Are you having fun yet?! I told you that jeans are not so hard to sew. :) Next up, front pockets! Now, remember that you can do the pockets and fly in whatever order you like. If you prefer to do the pockets first, great. If you want to do the fly first, that's your prerogative. It makes no difference in the finished product.
First, serge the curved edges of the pocket facings as shown below. While you're at the serger, you might as well also go ahead and serge one long edge of the belt loop piece (which will eventually be cut into individual belt loops). If you didn't already, make sure to trace the placement lines for the coin pocket on the right pocket facing.
Since we're going to be using topstitching thread here, we'll go ahead and knock out those belt loops. Fold the long piece in thirds with the serged edge on the outside. Make sure the serged edge goes right to the edge of the folded-under edge so the serged edge gets caught in the topstitching. I didn't photograph the topstitching step (sorry!), but it's as simple as topstitching a line from the right side of the belt loop piece - 1/8" from each long edge. Once you're done with that, lay the belt loop piece aside.
You already topstitched the top of the coin pocket (but if you're skipping around and didn't go ahead and do that as shown below), so you now just need to pin the coin pocket onto the right pocket facing like you see here. I just aim two pins out from the inside of the coin pocket to secure it. Topstitch around the edges at 1/8" and then 1/4" away from that just like you did on the back pockets (not pictured). You will notice in the PDF instructions that I extended my topstitching to the top of the pocket facing on the one side. That was not a mistake - I saw that detail on a pair of Madewell jeans and really liked it, so I did it, too! I did not, however, do that on the pair featured in this sew-along.
Next, pin the pocket facings to the wrong side of the pockets as shown below. Now, you can choose to pin them to the right sides if you like. It's up to you and depends on whether you want the right side of the pockets to be visible to you when you are putting on the pants (like here) OR if you want the right side to be visible when you peek inside the pockets. I decided to have it be visible to ME when I'm putting on the pants because who is ever going to see the inside of my pockets?!
Using regular thread, sew those facings in place just along the serged edge. You should also baste them together with the pocket along the top and outseam edge. (Do as I say, not as I do. Ha!)
Now you will pin the wrong side of the pocket (the side with the pocket facings applied) to the right side of the jeans front pieces along the pocket curves as shown below.
Stitch with your normal 5/8" seam allowance. Trim to 1/4", and cut notches into the seam allowance to, but not through, the line of stitching. This will help you to press the pocket edges really flat in the next step.
Turn the pockets to the wrong side of the jeans fronts and press.
From the right side of the jeans fronts, topstitch at 1/8" and then again 1/4" from that along the curve. It can be tricky to keep your topstitching perfectly aligned around curves like this, so you may choose to draw guidelines with your tailor's chalk before you begin. Alternatively, you can stick some 1/4" quilter's tape to the edge to guide you (and then remove it). Even as a very experienced sewer, I still have trouble getting this curve just right. The tips I've mentioned here are something I still do, and they really make the difference in a great-looking pair of jeans or not!
From the wrong side of the jeans fronts, fold the pockets in half, matching outseam edges and notch. Press.
Pin the bottom edges of the pockets together. Now, you can simply sew those together with a 5/8" seam allowance and then serge the bottom edge, OR, you can do what I've done in the next steps and create French seams. This isn't a detailed tutorial on French seams, but you can certainly google French seams if you like what you see here. Stitching and serging works fine though!
In the photo below you can see the nice edges of my French seams.
All finished! Press everything flat, and baste the pocket edges to the top and outseam edges of the jeans to make future steps easier.
Getting really close to the fun parts! Yipee!