Sewing Pattern Instructions – Jeans

Today I’m going to show you how to draft a Jeans Pattern for free! This design will contour around your buttocks and will end with a tapered leg-line. I will also show you how to draft the yoke and the typical jeans pockets, so let’s get to it!

This pattern uses the Jeans Foundation. If you haven’t drafted this foundation yet, you can click on the image and do that first. You can also follow these instructions with any of the other foundations, just remember that the fit around the buttocks and the leg-lines will be different for all of them.

Remember to correct the fit of your foundation before starting. To do that, I have two disclaimers:

  1. This foundation is the trickiest to get right because of the shaping around the crotch line. Have patience and don’t try overfitting the pattern. Some wrinkles are normal to allow for mobility when sitting or walking.
  2. If you plan on using denim fabric, you’ll probably need to make a prototype with that fabric too. Denim gives after a few wears, so you might have to reduce the pattern a bit to account for that

 

Have patience and keep going, this pattern is difficult for everyone! It gets better with every prototype, I promise you.

After correcting the foundation, the jeans design is fairly simple to make, so that’s good news!!! Let’s get into how to draft this jeans pattern.

JEANS

Step 1 - The Leg-lines

The first step will be defining your leg-lines. You can choose from the following: Slim, Straight, Tapered, or Flared

  • Slim: This pattern is for woven fabrics (no elasticity) so we have to measure first the parts of your leg that need to fit in the leg-line. Measure the upper thigh when flexed, the knee circumference when bended, and around your heel (as if you were putting on the trousers). Transfer those measurements to your pattern (the back is normally 2cm wider than the front). I like to add 1cm ease to be on the safe side. You can trim that latter.
  • Straight: Draw a straight line from the hip down that is perpendicular to the hem line
  • Tapered: Define how big your hem should be and connect it to the crotch line and to the hip line with a straight line
  • Flared: Define for much flare you want, I normally do the same amount as the length of my shoe. Add that length to the hem on both front and back and connect it to where you want the flare to start: Above the knee, at the knee, or below the knee

Step 2 - The Waistband

This design sits on the natural waist. If you want it to be lower, just lower the waist-line as much as you want and discard that part. Be aware that the back pocket placement is based on this design and it might look weird on a lower waist.

  1. Define how big you want the waistband (in my case 4cm) and lower it on your design
  2. Separate the pieces and connect them together (centre back, side back, side front and centre front). They should create a rough curve
  3. Smoothen the curve
  4. Add 4cm to the centre front of the waistband. This is to account for the fly and the shield.

 

We drew the waistband to be cut on the fold so the 4cm extension only needs to be cut on one of the sides (the one that has the shield attached)

Step 3 - The Fly and the Yoke

Let’s start with the Fly. This piece is added to the Front panel

  1. Go out 4cm from the centre front
  2. Go down the zipper measurement (mine is 15cm) plus 1.5cm (in my case the fly is 16.5cm long)
  3. Shape it like in the drawing with a little curve at the bottom

 

Now let’s draw the Yoke. This piece belongs to the back pattern

  1. Go down 7.5cm from the new waist line at centre back
  2. Go down 2.5cm from the new waist line at side back
  3. Connect those two points
  4. Cut both pieces and put them together removing the dart
  5. Smoothen the curves

 

If there is some dart left below the yoke, remove it from the centre back

Step 4 - The Pockets

These Jeans have 2 types of pockets, the ones at the front and the ones at the back. Let’s start with the ones at the front.

  1. The opening is 10cm wide by 7cm deep
  2. For the facing, mark a rectangle of 12cm by 12cm and curve the outer edge a little bit
  3. To draft the Pocket lining, create a rectangle of 12cm by 22cm also curving the outer edge
  4. The Coin pocket is 7cm wide and 9.5cm long and is placed 2.5cm (up and down) from the side edge of the front trouser pattern
  5. If your pattern has darts, remove them by cutting through them

 

The Front pocket is going to have the following pieces

  • Front piece: This is the front piece but remove the opening of the pocket
  • Facing: This is the piece after the pocket opening and will be cut in the main fabric
  • Pocket lining top: This piece is the top part, so the whole pocket minus the opening. It will be cut in lining fabric
  • Pocket lining bottom: This piece is the full support of the pocket
  • Coin pocket: This will be placed on top of the facing on one of the pockets

 

The back pocket is a bit less complicated:

  1. Draw a square of 15 x 15cm
  2. Reduce the bottom part of the square to be 10cm (make sure it’s centred)
  3. Lower the “square” 2cm and shape the pocket like the one in the drawing

 

I’ll also give you some guidance on how to place the pocket, but you can do it however you see fit.

  1. On the centre back mark 2.5cm below the yoke
  2. On the side back lower 3cm below the yoke
  3. Connect these two points. You can place the pocket in a way that the top is touching this line. It doesn’t really matter if you place it at the centre or a bit to the side, whatever is easier for you to sew.

Step 5 - The Finishes

We’re almost done learning how to draft a jeans pattern, let’s look at the last two pieces:

One last piece you’re going to need to make these pants is the shield that goes into the fly construction. For it, create a rectangle that is as long as your zipper plus 2.5cm and 8cm wide.

Finally, you can also add some belt loops (not in the image). I like to add 6 of them, and the dimensions are 4 x 10cm. If you’re using a heavy weight fabric there is no need to interface them.

Step 3 - The Seam Allowances

And just like that, the pattern is ready! The only thing left to do is adding the seam allowances.

  1. Add 1cm seam allowances everywhere (except for the fly, the centre back of the waistband, the hems and the top of the back and coin pockets)
  2. The fly has no seam allowance
  3. The centre back of the waistband has no seam allowance as it’s cut on the fold
  4. The top part of the back and coin pockets have 2cm (3/4in) seam allowance because it’s folded twice
  5. The hems have 2cm (3/4in) seam allowances

 

And just like that, you learnt how to draft a Jeans Pattern from scratch! I hope you enjoyed it, and as I told you, keep trying because it gets easier!

If you liked these instructions and are looking for more foundations and ways to modify them, you can check out my ebook on how to draft trousers.

There you have ALL the information you need to draft any trousers designs you’ve ever dreamed of. 

The ebook breaks down a pattern into:

  • The foundation: how to take measurements, draft them and fix any fitting issues
  • The Waistline: Instructions on how to change the waistline and how to add waistbands
  • The Length: I show you the modify the length to most typical ones
  • The Leg-line: Learn how to create leg-line designs like slim, tapered, straight or flared
  • The Details: Here you’ll find any design detail like yokes, pleats, turn ups, openings and many pocket designs 
  • The Finishes: Finally, learn how to finish up the pattern, add seam allowances, hems and all the important information

 

All in one place, check it out now!

Learn how to draft your dream trousers - eBook

€ 35,00

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