Verdict on the smartPATTERN barrel leg jeans

 

And here are the completed jeans. TADA!

The strong sun lets you see the details but also made me squint, so it's a mixed blessing.

The fit is super comfy. They are not tight but snug through the hips and waist. 

Despite my taking in the pants through the hips I applied the waistband without any change.

It's a curved waistband, so partly on the bias. But it is totally stable, because I applied a weft insertion fusible interfacing "backwards" so that the straight grain end of the interfacing is applied to the bias end of the waistband. (There is a separate interfacing piece which, unlike the waistband itself, is cut in 2 pieces.)

As I mentioned in my first post about these jeans, the smartPATTERN site allows you to configure the jeans for custom style as well as fit.

My options are shown on the front of the PDF that I received with the pattern. It's labelled "instructions" but does not cover the sewing of these jeans. For that, as previously mentioned, you go to the website, which has copious and well illustrated instructions on how to sew jeans. These are generic jeans sewing instructions and not style-specific, although there is a specific page on how to sew the darts in the barrel leg jeans. 

I chose a medium barrel shape, full (regular) length rather than cropped, and one leg dart. Other options included knee darts and two types of side panel inserts to get the barrel shape. 

I could have chosen a front yoke or angled front pockets, and a differently shaped back yoke and pockets. 

I could have picked a straight waistband or a button fly.

You need to supply your body measurements, including hip circumference, total height, inseam and outseam lengths, waist, and leg measurements at the thigh, mid-thigh, knee, calf and heel instep. Finally, you need to rate the roundness of your butt on a scale of 1-5 (I picked 2). 

I'm impressed with the fit, although I had to tweak the side seams because my fabric has some stretch, which isn't called for.

(Here is where you get to rate the flatness of my butt.)

Considering that I did nothing to check the fit before cutting out, smartPATTERN has kind of nailed the lengths, front and back, that I need for good fit.

I think they are well balanced on my body. While there's a bit of pooling under my (flat, as previously mentioned) butt, I don't think it's unacceptable. You do need some fabric length for ordinary moving around.

I like the leg shape. They are barrel shaped without being clownish.

The length is good. I turned up a bit more length than called for (4 cm) and if they shrink up too much I can re-do the hems if needed. 

I used this crazy print cotton for my pocket bags and waistband facing. 

I made sure to sew it inside out so that the right side of the print would show. I like a bit of crazy in my custom made jeans.

I think I'll try a rigid denim pair next. 

So what do you think? Want to try your own custom jeans? I think you should!