Welcome to the Jeans Pattern Instructions. Here you’ll be able to find a step by step guide on how to draft your first pair of jeans. Before you start, it’s very important to know that pants are one of the most difficult pattern to master. Normally it takes between 5-10 prototypes to get the perfect fit, so it’s okay to get frustrated. BUT, I promise you once you have the finished pattern, you’ll be able to draft any design you want, so let’s get into it!
Step number one is taking the measurements. To do that, wear the underwear you’d actually wear below your jeans. Make sure the measuring tape doesn’t sit too tight around your body and remember it’s okay if the measurements are a bit off. We’re going to be able to fix all that during the prototyping phase.
Measure around your natural waist. This should sit right under your rib-cage. It is normally the thinest part of your torso. The pattern is drafted to sit on your waist but I’ll show you how to modify it later on.
Measure the circumference of your hips. If you have a prominent ass, make sure you measure the widest part (even if it sits above/below the hips). To be more precise, you can also measure the front and back arcs (from side to side) instead of the circumference.
Decide how long you want the jeans to be and measure from where you measured the waist to the desired length. I’d advice to measure until ankle length (you can make them longer or shorter later on)
Measure the distance from where you measured the waist and the hips. Take this measurement on the side of your body.
This measurement is taken on the side of your body. Sit down on a flat surface and measure the distance from where you measured the waist to the flat surface.
This is an extra measurement to check if the pattern is okay. Measure from the front waist, between your legs and to the back waist.
These are all the basic measurements needed to draft the Jeans Pattern Instructions. You can take a couple more measurements (optional) to help you correct the pattern before the first prototype:
Step number one is to build the structure of our jeans foundation. We start at the top left and mark 0.
Once the main structure is ready, let’s draw the main lines that will define the shape of the jeans
Let’s start drawing the actual jeans. We’re going to start by shaping the crotch curve.
Next step is to draw the Waist. For that we’ll need to make some assumptions about darts.
Darts are our way to create rounder shapes in the pattern. Every body will need different measurements. The rules are:
As a standard dart measurement you can use:
As explained before, darts will depend on your body. This is the standard way of drawing them but use the ones that suit you best.
The dart on the back is 9cm long and the one on the front is 6.5cm long.
To define the leg lines, we need to find the crease line. That is the line that divides the trouser legs in the middle.
Draw a line perpendicular to the crotch line. From there we can draw the width of the trouser hem:
These measurements are standard and can variate depending on the desired width. Normally the back width is bigger than the front one. In the image you can see I also add some standard measurements for the knees. This is not completely necessary but it gives more of a slim version.
Now you have all the points to draft the jeans.
The jeans should follow the shape of your body, that’s why you should draw the leg-line 1cm inwards from point 8 on both sides instead of a straight line. The crease-line we drew in step 6 already takes this into account.
And now you’re done with the Jeans Pattern Instructions and it’s time to create your first prototype. There’s a couple of checks you can do before making the prototype, tho:
Thank you for using this Jeans Pattern Instructions. If you want to learn how to modify this pattern, take a look here.
If you prefer a video explaining it, take a look at this:
