The Dawn Jean – My First Attempt

I’m starting this out by saying I was completely under prepared about how much top stitching thread is required to sew a pair of jeans. I naively purchased 1 x 30m real of top stitching thread and ultimately needed two and a bit. The Dawn Jeans by Megan Nielson were my first attempt of sewing jeans and it was a very rewarding process.

I have always avoided sewing jeans as I love jeans with distressing and interesting washes. This is virtually impossible to achieve with home made jeans. Denim by the meter tends to be unwashed and a bit flat. In saying that, I am warming to this type of denim look with less distressing. I also like the idea of working on a denim fit that is perfect for my body. It is getting increasingly more difficult to find a good fitting pair of jeans in a clothing market that is saturated with denim. The irony of it……

Megan Nielsen does a fantastic job of providing patterns that are well notched and detailed instructions on how to sew your jeans. There are also many detailed sew alongs to accompany The Dawn Jeans on her website. The Dawn Jeans come with 4 options and the first fit I’m going to conquer is the cropped flair. I have a beautiful rust colour stretch cord waiting patiently in my stash to be sewn in this style once I perfect the fit.

For my first attempt I used an 8oz stretch denim in the colour Fawn. I purchased 3mts which is enough to make 2 pairs of these jeans in size 8. I found the top stitching process very therapeutic. My only wish was to have two sewing machines set up to save time switching out threads and stitch length. You can be as creative as you like with your top stitching. I personally prefer a simplistic approach to top stitching.

Taking the lead from many other makers on Instagram I also added contrast fabric pocket lining for an extra special finishing touch.

Overall the fit was pretty good. I have a flat tush and found the pant a little saggy in the seat. And from a side view the pant collapsed in under my butt instead of hanging straight from the butt.

The back leg is hanging down making the back hem not level. The back leg needs to be lifted up. I’m not 100% sure how I am going to correct this but I will share with you on my next blog post of this make. I have found a handy pant fit correction guide on Closest Case Pattern website.

I am also going to slim the leg line down ever so slightly on my remake. I have purchased some hardware to give that store brought look to my next pair of jeans. Another great shop for jeans hardware is Citron Jeans. More updates to come once I nail the fit of this jean!