My first pair of jeans! Actually not the first pair that I made, as I’ve made jeans several times for my husband and Sidra, but this would be the first time for myself. I finished them more than a week ago and have been wearing them so much ever since. That definitely is a sign of a successful project.

The fabric is dark denim and the pattern is Butterick 5682. From the pattern envelope: “At waist, fitted jeans (A,B,C,D) and semi fitted trouser (E), have contoured waistband and fly zipper. A: Slim leg, ankle length. B: Straight leg. C: Boot cut. D: Flared leg. E: Straight leg, hook and eye closure.” I made view A.

After checking the finished measurements, I realized that this pattern has a lot of ease. Like, a lot. My waist and hip measurements are closer to size 8, but I decided to make size 6 instead. Later I found out that I still had to slim down the sides.

My alterations:

• back and front: shortened the rise 1 cm
• back pattern: swayback adjustment  1 cm
• The supposedly ankle length was way longer than my whole leg, I chopped it off accordingly.
• After fitting: slimmed down the sides about 1.5 cm on each side and reshaped the legs

The pocket linings are leftover from my green Pastille dress. I also used the same fabric for waistband lining since the denim was not enough. Construction-wise I didn’t find much difficulties, except for the one time I accidentally hammered my finger when installing the rivets (ouch!). My sewing machine also refused to make buttonhole on those thick layers, so I cheated and sewed a pair of hook and eye, the jeans button is for decorative purpose only.

I’m quite satisfied with the result! It is hard for someone my size to find slim, ankle-length pattern in the right size and shape. The legs were always too long, and when shortened, the shape and proportion were disturbed. Good to know that I can make them myself!

Now that I would need a top to wear with my new jeans, I whipped up this little peplum top with stretch velvet in neon yellow. This kind of top is a trend that I’ve always interested in but wasn’t sure that they’re gonna work for my body.

The pattern is Vogue 8815, from the pattern envelope: “Fitted top has raised waist/hemline variations and narrow hem. A and B: back zipper. C: pullover, wrong side shows (back hemline), back neck slit with hook/eye closing. B and C: stitched hems on sleeves. Purchase bias tape to finish necklines and armholes A.” I made view B.

My alterations:

• The smallest size for this pattern is 8, I graded it down to size 6.
• Bodice: shortened 2.5 cm
• Bodice back: Swayback adjustment 1 cm
• Back peplum: swayback adjustment 0.5 cm
• Peplum: shortened 5 cm
• Sleeves: shortened 2 cm
• After fitting: lowered front neckline 1.5 cm, lengthened back darts 2.5 cm

This pattern is marked as ‘very easy’, and it is indeed easy with only 5 pattern pieces (4 for the sleeveless one). I didn’t look at the instructions at all. As my fabric is stretchy, I skipped the back zipper. In retrospect, I should’ve cut the back peplum on fold.

I didn’t use bias bindings for the neckline and finished it like a T-shirt neckline. A strip of fabric is folded and then attached to the neckline using overlocker. The key is stretching the strips of fabric while sewing it so the neckline wouldn’t stretch out and gape. Later I used coverstitch function on my overlocker to topstitch the neckline. The sleeves and hem were also finished with coverstitch.

I find the shape quite flattering and it is so easy to wear. This top is basically a fitted T-shirt!

Jeans pattern is Butterick 5682 size 6, altered to fit.
Peplum top pattern is Vogue 8815, graded down to size 6.