Indie patterns: elastic waist pants comparisons and how to choose

If 2019 was all about dungarees and jumpsuits patterns, then 2020 is the year of elastic waist tapered leg pants. Or trousers for my UK friends. I’ve seen 5+ indie patterns which appear similar (not all released this year), and I bet there are more! But how to choose which one will fit and look the best?

In the interest of a slightly more sustainable wardrobe, I do not need or want to sew that many pairs of pull on linen “sweatpants” and I don’t have time to either. I’m sure I’m not the only one in this camp right? But… there are some things you can check beforehand to assess what is more likely to work out well. Here’s my thought process.

The elastic waist pants (indie) pattern list

• Paper Theory Miller Trousers – front pleat, pockets, 32mm elastic
• Elbe Textiles Fremantle pants – front slash pockets, 50mm elastic
• Fibre Mood Benita (wide leg ones option only, but included as they are fitted at the hip area) – no pockets, 50mm elastic
• Sew House 7 Freerange slacks – front slash pocket, 40mm elastic
• Anna Allen Pomona pants – patch pockets, 50mm elastic
• Seamwork Joss – patch pockets, 25mm elastic

1. Who are the professional pattern makers?

In terms of drafting accuracy, I know for sure Teresa (Fibre Mood), Tara (Paper Theory) and Lauren (Elbe Textiles) are professional pattern makers who worked in fashion. So I would always head for their patterns first, as there are way too many badly drafted patterns out in the wild.

I’d assume that Seamwork is big enough to also hire professionals. Not sure about the credentials of Anna Allen and Sew House 7 – please tell me if you know! I can’t say anything about them seeing as I’ve only ever made the Sew House 7 Burnside Bibs (which was a good experience).

2. How will the pattern look on me?

Firstly it’s useful to look at the flat pattern measurements. Things to remember and check:

Sewing patterns aren’t designed to fit you specifically

Like in ready to wear, patternmakers must start with a body – this is not going to be your body. And we know that each body is different. Even if you grade between the bust / waist / hip sizes, you still might not get the right fit. Sway back, flat seat, full bust, small bust, forward shoulder, narrow back … the list goes on and on. 

There’s nothing wrong with your body, and in most cases, nothing wrong with the pattern. Just that you are not the model, so you need to understand what adjustments to make. 

Wearing and design ease 

For elastic waist pants made in woven fabrics, I’m most concerned about being able to get them over my hips. Standard wearing ease for woven fabrics is 5-7cm for hips. This is the extra room you need on top of your (body) hip measurement to wear things comfortably. Try wrapping a tape measure around your hips (standing up) then sit down. You’ll see that you expand a few cm and that’s your wearing ease. 

Ease comparison

All the pants above have “design ease” over and above the wearing ease. The Millers have the most, the Benitas the least. This is what gives the bottom area a fuller look, and the Freerange slacks a more fitted look. I’ve excluded the Seamwork Joss which I don’t like stylistically.

3. What look am I going for?

Elastic waist pants often remind me of kids clothes. But seeing as some minimalist sustainable fashion brands can pull it off I’m taking my inspiration from them. Bot tight like skinny jeans. Not voluminous like super wide culottes or billowing palazzos or oversized sweatpants. Somewhere in the middle. Enough room to move but without feeling sloppy. 

This is where it’s useful to check out what other people have made, but not get carried away but enthusiastic comments. You know what I mean… This is the best pattern ever! I need to make another one now! type thing. Chances are it’s happened to you that you are inspired by someone’s make, so you buy the pattern, sew it up, and it’s a disappointment. I wrote before about FOMO here.

Anyway, pants wise, here is a useful pics from Kylie and a video from Helen (scroll to the end of her IG post). Pics posted with their permission:

What did I / will I make?

Fibre Mood Benita

I’ve made this twice now, first as part of hosting the sewalongs (so yes, work related), and second one for a friend. Here’s v1 in linen from Merchant and Mills. The pattern changes I made were: 1) to add a slash pocket – you can view my easy peasy tutorial hack on IGTV here; 2) to lengthen the front and back crotch seam by 1.5cm so the elastic sits better on the natural waist; 3) flat seat adjustment; 4) graded to 38 at the hip for additional comfort as the hip ease is small.

Fremantle Pants or Miller trousers (as yet unmade)

Hip size

My actual hip measurement is 94cm. I own both the Millers and the Fremantle patterns which I bought when they were released. From Kylie’s pic above, I think I prefer the more fitted ones. Therefore:

• If I make the Millers, I am going to size down at least 2 sizes at the hip, as the finished measurement for size 6 is 103cm (= ease of 9cm). 
• If I go for the Fremantle pants, I might go down half a size at the hip, as the finished measurement for between B and C would work out to be 103.5cm (=ease of 9.5cm).

Waistband area  

The waist is less of a concern as it’s elastic. Doesn’t mean you want a lot of fabric bunching up there though, so I pick the waist size per the pattern even if I need the hip to be wider. In my case, my waist is 74:

• I will pick size 12 for the Millers. 
• The Fremantles specify a high hip measurement rather than waist, and mine is 86cm so I will do a size D on the waistband. 

I don’t like the thin 25mm elastic on the Seamwork Joss so that is already a no to the pattern. For reference, I use 20mm elastic for my kids stuff (under <5 years) so a thin elastic looks out of proportion in my opinion.

Other adjustments

Fibre Mood helpfully has a page of videos with all sorts of pants adjustments you can do: https://www.fibremood.com/en/adjustments-pants

Flat seat adjustment For me, I always need a flat seat adjustment. There’s a load of ways you can do it, the fastest is to shave off a little from the inner back leg. You can also follow the StyleArc tutorial or the Fibre Mood one:

Calf area

The final measurement for me is calf width. I have trouble buying knee high boots because I can’t zip them over my calves. Similarly, tapered trousers also don’t go over my calves. Thus I’ll also need to measure the flat pattern to make sure they are wide enough. 

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So, that was a long blog post but I hope it’s helpful somehow. I am sewing a lot at the moment, partially work, and work also gives me sew-jo… so tell me dear readers … do you want to see more sewing related posts like this?

Till next time

Kate xx

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