Dawn Jeans by Megan Nielsen and McCall's M7946 top
I had been wanting to make the Megan Nielsen Dawn Jeans for probably two years but was convinced the only way was to attend a New Craft House workshop. I find it almost impossible to find ready to wear jeans that fit, especially rigid jeans, so I assumed I would need to make a lot of adjustments to the pattern (which until attending this class, I didn’t know how to do). I kept putting it off in 2019 because there was always something else happening. Of course, 2020 threw the great curveball of Coronavirus, which made me instantly regret all of the things I had put off last year. When New Craft House started to list workshops again in summer, I jumped at the chance as if it would never be there again and booked myself in - and it was totally worth it!
Hannah and Rosie are so helpful and I was really impressed with the fitting. We had to cut and baste the jeans together ahead of the workshop so we could try the jeans on and make adjustments on the first morning. Until this class, the only trouser adjustments I knew of was to combine sizes when tracing the pattern and use darts (which doesn’t work well on jeans). I can now say I know how to make swayback and flat pubis adjustments, as well as small but important changes I can make to a pattern.
The workshop was run over two days and like many classes, it was fairly fast-paced. I definitely made a few little mistakes but as with most workshops, there was no time to unpick and re-do them. I’m quite pleased with my straight rows of topstitching and the centre join on the back but the topstitching on the fly has a few very messy bar tacks! I’m willing to look past my bad topstitching though because this is honestly the best fitting pair of jeans I have ever owned.
New Craft House provided all of the hardware (zips, buttons and rivets), while participants need to supply the denim, pocket lining, thread and topstitching thread. I bought this mid-blue denim and thread from Guthrie and Ghani - I bought the 9.5-ounce denim but it looks like this weight isn’t currently available. I used leftover Lady McElroy cotton lawn from my Screwdriver Top. While sewing workshops can often seem like a big financial investment, it’s totally worth it when you come away with perfectly fitting jeans and the pattern pieces to make them again and again.
I made this top version of the McCall’s M7946 dress just before my summer holiday in August - I had naively been expecting summer weather. Having recently made the M7946 dress, this was an easy make and turned out very nicely. I didn’t make any major adjustments aside from deciding where to crop the top. I hemmed the top before shirring but did find that the front ended up with a curved hem. Next time, I would consider making an adjustment to keep the length the same on both the front and back. I used leftover white linen from the Ogden Cami I made.
The Dawn Jeans definitely feel like my biggest sewing accomplishment this year. Now, I just need to make more!
