Pants patterns for sewists after beloved slow fashion brand closed
Womens Pants by Closet Core Patterns
After beloved slow fashion clothing brand Elizabeth Suzann closed its doors last year, sewists rejoiced that the company would be selling its patterns. One such pattern is the Clyde Work Pants, which are designed for knit fabrics with at least 35% stretch.
These pants feature a high waist and wide leg silhouette. They also have a zip fly and are drafted to the company’s curvy size chart.
Clyde Work Pants by Elizabeth Suzann
When slow fashion clothing maker Elizabeth Suzann announced last year that it was closing its doors, sewing fans were crestfallen. But one silver lining was that the designer decided to release her much-loved pattern for these pants, which are loose and tapered with seams running down the front and back of each leg as well as large crescent-shaped pockets spanning the side of each pant leg.
In midweight linen, these work pants feel seasonless and relaxed, perfect for pairing with a cashmere sweater and sneakers. They’d also be great cuffed up in the summer over a silk tank.
If you prefer a more polished drawstring pant, try Mood Fabrics’ Watsonia Pant pattern, which features a paperbag waist with eye-catching slanted pockets and flaps on the side of each leg. This straight-leg pant works in a wide range of fabrics, including suiting and corduroy. It’s available in sizes 0-30 and instructions (including construction photos) are on the Mood blog.
Calder Pants by Cashmerette
Elevate your look with these wide-leg woven trousers, with a smooth flat front and comfortable elastic back waistband. With three length options—mid-calf, full, and shorts—and dartless apple and pear pelvis fit for perfect bum shaping, Calder is sure to become your new go-to pants pattern.
If you have a lower hip-to-waist ratio, you may want to lengthen the rise. The easiest way to do this is to make a muslin (you can use View C, the shorts version). Start by measuring the distance between your natural waist and where the waistband sits on you—that’s how much you need to lengthen the rise.
Ayelet sewed her mid-calf Calder Pants in a textured poly suiting and paired them with a Cedar Dolman Top. Her pair is a great example of how to use pattern matching when sewing together pants. It’s easy to do with this pattern, just be careful to match side seams and center front seams.
Pietra Pants and Shorts by Closet Core Patterns
Pietra Pants and Shorts by Closet Core Patterns combine a flat front, high-waisted silhouette with the comfort of an elastic waist in the back. Featuring lengthening panels in the front with slanted hip pockets and a hidden waist stay, these pants are so comfortable you’ll never want to take them off! Choose from four leg styles; a wide leg in floor-skimming or cropped length (View A), a slim tapered leg (View B), or gently flared shorts (View C).
This pattern includes a variety of measurements, instructions, and tips to help you achieve the perfect fit. Closet Core also gives really great instructions on grading sizes, including lining up pattern pieces, so that you’ll have no trouble sewing the right size for your body type. Recommended Fabric: Structured wovens such as linen, chambray, or lightweight denim and twill (heavyweight wovens may create too much volume at the elastic waist). For a swishy, glamorous look, consider rayon challis or tencel.
Arden Pants by Helen’s Closet
The Arden Pants are everyday high-waisted trousers that come in two lengths and feature front pockets and a jogger-style elastic waistband. For added versatility, View B includes a front pocket detail strip that you can topstitch on or leave off for a more casual look.
For a great fit, this pattern includes instructions for grading between sizes. Just compare your hip and waist measurements to the Arden Pants measurement table to see which size to use.
This pattern also includes helpful sewing techniques like stitching a double line of topstitching along the crotch seam and inside leg, adding bar tacks at the stress points in the pockets, and trueing up the side and center back seams before you add the elastic. This extra step makes your garments look professional and well-made. It’s a little bit more work, but it’s so worth it! If you’d like to shorten the back pockets on the Arden Pants, extend the pocket placement line upward on the bottom piece by the same amount you added to the rise.