Staff Made
Staff Made May Jeans
17—May 2022
Explore the variety of May Jean styles our talented TFS teams have made up!
Meet our May Jean pattern! Our very own traditional jean pattern, designed for denim and to be worn with a variety of our Make by TFS patterns while being easily customisable to create your own ideal-fitting jean. Timed well with our recent release of Upcycled Denim from The New Denim Project - a range of fabrics produced within a completely circular model, created by a third-generation family-owned textile mill in Guatemala. The New Denim Project created this range of woven fabrics by collecting and sorting post-industrial cotton waste from local garment factories and grounding these scraps back into fibre. Explore our full range, including denim, twill and chambray in stores and online now.
The May Jean is classic high waist jean fitted through the waist, featuring a zip fly closure and five pocket construction - an ideal wardrobe staple! There is three different leg cuts included - View A - Straight Leg, View B - Wide Leg and View C - Shaped Leg. The leg hem finishes at the ankle bone and the length can be easily adjusted using the indication lines provided on the pattern.
This pattern is available in a printed paper format or as a downloadable PDF pattern supplied as an A4/US letter print-at-home version and an A0 copyshop version with an instruction booklet included.
Keep reading to find plenty of May Jean inspiration from our staff makes below including which leg shape they've chosen, fabric they're made in and ideas about how to style the May Jean!
May is available in NZ womens sizes 4 - 32, if you fall outside of this size range, we will be able to grade a size for you. There is a three week turnaround period per pattern for this service and is offered at no additional cost to the original PDF purchase. Simply fill out the form on our sizing page and we will be in touch! We recommend referring to both the finished garment measurements and the body measurements when selecting a size, regardless of what size you wear in ready-to-wear clothing. Make by TFS patterns are drafted for an approx. height of 5'7" / 172cm. You may wish to lengthen or shorten the length of your jean depending on your height and personal preference.
A hand made pair of jeans is a considerable investment and a garment that is designed for maximum longevity in your wardrobe. We strongly recommend sewing a toile (sample garment) in a calico fabric (or similar) prior to cutting your final jean. This will ensure you have the opportunity to make any alterations in length or fit to the jean pattern using an inexpensive fabric. Sewing a toile requires additional time, but we consider this time well spent for a project of this type.
We've categorised this sewing project as Advanced, but if you think you'd like to give the May Jean a try you can always read through the project steps in our Sew Along blog posts to see if it may be suitable for you!
Alicia from our Melbourne store chose our classic Blue Fade 11oz Upcycled Denim colour for the straight leg May Jeans, styled with some of our merino and a handknit vest for cosy layering!
Annie from our Sydney team picked the wide-leg variation using our Natural 11oz Upcycled Denim to make this pair in
Another Natural 11oz Upcycled Denim pair made by Steph from our HQ team! Steph sized up one size for a relaxed-looking fit and added three extra pockets giving a little workwear-inspired feel to this make.
Jess from our Sydney store team, chose our Wave 10oz Upcycled Denim to make these wide-leg May jeans above!
The wide-leg variation has been a popular choice so far by our TFS staff! Hayley from our Dunedin store made this wide leg pair using our Pumice Speckle 13oz Upcycled Denim, peep the touch of embroidery on the back pocket - cute!
Zoe from our Auckland store made these wide leg May jeans using our Blue Fade 11oz Upcycled Denim sewing additional patches onto the front legs giving us utilitarian workwear vibes!
Jess (above) and Genevieve (below) have both styled their jeans rolled up a little to wear with boots! Jess from our Melbourne store made the shaped leg version up in our Natural 11oz Upcycled Denim! Gen from our HQ team chose our Pumice Speckle 13oz Upcycled Denim sewn up in the classic straight leg.
Share your May Jean creations with us by using the #MakebyTFS and #TFSMay hashtags over on Instagram, we can't wait to see them!
Any questions? Let us know by emailing our patterns team via patterns@thefabricstore.co.nz
