
There’s been a lot of debate about whether skinny jeans are out and baggy jeans are in. Whichever side you land on, the Ren Jeans ought to make their way into your wardrobe this season! With a fitted high waist and a sleek, flared silhouette, this free sewing pattern gives the best of both worlds. Try yours in a crisp denim or any one of Mood’s colorful cotton twills!



Purchase Materials Used Below:
- 2 yards Off-White Textured Stretch Cotton Denim
- 1 pkg Schmetz Sewing Machine Double Hemstitch Needle
- 1 pkg Dritz 4ct Copper Dungaree Buttons – 5/8″
- 1 Mood Exclusive Italian Off-White and Gold T5 Closed End Metal Zipper – 9″
- 1 Mood Exclusive Italian Medium Gold Rounded Edge Metal Zipper Pull
- MDF260 โ The Ren Jeans Sewing Pattern (free download below!)
Alternative Recommended Fabrics:

Start with preparing your pockets;ย don’t forget to clip notches in all your pattern pieces before assembling!

Press top edge along notch, press again to cover raw edges along the second notch to represent what will become the top clean edge of your pockets:


Topstitch using the double needle to secure the folded edge of the top of the pocket:

Press the corners in towards the wrong side of the pocket, use a clapper to help keep the crease:


Topstitch along the sides and bottom edges with the double needle about 1/8″ from the folded edges. This is an opportunity to do a decorative embroidery as a novelty along the center of the pocket you see often in iconic denim. Set your pockets aside and grab your two back pant legs.

With back pant legs (right sides of fabric facing) sew down the center back seam:

Clean finish the raw edges using a serger or zig-zag stitch, repeat this step in upcoming areas where indicated. It saves time and adds to the integrity of your seams to clean raw edges before joining to the next portion of the garment the seam corresponds to:

Press the seam allowance towards one direction, this will be the same direction for the center front crotch seams and will join to one another:

Sew closed your darts and press towards center back seam:

Attach your back pockets, using the markings transferred from your pattern. I prefer to indicate these with pins rather than mark them with chalk as it can be permanent or leave residue on the fabric.

Topstitch your pockets along the side, bottom, and up the opposite side. You can either use one of the rows of topstitching from earlier as a guide and stitch over that or do an additional topstitch 1/8″ from the folded edges. Optional: Do a bartack at the top corners of your pockets (small/tight zigzag usually indicated by a buttonhole style setting on your machine)


Taking your two front leg pieces with right sides together, stitch from the crotch to the notch point indicated in the photo below. After having sewn the front crotch, zig-zag the raw edge. Press this seam allowance towards the same direction as your center back seam – if towards the wearerโs left side, press this towards the same direction, so when they join at the crotch seam, it creates the illusion of one continuous seam allowance.




Attaching the pockets:
With pocket pieces right sides facing your front pant pieces, align the curve (this will be the pocket opening) stitch with ยฝโ seam allowance. You can either press this curved seam or understitch – this is when you catch both seam allowances AND the lining side (in this case the pocket itself) so to secure those layers from rolling out of the pocket when the pants are finished being sewn. This is usually under 1/8″ distance from the original stitch line you had just sewn.

This is what I call โelephant ears.โ Although it may look wrong, this is correctly assembled and it provides an opportunity to use a contrast lining for your pockets as it will be camouflage inside the garment and masked by the pocket facing:

Understitch 1/16โ away from the original seam of the pocket opening; catching the seam allowance of pant front and pocket and stitching on to the actual pocket fabric all in one step.

Grab your pocket facing piece and zig-zag or merrow the curved edges:

With the right side of the pocket facings facing up (wrong side of pocket facing to right side of pocket), topstitch along the full perimeter of the pocket facing to secure it to the pocket 1/8″ from the raw edges of the facing.


Press your pocket opening nice and crisp so that the pocket is entirely on the inside of your pant front pieces:

View of the wrong side of front pant:

Close bottom of pocket bags by using a zig-zag or merrow along the bottom raw edge of the pockets, only stitch the pocket closed – do not stitch the pocket bottoms to the pants themselves:

Using a pressing cloth (muslin or scrap fabric that is cotton and light-colored), press the pocket in half so the pocket fold is on the inside of your pant. Repeat for both pockets.
Where my pins are locked, use a running stitch (longest stitch length on straight stitch setting) and secure those areas โ โ from the raw edge so the pocket does not move when attaching the waistband and back pant legs. Remember: your notches are your BFF.

Finished pockets from view of inside of pant:

Closing your side seams:
Optional: jump ahead and attach zipper fly closure before attaching front and back pant legs. It can be difficult to keep the fly aligned and placed into the machine with the bulk of the back pant attached.ย Photographed is in reverse order, I took the difficult route and closed my side seams first, then attached my zip fly and found it difficult at the machine with maneuvering my zipper foot with many layers of fabric to avoid accidentally catching when doing this step.

Attach front and back pant legs with right sides facing. Using the crotch seam as a โnotch,โ align the front and back at this area. Sew the inseam from this point down one leg, and from this point down towards the other inseam to avoid the pant legs shifting when sewing this seam. Optional: zig-zag or merrow the raw edges. I recommend checking the fit before clean finishing the outseams in case you need to make fit adjustments.





Zip-Fly Closure:
Prepare fly shield and fly extension pieces, fly shield will have clean-finished edges along the perimeter. Fold wrong sides together and zig-zag or merrow edge the raw edges before attaching the zipper.

Sew the fly facing to the wearerโs left side and press open, here you can do an understitch to keep the seam allowance towards the fly facing, this will help with alignment later:



Place the zipper on the wearerโs right side pant front, so you see the wrong side of the zipper facing you. Be sure to position the zipper stop 1/2″ below the top raw edge of the pant so this leaves room for attaching the waistband later. Using a zipper foot, sew no more than 1/4″ distance from the zipper teeth. As you get to the zipper pull, drop the needle into your fabric rotating the handwheel towards yourself and lifting the presser foot – allowing you to pull the zipper closed and past the presser foot to continue sewing.



With right sides together, attach your fly shield to the wearerโs right side. This will attach right over the stitch line you previously used for your zipper in the last step.


This is how it should look having the zipper sandwiched between the front pant and the fly shield:

From the right side (fabric right side facing up) topstitch 1/8″ where my pins are placed, this will secure the zipper to lay flat:


Taking your wearerโs left side, align the center front so that it overlaps the topstitching you just sewed. This overlay should lay as naturally as possible so that the original center front seam is represented by the edge created when joining the fly extension to this (wearerโs left side) of the pant:


Placing a pin or wonder clip to keep the center front aligned, pin to catch the free side of the zipper tape as this will be stitched in the next step using the positioning established in the previous step:

Before removing pins, you can baste the zipper tape by hand using a needle and thread, then remove the pins. This side of the zipper tape will only attach to the fly extension:


Last but not least, topstitch the J-seam only catching the fly extension. As you get to the center front, be sure not to sew over the zipper tape or it will break your needle. If you have to, walk the needle by hand or secure a bar-tack by hand. Reference a pair of jeans you own for the specific finish in this area.

Preparing the waistband:
I find it helps, when cutting my waistband pieces, to keep them with their corresponding pattern pieces. It is important to differentiate the left from the right waistband as this will play a major part in attaching them to their corresponding sides of the pant to allow for a button closure at the top of the zipper fly.
Sew two sets of the waistband making sure you have both sets reflecting one another. Do not be hasty with this step as it is easy to confuse the waistbands and sew them in the same direction. Notice that mine have seam allowances face up and face down for either set.

Use a pin or wonder clip to help remember the center front of the wearerโs side with the extension *this overlap is noted on the pattern piece
Bring right sides together and sew along one short side, the top, and the other short side leaving 1/2″ from the bottom edge so you can press the lip up to allow for this covering the seam allowances of the waistband and pant waists once the waistband is attached.


Clip the sewn corners before flipped the waistband right side out:


Flip the waistband right side out and press the seams open:



Here is where you will press the INSIDE waistband ยฝโ upwards to the wrong side, allowing for this free edge to cover all the seam allowances of the waistband by using a slip stitch as the final step of the waistband assembly. When attaching the waistband, only attach the free-raw edge to the pant!


Align the notches and stitch 1/2″ seam allowance:

Before attaching the waistband, be sure it is folded open looking like this, so you are ONLY catching the raw (right side facing out side) of the waistband:

Last you will attach your button closure and add a button hole! Be sure that when you hem your jeans you clean finish the raw bottom edge, press up 1/2″ and topstitch.
Oh, how I wished I had waited before cutting my fabric! This week I made the calamint jeans (it was the first fail I ever had with mood patterns, I didnโt like the fit and the sizing seemed way off from what Iโve experienced from mood patterns), but I much prefer the high waist look of the Ren jeans, this looks so elegant and cute at the same time! Next time I get more denim, Iโm definitely making this!
Thank you for your feedback Luciana (great name!). Grading is the same formula for all patterns and the fit will vary greatly from style to style depending on how much ease was in the original base-size garment. The Calamint Jeans were made from and entirely different pattern block than what the Ren was made from. It’s always a best practice to examine the pattern’s finished garment measurements, and ideally sew a test garment to check for desired pattern adjustments. ๐
I can’t wait to print and make this pattern
How do I finish the waist after the last picture (do I topstitch to close it?).
I love this pants! Iโm trying to make a short version to start
Hi! After you sew on your waistband, you can flip it and then stitch in the ditch. ๐
Can’t wait to make these!! Super cute and has a 70’s vibe.
muchas gracias estaba necesitando estos moldes urgentes DIOS TE BENDIGA ………gracias por comprtir tus conocimientos
I made these with the denim I got in my winter mystery box! I had to edit the pattern a bit to fit my big butt, but I love my new jeans. ๐
Is this pattern available on A4 sized paper as well? I have difficulties accessing US Letter paper
Hi Luisa! Our patterns are ideal for US Letter size, but can be printed on A4 as well.
I made the Calamint several times too and eventually realized i had to alter the waistband for my hip-waist ratio. I can’t wait to make this one because the waistband looks like what’s best for my figure and I appreciate the detached fly design (different than the Calamint.
I love this style and the pattern was awesome! I wish that the tutorial had been a little easier to follow. Because everything was white on white on white I had a hard time knowing which side was supposed to be facing out at certain parts. I’m more of a beginner, so it would have been nice to have tutorial with the fabric that had an obvious front and back, and a thread color that stuck out. That being said, I did learn A LOT.
totally agree with this! this pattern was a little more complex but the white on white fabric in the tutorial definitely added an unnecessary level of difficulty X-X. That being said, I’m almost done with my Ren Jeans, just have to fit it and sew on the waistband!
how would stretch corduroy work for this pattern?
Hi Rachel, weโre sorry for the delay in responding to your question! We get dozens of comments and questions each day, and so many questions get buried and, unfortunately, unanswered. We are now focusing user support on patterns 2 years and newer. We hope this will prevent questions on our more current patterns from going unanswered. Although this is late, we wanted to respond in case anyone else has the same question: This pattern was drafted for fabric with some stretch and to fit like fitted jeans, thus we recommend that you could cut your canvas on the bias to have a bit more give. You can also size up, but we also recommend whichever option you decide to do to make a muslin first!
Ok! the 70’s called and they want their pants back! These are killer flattering for my figure – I made the size 14 (I’m 5-9 ~ 155lbs) and had to cut the pattern down a fair bit but it worked out. . Thank you so much Mood! Keep it up – very much appreciated
Would it be possible to make these pants with a canvas fabric (no stretch)? And also, is the top part of the pants (thighs) tight or more of a loose fit? I am so excited to start with this pattern. ๐
Hi Marie, weโre sorry for the delay in responding to your question! We get dozens of comments and questions each day, and so many questions get buried and, unfortunately, unanswered. We are now focusing user support on patterns 2 years and newer. We hope this will prevent questions on our more current patterns from going unanswered. Although this is late, we wanted to respond in case anyone else has the same question: This pattern was drafted for fabric with some stretch and to fit like fitted jeans, thus we recommend that you could cut your canvas on the bias to have a bit more give. You can also size up, but we also recommend whichever option you decide to do to make a muslin first!
Hi! I really want to make these, but I would rather have a button fly than a zipper. Would I just omit the zipper and swap buttons down the fly area, or is there more that I would have to do to make this change. Thank you!
Correct, as simple as that my friend. This will be a great way of adding your own touch.
Would it be possible to make these jeans in a non stretchy fabric as that is the only denim I have?
Hi Isabel! Yes, you can make this with non stretch denim! I’d choose your size based off the finished garment measurements, taking into account your desired ease. ๐
Thank you!
Just finished to sew this pattern with a 12 years old and it turned out perfectly! so happy with this pattern will definitely use it again
Is it possible to print this on AO paper. No matter how many times I try to print this none of the lines match up – it’s quite frustrating
Hi Jess, while we don’t offer A0 format for our free patterns, I’ve heard of programs like Inkscape that will tile the pages together for you!
This pattern looks amazing, and I’m going to try making my own in corduroy very soon. Could you maybe tell me how high the rise is on a size 12 in the final garment? I can’t seem to figure it out, and I might want to add a bit more height in order for it to hit me in the right spot (I’m quite tall ๐ )
Hi Judith, I actually didn’t draft the pattern so I don’t have those specs on hand. I would just measure it out after you print it, and add the amount of rise you may need. Good luck! I love the idea of a corduroy version.
What seam allowance is used to stitch down the center back seam of the back pant legs?
Hi Jaelin, the seam allowance on all our patterns is 1/2″, unless otherwise stated!
Do I need to add pockets? I like the pants but don’t really care if there are pockets.
Hi Laura, you can omit the pockets. We recommend making a muslin first, to ensure the proper fit.