It has now been several years since I no longer buy clothes that I can sew myself. At the end of 2020, my darling challenged me to also make his wardrobe. I had already made him shirts, sweatshirts... but it was mainly jeans that his closet was asking for, and him too ;-)

So, I, who had only sewn a few women's pants, studied the theory on denim and sewing jeans. I searched quite a bit for the pattern that would satisfy my boyfriend's tastes; pfinally to settle our choice on the book "Jeans and Denim" by Guénaël Luong published by Editions Mango and the Slim model for men. 

I therefore invite you to discover the steps of making and the tips and tricks that I was able to gather during the execution of my first 2 men's jeans. 

As a brief introduction, I would ask you: What would jeans be without belt loops, a ticket pocket, or patch pockets on the buttocks? All these essential elements of jeans must absolutely be taken into account so that the jeans you are going to sew become "real" jeans. And I must say that Guënael's book is full of photos and step-by-step instructions that allow you to sew jeans of very good quality. 

One small regret in the book is the size correspondence between the size chart listed in the book (5 sizes from S to XXL) and the sizes of the patterns provided with the book (6 sizes from 36 to 46). My first jeans, which we will call "the toile," was therefore cut a bit large. Nevertheless, this allowed me to better adjust the second one ;-)

1. Choose the material and equipment suitable for denim

I will not go over all the information again because I had already written an article about denim and the necessary equipment to sew it. You can find it here. 

Nevertheless, I wanted to remind you that denim is a very pleasant material to sew but also to wear. For more comfort, I advise you to choose denim that contains a percentage of elastane. Elastane will allow the denim to closely follow the curves of the body and provide a bit of ease (for example, when sitting).  

If you choose denim without elastane (100% cotton) then it is better to take one size smaller because the denim will deform and stretch, eventually risking being too large. 

In the shop, you will find denim with elastane and all the suitable equipment like needles or thread. 

2. Stitches, topstitching, and seams

It is necessary to overlock all the pieces of your jeans because denim can fray. You can do the overlocking with a zigzag stitch, however, overlocking with a serger will give a much better result. You can have fun contrasting the overlock so that the jeans look as good inside as outside. 

As for the seam itself, a straight stitch will be used. For my part, to strengthen my seams, I used the saddle stitch which also allows the stitches to stand out because it is thicker. I really wanted this effect with very contrasting seams. I lengthened the stitch length (3.5). I also used decorative stitches for the patch pockets which allows personalizing the jeans. 

Topstitching also characterizes jean seams. It is therefore important to master their straightness, especially if you want to use contrasting thread. If you are not confident, I advise you to practice and, in any case, to do a test on a scrap to evaluate the spacing between the topstitching that suits you best. 

Finally, to sew jeans, you will need to master: 

• the open seam (the classic) 
• the felled seam 
• the flat-felled seam (not mandatory but so much cleaner and stronger on pants that will be subjected to heavy wear)

3. Pockets

Pockets on jeans are of three types:

• the ticket pocket (the very small one at the front)
• the side pockets (the large ones at the front)
• the back patch pockets

I recommend making bartack stitches (very tight zigzag stitch) on the top of the back patch pockets; this helps reinforce the pocket openings and thus prevents them from tearing or coming loose with wear.

I always find it nice to use the machine’s decorative stitches (all those we almost never use ;-) to personalize pockets. Keep that in mind ;-) 

4. The fly

The much-feared fly... well in the end, it’s not that complicated if you carefully follow the steps and instructions; while being precise in execution. 

I find that the step-by-step in Gwenaël Luong's book is really very well done and fully guides the making of the fly. 

5. Rivets and buttons

Rivets help reinforce pocket openings. They are generally placed on the front (slash pockets) and on the outer sides of the back patch pockets.

Place rivets and jeans buttons:

• carefully locate the placement spot and mark it (chalk)
• pre-pierce using a hole punch on the mark
• place the two parts of the rivet or button in the ends of the pliers 
• close the pliers by applying (strong) pressure

To place them, I used my multi-position hole punch and my Prym brand Vario pliers which I sell in the shop. It was my first time attaching rivets and jeans buttons and I must say it was very easy. 

6. Waistband and belt loops

One of the last steps is attaching the waistband and the belt loops. I chose to make simple belt loops that are placed once the waistband is mounted. 

You just have to place them where you want: 2 on the front, 2 on the side, and 1 on the back and sew them with a bartack stitch.

I chose to first make a straight stitch on the top of the belt loop at 0.5cm to fix it the first time. Then, all that remains is to fold it and make the bartack stitch on the top. Finally, fold the bottom of the belt loop by 0.5cm and make another bartack stitch and... tada the first belt loop is fixed!

So, you know a little more about sewing men's jeans. As for me, I will definitely sew more because I really enjoyed the challenge and I already have plenty of denim and thread color combinations... in short, beautiful sewing dreams full in my head.