After 18 months of development and three rounds of testing, I’m delighted to introduce you to the Cashmerette Ames Jeans sewing pattern!

And not only do we have a jeans sewing pattern for you, but we also have four jeans kits, and a brand-new online workshop “Jeans Making for Curves“, with 15% off to celebrate our launch.

Cashmerette Ames Jeans Sewing Pattern

Let’s start with the pattern. True to form, everything about Cashmerette Patterns is dedicated to making curvy women look absolutely amazing. Given we couldn’t do our usual cup sizing, that left us wondering… how can we transform jeans sewing patterns to be fantastically fitting for curvy women?

Our solution: the Ames Jeans are the first ever mix-and-match jeans sewing pattern, with interchangeable pelvis fits (apple or pear) and leg fits (skinny or straight). You can pick whichever combination works for you, and you’re already well on your way to a great fitting pair of jeans.

Here I am, wearing the Apple Fit pelvis + Skinny Fit legs:

And here is Dawn, wearing the Pear Fit pelvis + Straight Fit legs:

But you can also do the other combinations: Pear Fit + Skinny Leg, or Apple Fit + Straight Leg – it’s totally up to you. We’ll have more in-depth guidance on how to pick your fit in the next few weeks, but broadly speaking:

• Apples typically find waistbands too tight, have a flatter bottom, smaller hips, and a larger waist.

• Pears typically find waistbands gape at the back, have a larger bottom, larger hips, and a smaller waist.

If you’re not sure, I’d suggest starting with the apple pelvis, because that’s most similar to existing Cashmerette drafting (which is for apple/hourglass figures).

The Cashmerette Ames Jeans sewing pattern are a classic but modern design, featuring:

• Stretch denim for ease of wearing (it also makes fitting a little easier!).
• A high-rise, and full internal pocket stay, which give you smooth shaping on the front.
• A timeless 5 pocket design
• Fly front – with clear instructions to help you through construction
• All the bells and whistles like belt loops, rivets and classic topstitching

In an ideal world, it’s great to make jeans using three machines (a sewing machine for seams, a sewing machine for topstitching and a serger for finishing seams) but these are totally do-able on a single regular sewing machine. In fact, we even have a cheat sheet in the instructions if you’re using one sewing machine to help you make the jeans even faster, minimizing the number of times you’ll need to change your thread.

Difficulty-wise, we’ve rated these as “intermediate” because of features like the fly front and topstitching – but if you’re an advanced beginner you can totally give these a go, and if you decide to take our new online workshop Jeans Making for Curves, I think even adventurous beginners can make their own jeans!

As usual, the pattern is available as a beautifully printed pattern mailed to your door (and yes, we send worldwide!), or as a downloadable PDF, which has print-at-home and copyshop files (for both US copyshops and A0 size). With our new web design we have a single listing, so just pick the version you want from the dropdown menu.

15% off new online workshop “Jeans Making for Curves”

If you’re new to making jeans, or have tried but want a bit more guidance to up your jeans-making game, then we also have a brand new online workshop: “Jeans Making for Curves“. Use this link and you’ll also get 15% off! (valid through 3 Dec, 11.59pm EST).  The class also includes a FREE copy (paper or PDF) of the Ames Jeans sewing pattern – read the first lesson after you enroll, for details of how to order yours.

Sewing jeans can seem really intimidating, with techniques that you might not be familiar with, like installing a fly front, doing jeans-style topstitching, and installing hardware like rivets. But fear not! It’s really quite straightforward when you know how, and watching this 11-part online workshop will help you make the pair of your dreams.

The workshop has tons of guidance that goes beyond the instruction booklet, from choosing the right type of denim and interfacing, through to French seaming your pocket stay and achieving RTW-level topstitching. There are 11 lessons that you can watch and re-watch at your own pace, from the luxury of home – and you can ask questions any time! Not everyone has access to a local sewing studio with classes, so this is the perfect solution if you want a helping hand with your jeans but don’t have the time or access to an in-person class.

We’ve had rave reviews for our other classes, and I hope that you enjoy this class just as much.

Cone Mills Denim Jeans Kits

Last but by no means least: we have kits!

Sourcing denim and all the accessories can be a bit of a chore, so we’ve done the work for you. Cone Mills are a famous manufacturer of top quality denim that’s used in designer Ready to Wear jeans, and I can personally attest that I’ve never found higher quality denim to sew with. The denim has fantastic recovery (nothing worse than baggy knees by lunchtime), and a wonderful balance of stretch and rigidity. Making jeans with lower quality denim is often a huge disappointment and can lead you to think they don’t fit – often the exact same pattern in good denim is totally different, so this is one area you don’t want to cut corners.

We have four three Cone Mills Denim kits (one already sold out by our newsletter subscribers), which contain the denim and hardware you’ll need to make one pair of Ames Jeans – just add the interfacing and lining of your choice.

All our kits include:

• 2.75 yards (2.5 m) Cone Mills S-Gene Denim (choose from black, dark indigo, and mid indigo (heavyweight)).
• 1 YKK 7″ (18 cm) navy jeans zipper
• 1 spool Gutermann topstitching thread, copper color
• 1 jeans button, bronze
• 10 jeans rivets, bronze (includes 2 extra for practice)
• 2 Schmetz jeans needles

Cashmerette Ames Jeans made in the dark indigo denim  (note hardware is different to kit)

Cashmerette Ames Jeans made in the black denim (note hardware is different to kit)

Cashmerette Ames Jeans in the medium indigo (heavyweight) denim (note hardware is different to kit)

You can buy the kit with a paper pattern, PDF pattern or just the fabric alone – just select from the drop-down menu. Please note on the listings that some of the kits are available in December, and some will be available in January (potentially sooner, depending our suppliers!).

Keep an eye on the blog over the next few weeks as we’ll be sharing tips and tricks for making your own jeans. We won’t be having a sewalong because the online workshop goes into lots more detail, but we’ll be highlighting some of the trickier steps, and giving you suggestions on fit.

I can’t wait to see the jeans you make – remember to use the hashtag #AmesJeans so we can all give you high fives!