Let me first say this was my very first pair of jeans/pants I've ever made so I'm happy to have completed them.
I used Butterick 5682
Pattern Sizing:6-14. I cut the 14 but I could have gone down to a 12 as I have a bit of sagginess in the hips & bootay.
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?Pretty close for the most part.
Were the instructions easy to follow?There's really not a whole lot of pattern pieces so it seemed it would be pretty straight forward. However I was SUPER CONFUSED on the instructions for inserting the fly zipper. I couldn't make any sense whatsoever out of what they were asking me to do. I just left it sit on the table in the craftroom for about a week. Every day I'd walk in there and look at the instructions, look at my fabric and turn the light off and walk out. LOL! Via the message board on here I found a tutorial and a video which SOMEWHAT helped. But given that my pattern pieces were not shaped the same as the pattern pieces in the tuts, I still had to fudge it a little bit. But it WAS enough to get me passed that step. But my fly zipper didn't look very "fly" - meaning the zipper was just barely covered. Once I got beyond that, the rest went relatively smoothly.
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?I loved that I could potentially get so many cuts of jeans from one pattern.
After having consulting some tutorials, I didn't really like the shape of the fly part. I wish it was all one piece and the same shape on both sides. Not sure if any such pattern exists but I will be on the hunt for one. Also the little piece that covers the zipper was not as long as it is in ready-to-wear jeans.
Fabric Used:Denim I caught on clearance from fabric mart for $1.19/yard. For the pocket linings I used cotton scraps leftover from making a purse.
Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:As this was my first pair of pants/jeans I've ever made, I didn't want to make any alterations to the pattern. I considered adding a couple of inches as I prefer a 33-inch inseam when I wear heels but I can wear this version with flats.
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?I don't know that I would sew these again. Maybe with a bit more experience I would be able to make this pattern work for me. But as for now, the fly zipper part is a bit confusing. I don't know that I would recommend this to beginners as their first pair of pants.
Conclusion: I wanted a great pair of trouser jeans and I think I'm STILL on the hunt for a great pattern. I'm calling these a wearable muslin. They need a bit of fitting but at less than $5 for the project, I'm not upset if I don't work out all the bugs on this one. I will be attempting to do some fitting in the butt/hips. Here are pics of how they fit as of now.
