Copycat Levi's Jeans

I have always loved Levi's jeans, even when I have only found three models (along 4 decades!) that suited my body shape and made me look good. Using all the knowledge I learnt in the online course JEAN-IUS with Kenneth D. King, I copied an old pair that I loved and are crumbling to pieces, literally. This is my third attempt to copy a pair of jeans. Fisrt time, I modified a self-drawn pattern using another pair of Levi's. Last time, I used King's method to copy another pair. None of them are perfect, but they are really close, I wear them a lot, and they are becoming more comfortable with wear. 

Finding a good denim, with 2% elastane is difficult, with the perfect thickness, drape and colour. I found this in Ditto fabrics, and decided to use it to copy this old pair of Jeans that are breaking. They are semifitted, and that makes them very comfortable and .

I am now very familiar with the copying method, and I advanced smoothly from step to step. 

I love how King makes the back and front pockets, and also the back yoke, so I followed his instructions on those. 

For the zipper fly, I followed Closed Core Patterns instructions again, which are spot on. I made a self encased crotch seam though, slanted to the left, and with all that, the fly is beyond perfection. 

For the general  assembly, I prefer to sew the middle back seam, and self enclose it after finishing both sides of the back yokes. King does it in a different order, but my method allows me to fit them better, since I do not use a toile. Toiles are fine for some projects, but I think you only feel the right fit with the fabric you use, with its give and drape and thickness. 

So, I stitch and enclose the inside seam from ankle to ankle, baste the outer seams and try the jeans on to make them exactly fitted. In this case, I had to give 3 mm to my calves, I hate when the jeans are stuck in my calves and they pull when I sit. 

Once the fit is perfect, I stitch and self enclose the outer seams, and finish the waist band and belt loops. I follow King's method here, and I make sure I copy the exact waistband length of the original jeans. 

The result is absolutely comfortable to wear and very flattering to my figure. I love them. The waistband is too elastic (I cut it across weave following The Closed Case advice) and I have to wear a belt for them to keep in place when I sit. The original jeans' waistband is not elastic at all. Next time, I will make it along the thread, following King's cutting lay out. 

Ah! Talking about layout, I cut the pieces upside down to prevent the jeans from twisting on my legs, and it totally worked. 

This is a piece to last forever and to be proud of. I have witnessed how Levi's is using polyester in all their fitted jeans, so I am not buying that anymore. from now on, jeans are on me!

Light Blue Wide-Legged Jeans

 

Jeans are the ultimate project for a seamstress, I think. It is difficult to get the perfect, authentic, comfortable pair, and honestly, I believe these are perfect. 

First, the denim fabric we can buy does not have the used, eroded feel of comercial jeans. The only shades that look fine are dark indigo or vey light blue like this. Then, the thickness, the hang, the softness to be perfect, specially if we are buying denim online, is almost impossible. Well, I found this fabric in MeterMeter by the name of Eta Washed Denim in september 2025, and although I was quite sceptic, it turned out just perfect in all those senses. 

For the pattern, I wanted my jeans to be high waisted and wide legged to copy the youngsters' preferences these days. So I decided to use the Ginger Jeans pattern and make some major hacks to it.

First, I drew a perpendicular line under the pockets, cut it and moved it 5 cm upwards, in both the front and back pattern pieces. 

Second, I drew a second perfendicular line from both crotch outward points and from there, I drew three perpendicular lines to the bottom of the jeans. Cutting these lines open, I pivoted the pieces so that I got the desired wideness. 

I followed the instructions for the Ginger Jeans for the pockets, the fly and the waist band. I finished all the seams self enclosing them and topstitching with golden Jeans Gutermann thread. 

And voilà, they are perfect!

Pink Ginger Jeans

 I immersed in this quest for the perfect jeans. I have made several attempts, some of them great, but not perfect. I like these, although I must wear them always with a belt and I lost the pattern. I also love these, but they are very low cut at the waist. These were all my own patterns and for a change, I wanted to try a commercial pattern. I follow Lladybird, and she inspired me towards the Ginger Jeans, which have a mid rise waist that seemed perfect. I thought they had much potential. 

I bought this fabric from Stoff&Still. The colour and thickness is perfect. It is too elastic for my taste, though. It could work for really skinny jeans, and I intend to use the black version of it for another pair of jeans for my partner, but this will be it. They feel too rubbery when I wear them, they have too much give, and they need a belt not to fall down, although they were really tight the first time I wore them, or at least the first hour, haha...

The pattern is nice. They are cut to reach just under the navel, and that is a sweet spot for me. I made size 12, and they are OK, although I had to take a couple of cms off at low hips and now that I think of it, I could easily go one size down. I'll try it out in my next pair. I have good denim fabric in my stash, and I intend to continue pursuing my quest for the perfect jeans. Not quite there yet.

Here I am also wearing my black cotton shirt. I used the same pattern as in my previous white one. I love this pattern, it is a perfect wear to work in warm weather, comfortable and becoming, and I wear them both -the white and the black one- often. 

The Jeans

 Finally, I've got them. The perfect jeans. Well, 99% perfect, haha! They are just right tight, and that is difficult to achieve. Fabric and pattern are just right. 
Let us record how they are made. 

 

First, I chose the best denim I could get. I had to buy it online, nothing similar in the shops around me (saaaad). I finally purchased this one, it is in the heavy side, but it has a real 10% stretch, it is 97% cotton and the colour is just right. 

That for the fabric.
For the pattern, it is a modification of my own drafted pattern. I own a pair of perfect skin tight Levi's, which I used to adjust my pattern. I simply put my toile pattern pieces on the jeans and marked the variations with a pen on the toile. Since the Levi's were tighter than the original jeans pattern, I had to take off from the crotch, the legs, the back yoke, etc.


I used the midified pattern to cut the fabric, but I left generous seam allowances becasue being them so tight, they had to be adjusted to perfection in the fittings. 

 I began with pockets (I love this part). 

I then used this tutorial to do the zipper, and it became perfect. Thanks, Close Case Patterns! 

Next, step, I made the back yoke and pockets, imitating the Levi's pattern in them. I am a total pirate!

I joined the front and back parts by basting them and proceeded to my first fitting.

I realized they were too tight, so I gave 1 cm to the outer seams. and tried them on again. Now they were almost good, at least good enough to finish the inside seam, which is self-encased. 
I machine-stiched  the outer seams again, tried them on. They were tight in some places, but not in general, so I marked with pins all the areas in the outer seams that I had to sew with more ease. 

I then re-stitiched those areas. Perfection in the next fitting.

I also used CloseCase patterns to learn how to make a goo waist band, and it came out perfect again!
Time to fisnish the side seams (zig-zagging and top-stitching them turned backwards), bottom seams, and belt loops.

Finally, button and buttonhole. 
Done.
This is the best method to get the perfect jeans: use some pattern as a starting point, modify it by rubbing-off some old jeans that fit you well. 
I am going to do the same for my partner soon...

Jean-Ius

Jeans may be the last frontier in home sewing. It is difficult to find a good fabric, with the right weight, thickness, stretch (2% is perfect for me) and colour (dark blue or total black). It is also difficult to find a good pattern, but in that department, I learnt time ago the best approach is to make my own pattern. First I drew one based on Aldrich's book. Then, I modified it to be more fitted, by comparing it to a pair of almost perfect Levi's I had. The problem was that those Levi's had a tendency to fall down on me, and I have to wear them with a belt. Of course the copy has the same problem, haha... they are almost perfect in the same way. 

So I wanted to try to copy another old Mango pair I have, and I needed them in black, because I did not have any black jeans. 

I bought this fabric in Ray Stitch during my last trip to London. It is very very nice, very dark black with a perfect 2% stretch, running in the think side, but still a good weight for jeans. 
I had seen this online course, Jean-Ius, by Kenneth D. King in Craftsy a long time ago, so I decided to try it using the 1 week test subscription, during my christmas brake. 
I loved the course. 

The method King has developed is almost flawless, exhaustive to perfection and really thorough in every detail. So I learnt a lot, both in the general approach, and in the finishing details. 
You start by marking your favourite jeans with thread, and then copying them into a silk organza, and making a paper pattern from that. 

Then you must finish the paper pattern, and make all the details, like pockets, facings, etc.
I skipped the toile. I do not believe in toiles, because they are not made in the same fabric. For example, in this case, it would have stretch, so what is the point?

Then you cut the fabric (I did not include seam allowances, and leave some generous ones in risky places, as I always do. That means I have to mark the fabric with tailor marks, which is like 1 hour of work, but so worth! and it compensates for not making a toile) and start constructing and assembling. 
King gives a lot of good advice and tricks, with the machine, the iron, the scissors, it's amazinng. 

The final result is ALMOST perfect! Yes, I got another tiny almost. My old Mango jeans have more stretch, and then the crotch, which is cut into the bias, is not longer, but, you can pull it higher. I compensated it by sewing the waist band 1 cm higher, although that means the pockets are too deep, and they are still very low cut. 
Wearing them is very nice. They are comfortable and flattering. I have now doubts if this is the correct crotch length, or If I would prefer them to be 1 or 2 cm, higher. I have enlarged my pattern 2cm just in case. 
In terms of fabric, it is very very nice. Knees or bottom are not marked after a day sitting around in my job, they keep their shape and are very comfortable. 
I totally recommend this course, even when I'd change some things, specially at the final assembly. 

Green Slim Fit Jeans

 Jeans is the only thing in my wardrobe (plus panties, socks and bras) not manufactured by yours truly. I'd love to make all my jeans, but the problem is I cannot find the right fabric. Accepting they will lack the stoned-washed effect (humanity should avoid this one entirely, by the way...), I cannot find the prefect balanced denim fabric, they are all too thin, too thick, wrong shade, no elastic, etc. 

I can perfectly imagine the right shade of indigo blue, 95% cotton and 5% ellastane (no polyester, thank you), thick enough to be strong, thin enough to be sewn in multiple layers, and sweet to the skin... but that is only in my imagination...

But wait! Last October, I was enjoying the Sitges Film Festival, when I spotted a small fabric store (mostly patchwork fabrics, so popular here). They had three denim fabrics, and I bought 1.10m of this green one. It is a lovely cotton and ellastane twill. I saw I could go "slim fit" with it, and the result has been better than expected.

 After wearing my jeans all day, no bags anywhere, perfectly tight and in place, as you can see in the pictures. 

The pattern is mine. I made it years ago using Aldrich's book for woman patterns. I simply made the legs narrower, tested the fit, which has to be regulated by the particular stretch of every fabric, and done! Fantastic jeans!

Animal Print Twill Ginger Pants

After making my 50's dress  with this gorgeous fabric, I had 1 m left. Then, I remembered the idea I had had long in my mind, of making a pair of camouflage pants. Finding the right fabric has been impossible til now, so I thought this fabric would be perfect to make a pair of tight-fitting Ginger Jeans.

As any other pattern of jeans, legs must be adjusted to get the right amount of ease, depending on the look we have in mind, the thickness of the fabric and most of all, the elasticity of it. Since this fabric is quite thin and it has a very good give and recovery, I thought I could make them in a tight version. 

In the 1st fitting I realized they were too tight, unwearable. One of these projects that goes to the waste unfinished, a shame. But then I gave it some thought and I decided to make serged seams instead of self-encasing them. Most commercial jeans have serged, and then topstiched seams. This meant I could give 1 cm off every seam. 

That proves to be the perfect solution. It is amazing that only 1 cm is such a game changer! They feel like a glove, they are comfortable to wear and the perfect tightness in both hips and legs. 

I have worn them to a metal festival all day, and they stayed in perfect shape after sitting, dancing and the lots. 

Last time I made a pair of Ginger jeans, I remember I had to take them in all around, so I must have cut 1 cm off around all pieces, although I cannot remember doing that. In this fabric, which is not that elastic, this was. I am making another pair nowadays, adding 1 cm in all exterior seams, we will see if that is right, or I might have to print and trace the pattern in my right size again.