4cm from the waist in total) starting at the top and going down in a triangle shape to rejoin the normal seam allowance at the hips. This means that I can adjust the sizing after I've tried the trousers on rather than cutting them smaller and risking them ending up too small. Doing this before adding on the waistband avoids any gaping in the waistband once the jeans are finished.

Another important part of the fitting process is to baste the side seams together first. I did this at a 1cm seam allowance rather than 1.5, although 1.5cm ended up being right in the end. This enabled me to see how much I needed to take in at the waist and avoided any potential unpicking. When I sewed my corduroy pair of Dawn Jeans they ended up really tight at the leg and I had to unpick the seams. I think it was to do with the adjustment I made to the centre back seam and also the fact that I sewed the tapered leg version, so tightness on the leg wasn't an issue with these jeans but basting the side seams is always a good 'just in case' measure to take.

Taking out a sliver of excess fabric at the side seams was pretty simple and not the main adjustment I made. I often find that jeans gape at the back and nearly always have to take a wedge of fabric out of the centre back seam when making them. I tried on my corduroy Dawn Jeans several times while making this pair to check the fit. I managed to do a pretty good job making my first pair of Dawn Jeans fit, so I knew that I'd need to do a similar adjustment of taking about 1" out of the centre back, reducing the waist by 2" in total. In the past, I've always done this adjustment after I've sewn the centre back seam and tried the jeans on. This has allowed me to pin the fabric in place to work out exactly how much needs to be taken out. It isn't a bad method and has worked well but often results in the yoke seam not matching up (which was the case with these jeans) or the fabric bunching up a bit (the issue with this skirt).

Having already used the pattern once before, I had the benefit of knowing that I needed to take 1" out of the centre back seam. To avoid the mess of taking this out after the centre back seam was already sewn, I decided to alter the pattern. I drew a curved line that took out a triangular wedge of fabric from both the back yoke pattern pieces and the back leg. It was a bit of a risk to take in case the curve wasn't right but it worked and I am so happy with how the fit has turned out. The back yoke matches exactly and the seam allowance is consistent along the centre back seam as the pieces were already cut to exactly the right shape. It also means that I now have a jeans pattern that fits me so next time I'll be able to sew them up without having to worry about the fit.

The Dawn Jeans are designed to have a button zip but, like with my first pair, I replaced this with a fly. To me it's both a feature and more practical finish. I would really like to make a pair of Dawn Jeans with an exposed button fly though, much like my Lander Pants.

To me, the best part of making jeans is being able to add in hardware to make them feel professional. I used rivets on my first pair of handmade jeans and love how they look. For the light wash denim I chose to add silver rivets and a silver jeans button.

I added 5 rivets in total, at the top and bottom of the front pockets and one on the coin pocket. I did think about adding them to the back pockets too but none of the RTW jeans I looked at had them there so I decided to stick to the front.

I still make my mum hammer in the rivets, I can't bear the thought of ruining the whole make with at the final stage!

Even though it's not a style that I'm fully comfortable wearing yet, I love these long wide-legged jeans and I am sure I'll love wearing them. I think the pale denim will look especially nice in the spring and summer too. I'm so pleased to have achieved such a good fit with these jeans and I'll definitely be using this pattern again and again. I enjoy sewing jeans so much so I'm sure my next handmade pair will come very soon!