Ivory Jeans with a Bulk-Free Pocket Method

I made these white jeans a few weeks ago when our UK weather was still grotty. And it was only recently that I wanted to wear them when I realised I should have blogged about them. Oh well better late than never eh?

I call them jeans, but I wouldn’t really say that they have all the typical jeans features, so perhaps they are just denim trousers….buuut…whatever they are I thought I’d share some of my making techniques with you, which are somewhat different to the norm.

So the fabric I used is a light-ish weight denim with a bit of stretch from My Fabrics. I will say that I’m not totally smitten with the quality. It just feels as though it could lose it’s stretch easily and could do with being a tiny bit thicker. I have another pair of jeans that I find too thick and stiff, so something in-between would be ideal. Actually, if any of you know where to find a good quality, but not as-stiff-as-a-board, cream or white denim with some stretch then do please let me know in the comments. Anyway, back to these jeans…well I used my basic trouser pattern, which I use for all of my trousers and and added the features that I wanted. Originally, I made my pattern by taking one from a combination of an old pair of  RTW jeans and a pair of firmly woven RTW ponte trousers that seemed to fit me well in the rise and crotch curve. I now use that pattern for all of my trousers and just change up the style for different looks.

I wanted pockets on my jean/trousers, but I really didn’t want lots of bulk so my solution was to only use a single layer for the pocket bag. Using the pattern piece for the pocket from McCalls 7445 I marked my pocket shape and cut a fairly narrow facing to match (note that I lowered the position of the pocket…I now wish I had moved it back up a little more…oh well!)…So I stitched on the facing, making sure to slash well into the corner…a little tip I use is to add a tiny dab of Fray Check in the corner to stabilise the corner…I then turned it over and under-stitched and topstitched. The next thing I did was to cut one layer of fabric for each pocket in the shape of a pocket bag and overlocked all around the edge. Finally I simply placed it behind the pocket edge and stitched it in position.

Cut pocket opening Trim and slash to the corner, then understitch/topstitch Pocket bag on the inside Finished pocket

I did a low bulk method for my waistband too. I just used the top edge shape of my jeans waist and cut a facing shape for both back and fronts. I interfaced it and instead of sewing it so that it was a standard inside facing, it became a waistband by being on the outside. I stitched it with right side of waistband to wrong side of jeans and folded it to the outside. It was finished off  with a row of understitching and topstitching.

Inside of waistband Back pocket

To finish off my jean trousers I added a couple of patch pockets and just machined up the hems. I’d decided on a length which is cropped and the hem width not to narrow so they won’t get stuck on my calves when I sit and stand, plus they’ll look nice and Summery showing a bit of ankle. I’m quite liking this easy pocket/band method and in fact I’ve already got some pale grey stretch twill cut out in the same style. I think they’ll prove to be a pretty useful wardrobe addition.

Thanks for reading, my sewing friends…see you next time.

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