Sewingplums

Elastic waist pants make for good easy and speedy patterns.
My previous post was on pyjama pants and plain elastic waist pants.

What about designer versions of elastic waist pants with more interesting style elements ?
These can bring elastic waist styles up from loungewear to wearable on the best of occasions.

Whew, I wrote this post in 2013. Have just (June 2020) tested the links and there was only one which didn’t need to be changed ! I’ve added a few recent patterns, there are probably many more.

2020 – some people are concerned about the materials elastic is made from. If that worries you, replace the elastic with a drawstring. Here’s a tutorial from Christine Jonson patterns on making the change to a drawstring.

The patterns I picked out have :
waist darts
added hip pockets
vertical seam lines and other piecing interest
lantern legs
other lower leg features

I have’t included elastic waist pant patterns for knits or stretch wovens, or with very slim legs.
There are many from styleARC.
Or sweat/ yoga pants/ leggings, again multiple patterns from companies like Jalie and McCall’s.

There are also several patterns which combine an elastic-waist with a zip fly front. These can be especially good for people with large hips and small waist, but I haven’t included them as this takes us into another realm of sewing technique.
There are even styles with a fake fly, that look as if they have a fly opening but don’t actually open. People differ passionately on whether they think this is a good thing, I confess I’ve always found it a peculiar idea.

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In-seam pockets

Christine Jonson patterns has a link to a .pdf tutorial on adding an in-seam pocket to pants with and without a side seam.

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Waist darts

With pants, you need extra ease for sitting down (I’m especially aware of this as my hips spread 4 inches/ 10 cm when I sit down – this isn’t true for everyone !) But you don’t need that extra ease at the waist for pulling pants on.

Loes Hinse’s speciality is to remove that extra bulk by adding waist darts.
Loes Hinse Basic Pleat Pant is now out of print.

These are similar but with slightly different legs :
Loes Hinse Oxford pant

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Tapered legs and featured Pockets

These are patterns with slant pockets as a visible style element.

Cutting Line One-seam pants have straight and tapered leg options.

Jalie pull on pants have similar pockets.

2020 – some similar patterns with slant pockets are Paper Theory Miller trousers, Sew Over It Carrie trousers.

Dana Marie has a couple of patterns with vertical welt pockets, which definitely requires an upgrade of sewing skills.
Samurai
Taipei

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Seam detail

Vertical seam detail is popular, as it has a slimming effect. and also makes fitting easier.

Chado Ralph Rucci Vogue 1347 with drawstring waist is now out of print (these have a fly opening, which I said I wouldn’t include – but there’s a lot of interest in this pattern, so I won’t delete it. Just leave out the fly 😀 )

Sewing Workshop Plaza pant is now out of print.

Dana Marie Asymmetry styles have angled seams.

Two ways the extra seams can be enhanced.
This could be a good place for adding seam embellishment.
Or use the seaming to add fabric interest.
Here are a couple of patterns specifically for this.

Design and Planning Concepts Patchwerky pants.
Not clear from the photo, but one style has patches down the side, one style is made entirely from 5 in. squares.

Pavelka Design Patchy Pants

2020 – there’s also Bridget Mann’s Patchy Bloomers.

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Vertical seams adding cargo pockets

Cutting Line Easy Ageless Cool

Marcy Tilton Vogue 8499

Sewing Workshop Trio pant is now out of print.

This pocket position is probably not an ideal style for those of us with large hips or thighs relative to the rest of our body 😀

2020 – for some recent patterns with these pockets, see Sew Liberated Arenite pants, Closet Case Patterns Pietra pants.

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Lantern legs with vertical back seam

Marcy Tilton Vogue 8712 is now out of print.

Cutting Line Discover Something Novel

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Other hem details

Sewing Workshop Hudson pants have hem darts.

Louise Cutting’s One-seam pants, see earlier, can have hem darts, or a hem tab.
And Dana Marie Asymmetry pants, see earlier, have a hem cuff option.
These are easy alterations to make to any pattern without other hem style elements.

Sewing Workshop Quincy pants, now out of print, had side seam pleats.

Marcy Tilton’s Vogue 8499 pants, see earlier, have pleats at knee level in the front pattern piece.

Sewing Workshop Urban pants have vertical seams leading to front hem vent with button loop.

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Personally, with my large hips, I don’t wear pant styles with added design interest as that leads the eye downwards and adds visual weight to my lower body. But many people love them, particularly though not exclusively people who are upper body dominant, or with a straight silhouette.

Lots of options here. This is a speciality of independent designers, and there are so many independent pattern designers these days, I’m sure I haven’t found all the possibilities ! (Even more true in 2020, though most are plain and simple, and this post probably covers the main types of design idea.)

Did you know elastic-waist pants can have so much design interest 😀

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Originally written June 2013, links updated and some patterns added in June 2020

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