Making jeans?

[muttix2]

Is it worth it? It is hard for me to find a good fit, basically Apple Bottoms fit the best without the gaping and such. I'm able to actually wear jeans that aren't 3 times big on my waist just to fit my butt. But, they are expensive and I want (need? ) more than one pair of jeans. So, anyone found a pattern that they liked that could be tweaked? Can you follow a regular pants pattern? Any help would be great. TIA

[E.V. Lowi]

I don't know about any patterns for jeans, but I have the same problem with fit through the waist and I have found that it is easy to alter a pair.
If you purchase the jeans to fit well through the hips/bum area then you can remove the waistband just to the side belt loops,first removing the center belt loop. You then take in the back center seam to fit, and re-topstitch it with matching thread. You don't have to flat fell this back seam. I just overlap the fabic, topstitch the seam allowance and trim off the excess on the inside. Then make a seam in the center of waistband back to fit, and topstitch it back in place. Then sew the belt loop back into place to cover the center seam that you have made in the waistband. This is actually the hardest part, because there are so many layers at this point. HTH!

[muttix2]

Thanks! I'm going to try this out.

[funnygrace]

I've had good luck taking apart a pair of jeans that fit well (I wait until the end of their life) and using the pieces as a pattern to make a new pair. I've done it three times--all three fit perfectly, of course, because the original fit perfectly. I have done minimal altering--leaving off pockets, belt loops, making shorts. There was a certain amount of experimenting, but I was surprised at how easy it was to figure out how to put them together. If you are taking apart a pair and don't have another for reference, you could take digital photos of details for reference. I had a second pair for reference that I didn't take apart. And for the first remade pair, you can reuse the old zipper for the new pair.

[muttix2]

Interesting idea. I'm going to try this out as well. Thanks!