How to sew a skirt-trousers and what pattern to take as a basis?

Women in the modern world live and work, often at a frantic pace, on a par with men. This inevitably influenced both the appearance of the fair sex and women's fashion.

Therefore, trousers of all kinds and stripes, which women fell in love with for their convenience and comfort in wear, have become the main item of clothing. At the same time, the fair sex strives to remain feminine and attractive - then they come to the rescue of pants of a unique cut, called skirt-trousers.

The surprisingly comfortable style of these clothes allows women not to rack their brains over what to wear - a skirt or trousers, since culottes (the professional name of this wardrobe item) combine the merits of both.

They allow you to make the image feminine and stylish, while leaving it comfortable. Due to the free cut, tightly fitting the waist and expanding downward from the upper thigh, this style of trousers can be worn by women with absolutely any type of figure - the flaws will be reliably hidden from prying eyes.

This unusual design first appeared in the thirties of the nineteenth century in Holland. Then the very idea of ​​a woman wearing things that resembled men seemed inconceivable.According to legend, one Dutch woman was very fond of cycling, and doing them in a dress was extremely inconvenient. Then she found a way out - she created unusually wide trousers that looked like a skirt from the side.

Since then, the appearance of this type of clothing has remained practically unchanged - variations have been created with only minor innovations.

In the modern world, there are a huge number of specialized magazines in which you can find the necessary patterns. When using a ready-made piece, the sewing process is greatly simplified, but at the same time, adjustments must be made depending on the characteristics of the figure.

To create a pattern for such original trousers, you will need to find a pattern for an ordinary straight skirt, and with its help you can easily create culottes of any style and length. There are indeed a lot of similarities between these two variations of women's clothing, and understanding them will help you master the creation of fashionable wide trousers without any problems.

We list only the measurements that are needed to build a drawing of a future skirt. See the photo below. This is a guideline for those who want to build a straight skirt pattern themselves.

Let's go back to modeling fashionable culottes. On the pattern of a straight skirt, you need to make some changes. You need to draw a step cut. The following measurements will be required: seat height (BC), hip circumference (OB). The photo shows how to take such measurements.

Next we draw. Consider the front panel:

• From point 1 downwards we put the measurement BC + (0-2) and put point 2.
• From mark 2 upwards, set aside 1/8 OB - 2 and set point 4.
• From mark 2 to the left you need to draw a segment equal to 1/8 OB - 2. Set point 3.
• A straight line connects points 3,4. The bisector from the top of the corner bisects it.
• The bisector is divided into equal parts. Draw a smooth line through the middle of the bisector. The step cut is ready.

On the next pattern, from point 5, we put down the segment BC + (0-2), we get a mark 6. From point 6 we draw a segment equal to 1/8 OB + 2. It turns out point 7. The next stage is similar to the previous one, with one amendment. The bisector is divided into parts: ½ and ½ +0.5 cm. It is better to look at the photo clearly.

Oblique modeling assumes that the warp threads are positioned at an angle of 45 degrees. Thanks to this position, the material becomes very plastic and elastic, it can be stretched. The sun and half sun cut options are made in just this way. The bias cut helps to create a very feminine silhouette, due to the fact that all curves of the body are gently emphasized, but at the same time freedom of movement is preserved.

Much more fabric is required to create products cut in this way. However, it's worth it - clothes sewn along the sideways visually slims and hides flaws.

Previously, for sewing culottes, dense, heavy fabrics were used, and the silhouette was created straight and wide, with a length to the ground. Nowadays, most designers choose lightweight, flowing fabrics. Summer models are created from cotton materials, but for all the environmental friendliness and comfort of wearing, they have one significant drawback - they wrinkle very easily and lose their presentable appearance. Knitted materials with a small addition of synthetics are devoid of these disadvantages.

Leather models also appear. For lovers of country style and denim things, there are denim skirts-trousers. Such a variety of fabrics allows you to choose a thing that is close in style to what you like, but at the same time make your daily look original and memorable. It is surprising that any materials are really suitable for such a wardrobe item: both trousers made of airy chiffon and culottes made of harsh raincoat fabric will fit stylishly and organically into the image.The choice of fabric depends on where you intend to wear this skirt - in the office during working hours of the day, for a formal event or for a summer picnic.

The choice of material affects the choice of the model, which is better to create from it:

• Taking a dense, heavy material as a basis, you can sew culottes with numerous folds, diverging from the hip line. This model will be suitable for business meetings or walking around the city.
• Models for romantic dates and summer travels are created from translucent drapery fabrics. The constructive basis for them is a cut like a sun or a semi-sun with a smooth expansion downward.

There is a huge variety of different models of pants in this cut, allowing every woman to choose the model that will look perfect on her. They vary in length, degree of flare, and the number of folds.

It is optimal to choose the type of trousers, focusing on your body type:

• For obese women, ankle-length or floor-length pants will be a godsend. The flared fabric perfectly hides the imperfections of the legs and visually slims the figure, it also levels out the fullness of the hips and the missing waist.
• The maxi length is also suitable for girls with narrow hips - it is better for them to choose a model with a wrap. An essential nuance that should be remembered when choosing a long flared skirt is that it is recommended to wear it with shoes with heels, otherwise there is a risk of a visual weighting of the figure and a decrease in height.

• A midi-length skirt-trousers are suitable for tall women with slender legs, since flared trousers up to mid-calf length can additionally conceal height and disturb proportions.
• A wide skirt just below the knee will help to visually correct the silhouette for girls with an inverted triangle figure. She will competently balance the massive upper body, making the figure feminine and harmonious.

• Young girls will love short culottes. They are great for discos, parties with friends, going to the movies.
• The model with folds on an elastic band is perfect for walking in nature or along the seashore, in such trousers it will be convenient and comfortable. The peculiarity of the pattern of trousers with an elastic band consists in the absence of darts in the waist area and a one-piece belt.
• In addition, designers create culottes with a low or high waist, decorate them with slits and buttons, and often complement them with hidden pockets.

We lay out the finished cut out pattern on the fabric. The fabric is folded in half with the right side inward. The drawing is laid out in the direction of the share thread. We pin with tailor's pins and draw on the fabric along the contour. You should make a reservation about darts. The darts are drawn but not cut.

The full contour of the culottes is outlined again with seam allowances and cut out. Allowances for seams from the bottom of the leg are taken 3-4 cm.This allowance is made taking into account the shrinkage of the fabric.

Nuances when cutting:

• Seam allowances for cutting are taken the same for any fabric - 1-1.5 cm.
• The darts will need to be sewn up later. This is done for a better fit at the waist.

The finished parts of the skirt of the trousers are ready, you can start sewing. There should be 5 of them: the back panel 2 pcs., The front panel - 2 pcs., The belt - 1 pc. Accuracy and adherence to safety rules will not be superfluous.

The scissors should be kept away so that when basting and sewing, you do not accidentally cut the finished parts:

• For beginner needlewomen, you can lay copy traps. They will help to correctly sweep the product and lay the basting evenly.
• The first step is to sew the darts on the two pieces of the skirt.
• Sew up the step cut on the skirt and trousers.
• You need to sew a zipper on the side or on the back panel.
• We sweep and sew up the side seams.
• The culottes are almost ready.
• It remains to sew on the belt, make a loop and sew on a button. The belt folds twice, the non-woven must fit inside.
• Do not forget to process the bottom of the trousers using any of the known methods.
• Thus, it is not difficult to sew a skirt-trousers, even without having a special pattern and great experience for this.

Culottes come in different styles. Wrap culottes - skirt pants that can be worn at any event: a gala reception, meeting with friends or studying at the university. We will sew the culottes shown in the photo. But! Instead of a bodice, there will be a belt.

To create a skirt-trousers you will need: a zipper, a small piece of non-woven fabric for a belt, threads and tools: needles, pins, scissors, a pencil and a ruler. Then the fabric is folded in half, right side inward. The patterns of the trousers are applied so that the shared thread of the fabric is parallel to the step line.

We simulate a ready-made pattern of culottes. The rear panel remains unchanged. We are interested in the second pattern. Look at the photo. There are folds on the trousers. They then imitate the smell.

On the front panel, you need to draw the width of the folds. The width of the spare part is equal to the distance between 2 darts. From the beginning of the dart to the left, you need to set aside 2 cm and draw a straight line to the end of the product.

Now we measure the distance from the right end of the dart to the step cut. Using the following formula, we get the desired odor calculation. Fold (2cm + distance from the right end of the dart to the cut). Example: calculation from a photo (2 + 7 = 9). Multiply this result by 2. The fold goes all the way. It can be left the same, added or decreased. An example with a photo, we take 6cm x2 = 12 cm. Click on the photo.

We have calculations, now we cut the pattern of culottes in a straight line. Make our changes on newspaper or millimeter paper and glue the pattern.

The second fold is modeled as follows. We take any distance from the side cut. In our example, 6 cm and cut the pattern from above, not reaching the side cut a few mm. Formula for folds: 6cmx2 = 12cm. Move the pattern to the width of the fold. Use the auxiliary lines to build the second fold. Click on the photo.

We should get such a pattern.

Brief technology of sewing culottes with a smell:

• Cut the culottes on the fabric, cut out. The sewing of the product begins: the darts are swept away and sewn up on a typewriter, the seams are ironed. Step cuts are swept away, and the allowances are ironed out.
• Place all desired folds on the front panel. You can secure the folds with pins to keep the folds from moving. The folds can also be ironed and secured with coarse stitches. On the fabric itself, folds can be outlined with chalk or snares.
• A hidden zipper is sewn into the back panel in a step cut. The stitching should be placed as close to the zipper teeth as possible so that the zipper tape is not visible on the front side.
• Before sewing any machine stitch, check to see if all the folds are correct.
• Next are the usual steps for sewing culottes.
• Attention! The buttonhole at the waist will be at the back.

Then the final wet-heat treatment of the product is carried out. Add a chunky sweater to it and voila - the wrap skirt is ready!

Pattern skirt pants - a detailed video right now.