I decided I wanted to start from scratch and make my own jeans pattern after not being completely happy with the results of the Burda 7733. I’ve also realized that this hobby is not just about sewing for me, but rather the entire process of making a garment from start to finish. That process includes designing/drafting my own patterns, picking out the fabric, sourcing notions, etc., and then the sewing. While sewing is obviously important and fun, it is only one of many steps involved in the process of creating a garment…and I want to do it ALL!

I didn’t really know anything about pattern making, but after scouring the internet for resources, I eventually settled on a book called The Practical Guide to Patternmaking for Fashion Designers: Menswear by Lori A. Knowles. It is a great resource for anyone wanting to make menswear, and was essential for helping me to make my own jeans pattern.

The first step in the pattern making process was using measurements taken directly from my body to draft a lower body sloper. I learned that a sloper is a very basic pattern, without any pockets or details, that provides a general shape and starting point for creating more “stylized” and finished patterns. From the sloper, you can draft actual pattern peices creating any style you want. It is a building block of sorts that can be used over and over.

mens jeans sloper 1

I needed an assortment of curves and rulers to draft the lower body sloper. It felt like a geometry project from high school at first.

mens jeans sloper 2

Here is the finished sloper pattern before I cut it out. I had to tape it to a glass door to be able to see the lines. The lower body back is on the left side, and the lower body front is on the right. From here, I cut out the front and back pieces in muslin for a test fit.

As I mentioned above, the jeans sloper has no pockets, yoke, or any details. It is just the fronts and backs sewn together to make sure I took proper measurements and that the basic shape and fit is correct.

My sloper fit great and I didn’t need to modify it to begin creating the jeans pattern. The book gives instructions for turning the sloper into a pattern, showing where to modify specific points on the sloper to create individual pattern pieces including pockets, yoke, waistband, fly, etc. I used these instructions as a starting point, but completely altered the shape and measurements to suit the style I was looking for. I wanted a somewhat slim fitting, straight leg, five pocket jean. The “straight leg” version in the book seemed more like a tapered leg to me so I changed the shape of the leg. I also changed the shape of the yoke, back pockets, front pockets, position of the crotch point, and the fly, arriving at my final pattern. The pattern in the book called for a zipper fly, but I decided that I was going to learn how to construct a button fly instead.

Once all of the pattern pieces were complete, I had to add seam allowance to all of the individual pieces. I used 3/4″ seam allowance for any areas where I would be doing a flat-felled seam, and 5/8″ everywhere else. These allowances are probably a bit big for muslin, but when I start using real denim, I want the flexibility to work with a bigger allowance.

I drafted all of the pattern pieces in tracing paper. Here is a picture of my final pattern. At this point, I hadn’t finished the fly so those pieces are not shown.

mens jeans pattern

The next step is to cut out and sew this pattern in muslin to see if everything goes together properly, and to check the fit again. Pattern drafting was actually quite enjoyable. I feel like it is the perfect right and left  brain collaboration, using geometry/math to achieve something more creative.