Flared jeans: Burda 118 04/2009

I picked this jeans pattern to make because I thought the shape was refreshingly different to anything I’ve worn in recent years. I remember having a pair of blue denim trousers from TopShop in the early 2000s with this style of leg. The pattern itself dates from 2009. I could have sworn bootcut jeans were over by then and we’d moved on to skinnies. Anyway it’s Burda 118 04/2009, which has great reviews online. The technical drawing is below but I think the real thing is much tighter on the thigh and lower on the waist than the diagram suggests.

Burda 118 04/2009 technical drawing, burdastyle.ru

I was aiming to reproduce some jeans I’d seen in a Dior ad, so I altered the shape and placement of the front patch pockets and added back ones to match. I found I didn’t need to add anything to the length of the pattern, which is very unusual for me. I added 2cm as insurance anyway and ended up removing it again by making slightly deeper turnips. I also went down a size because the fabric I used has a lot of stretch. It’s Empress Mills’ 7.5oz premium denim. It was a pleasure to work with despite the stretch. The colour is called black but it’s really more of a charcoal. I didn’t have any black top stitching thread and used a very dark grey I had lying around, which turned out to be a great match. And once again I’m baffled as to why top stitching thread is sold in such tiny reels. I always need two to do a pair of jeans.

They haven’t come out much like the inspiration garment; they would need much more ease and a higher waist for that. The style is also different from the bootcut jeans I remember wearing twenty years ago which had a very low rise. These are much easier to wear.

This is the third garment in my vague plan to sew some things that go together and although I’ve managed to stick to the list of planned garments, all I’ve made so far is trousers. So definitely a top next.

Thanks to my husband for the photos and the quarantine haircut. The UK is back in lockdown with only essential services open so it was clippers or nothing. It feels much better to have it short.

25 thoughts on “Flared jeans: Burda 118 04/2009”

      1. Love the hair! I really like the look of these jeans on you – I am veering away from skinnies and much prefer a straight or slightly flared leg these days. I remember having a pair of low-rise trousers where the zip was only about 5cm long – I will not be returning to low-rise in the near future!

  2. Excellent jeans, very flattering on you! Your haircut suits you so well. You look like a fashion model! 🧡🙂

  5. If you’re still on the hunt for a Burda pattern that fits more like the Dior jeans in the previous post: I’ve made these, https://burdastyle.ru/vikroyki/dzhinsy/dzhinsy-s-vysokoj-taliej-burda-2020-3-119/, and they fit pretty much like that picture. I think the Dior ones might be closer to a straight leg than a flared one. No front patch pockets on the March 2020 ones but you can probably just use the back pocket pattern pieces on the front and it would look very similar! Totally agree about topstitching thread, btw. No idea why they think 30 yards is enough. I’ve taken to buying this Japanese topstitching thread from an obscure online supplier in the US, TaylorTailor. It works very well with my sewing machines, comes in the colors I need, and you get 200 yards per spool.

    1. Oh cool, thanks. I have those on my to sew list so it’s really good to know they come up like they should. I’ve never heard of that thread brand before but will definitely look out for it.

  9. They look fabulous – as does the haircut! I might have a vintage pattern that you could use if you want – just need to check measurements. For thread, Gutermann do a Denim Thread, which I find works better than topstitchiing thread, and comes on a longer reel….

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