Dawn Jeans Re-engineered and Merino Tessuti Alexa


 I bought some lovely light weight stretch denim from Drapers Fabrics in their end of summer sale.  I was drawn to the colour because it is quite difficult to source light coloured denim.  I knew when I saw it I needed to snap it up.  I had in mind a light weight pair of Dawn Jeans.  My light weight denim Lander Pants get so much wear, that I knew a pair of jeans for those in between summer and autumn days would be really handy.




My husband returned from a week in USA for work in early March, which in itself kind of blows me away when I think about it now!  He probably won't be going back for quite some time so I am really pleased I sent him with a shopping list.  On the list was a pair of jeans that I had bought myself when I was there last.  What I like about these jeans, is they contain a stomach stay made out of powernet which I think is a little ingenious!  Usually pocket stays are non stretch and these can sometimes be uncomfortable to wear and rather defeat the purpose of stretch pants altogether.  They also have an elastic waist band.  Not any elastic waistband mind you, a regular waistband with elastic as the facing!  Anyway, when I got these jeans home, I decided to copy the idea in my own jeans.



I changed up the construction somewhat from the rtw pair and cut the stomach stay as a mirror image of the front of my Dawn Jeans and it sits against the fabric, whereas the bought pair had the stomach stay cover the entire front including the pocket area and worn next to the skin.



This fabric was lovely to sew but I did have some concerns about some of the seams stretching out, including the centre back seam.  To reduce the risk of this happening, I added strips of iron on interfacing to the seams.  This seams, excuse the pun, to have worked.



To finish the jeans, I added 5cm elastic to the inner waistband.  I do love this finish!  I think this was actually more successful than the pocket stays but that is more to do with my fabric choice than execution.  I think this denim is perhaps too soft for jeans and lacks the recovery I had hoped.  Fortunately being wider legged jeans, when worn with a longish top this is barely noticeable.  I have to say though, these jeans are the most comfortable jeans I have ever worn so I will be including at the very least, the elastic waist finish again.




I am wearing them here with my latest Tessuti Alexa Tee.  I have made this pattern so many times now that I have lost count.  This latest version is in some lovely light weight merino from The Fabric Store.

Jeans
Pattern (used before) $0.00
Fabric $32.30
Elastic $5.25
Zip $3.00
Thread $0.00
Rivets $0.00
Total $40.55

Merino Top
Pattern $0.00
Fabric $6.00
Thread $6.00
Total $12.00




Comments

  1. WOW...this is ingenious! Thanks for sharing. I'm curious if you cut the elastic waistband smaller than the denim waistband?

    On the Sasha Trousers, the waist stay is integrated into the pocket linings. I think I will try using power net as the pocket lining. Great tips!

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    Replies
    1. I may have cut it only slightly smaller from memory, perhaps an inch. It has pulled it in quite significantly but actually I think next time I wouldn't cut it smaller at all if I was to use really stretchy fabric.

      Power net as part of the pocket lining and using the Sasha stays is a really good idea. The other idea I had was to use a stretch cotton pocket lining. I must try this!

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  2. Lovely jeans. I too like that lighter, bright blue color. You are right, it is hard to find. I have a pair of RTW jeans with a regular denim waistband "interfaced" with elastic. I have copied this and used it in several pairs of me made jeans.

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