I have long been a fan of the True Bias Lander Pants pattern. I made my first pair of Landers at the start of 2020, and continue to wear them regularly. Whilst I love the style of the Landers, I've found the fit of the Megan Nielsen Dawn Jean to be better for me. The perfect solution was to combine the two patterns and make a pair of jeans that match the style of the Landers, but using the fit of the Dawn Jeans.
I've spotted quite a few patch pocket jeans recently and thought they were a perfect style to try and recreate. Using the Dawn Jeans pattern, I omitted the pockets when I cut the front legs. I then sewed the jeans as normal, and pinned on the pockets once I could try the jeans on in order to get an idea of where I wanted to place them.
It took me a while to get the shape of the patch pockets right, but I'm pleased with the outcome. The only thing I regret is not sewing the topstitching further down the top of the pocket, although I do like the look of the double line of stitches. I also decided to add double belt loops at the front which adds a subtle bit of extra interest.
To mimic the pockets on the front, I changed the shape of the back pockets slightly too. I used the original Dawn jeans pattern piece in order to get the size right, and then folded over one of the edges by different amounts until I liked the shape.
I also sewed a Kylie and the Machine 'Not for sale' label to the back pockets - a perfect addition! This label came from the 2021 advent calendar, although they have lots of other good ones. 'You can't buy this' is a particular favourite of mine.
The patch pockets definitely make these look a bit less like jeans and more like trousers. I was keen to use the style of the True Bias Lander Pants, but wanted to keep the fit of the Dawn Jeans for the waist. To do this, I cut out the widest view of the Dawn Jeans before placing the Lander Pants pattern pieces on top of the fabric I had just cut out. It meant I was able to recut the leg pattern pieces in the shape of the Lander Pants, but kept the fit at the waist of the Dawn Jeans. I really like the width of these trousers, which fall somewhere in between the wide and narrow leg views of the Dawn Jeans.
It's taken me a while to get the fit of jeans right, but I think I'm about there now. I think the darts of the Lander Pants might have looked better for these trousers, but I knew that without a yoke I would struggle to get the fit right. The Dawn Jeans also have a curved waistband which definitely helps when it comes to getting the right fit at the waist.
The heavy denim fabric that I used was perfect for this project. I wanted a mid-blue colour, which is what I've seen in RTW versions of these trousers, so I'm very happy with how these look. I did consider using contrast topstitching thread, and I think a bronze colour would have looked good. In the end I went for matching topstitching - there aren't that many colours of topstitching thread available and the gold that I found would have been to big a contrast with the blue fabric.
I'm very happy with how these turned out. They fit well and are comfy, and I especially like the leg shape. I hemmed these with a wide-hem and they're almost-but-not-quite full length, which I really like. To me, these are great summer trousers that provide a nice alternative to jeans.
