Jalie 3461 Eleonore Pull-on Jeans

This Jalie pull on jeans pattern has proved really popular and I was curious to try it having only ever made Jalie tops before.  I used a medium weight stretch cotton sateen that I really thought was dark olive in the store when I bought it, but is clearly chocolate brown.

I used the size that corresponded to my hip measurement and the fit was pretty good except for some gaping at the centre back, before attaching the waistband.  I just took a wedge out of the back yoke centre seam.  I also took the waistband in at the side seams.  I made these adjustments completely independently of each other by fitting as I went so I'm not quite sure how I still managed to get the waistband to line up with the body of the pants - the wonders of stretch fabric I suppose!

The instructions, as always for Jalie are excellent and these jeans are very easy to put together.  The leg seams are sewn after the crotch seam which makes it easy to tweak the fit of the legs.  The only part that needs a bit of care is attaching the very curved front yokes to the front pieces to give the false front pocket effect.  I had to unpick one of mine as I messed it up the first time.  You could also just extend the front pieces when cutting and eliminate the front yokes altogether, but if you follow the directions to clip the curve and go slow you should be fine.

I really liked the waistband treatment on these, I haven't come across it before.  The elastic is zig zagged onto the inside of the waistband without stretching it and then the waistband is assembled and attached to the pants.  Obviously this method only works with stretchy fabrics.  I've seen a few people comment that they did stretch the elastic at the back and I might try that next time given the alteration I had to make to the fit at the waist.

This is the inside back waistband, the zig zag stitching securing the elastic in place is only visible on the inside.

Overall I really like how these turned out, they are quite quick and easy to make, very comfortable and I can definitely see more of these in my wardrobe including the cropped ones for summer.  Actually I must confess I cut a pair in navy soon after finishing these, but when I went to sew them I have somehow lost the back legs!  I really need to have a good clearout of my sewing room, they've got to be in there somewhere!