Sewing Pattern – Free Flared Trousers

Step number one is to change the shape of the trousers into the design we want.

1. Copy the Front pattern and make sure to add the hip line, crotch line, knee line, crease line and ankle line
2. Divide the block into two panels using the crease line (If you have a dart, transfer it to the centre of your front waistline)

The crease line divides the pattern from the crotch line to the ankle line. This means you’ll also have to find the middle point at the waist line. Measure the length at the waist, mark it half way and connect it to the crease line at the crotch line.

1. Draw a horizontal line 1.25cm below the ankle line
2. Mark a point on that line 4cm away from each edge of the ankle line
3. Create a curve that goes from point to point and touches the ankle line where it crosses the crease line
4. Draw the flare from the knee line to the edges of the curve

The final step is to create the fly.

1. Go out 4cm from the centre front
2. Go down the zipper measurement (mine is 15cm) plus 1.5cm (in my case the fly is 16.5cm long)

1. Copy the Back pattern and make sure to add the hip line, crotch line, knee line, crease line and ankle line
2. Divide the block into two panels using the crease line:
   • Transfer the dart to the left until it touches the crease line
   • At the crotch line go inwards 1.25cm on each side of the crease line
   • Create a curve from the crease line at the hip line, to the 1.25cm point to the knee line

Now let’s add the flare

1. Draw a horizontal line 1.25cm below the ankle line
2. Draw a horizontal line 4cm below the ankle line
3. Mark a point on the 1.25cm line 4cm away from each edge of the ankle line
4. Mark a point on the 4cm line 4cm away from the crease line on each side
5. Create a curve from one point to the other one
6. Draw the flare from the knee line to the edges of the curve

This design has a curved waistband and we’re going to draw it by lowering the waist line and connecting the pieces together

1. Define how big you want the waistband (in my case 4cm) and lower it on your design
2. Separate the pieces and connect them together (centre back, side back, side front and centre front). They should create a rough curve
3. Smooth the curve
4. Add 4cm to the centre front of the waistband. This is to account for the fly and the shield.

We drew the waistband to be cut on the fold so the 4cm extension only needs to be cut on one of the sides (the one that has the shield attached)

This pair of trousers has 2 types of pockets, the ones at the front and the ones at the back. Let’s start with the ones at the front.

The front pockets are hidden in the seams, so we’ll use the side front panel to shape them. The pockets will have 4 parts: The side front, the pocket facing and the two pocket linings.

1. Side front: lower the side front panel 7cm
2. Pocket facing: this is from the waistline to 13cm down (so 6cm below the new side front)
3. Pocket lining top: this goes from the waistline to 22cm down (this is for a 15cm pocket and is perfect to fit your phone)
4. Pocket lining bottom: this goes from the lowered side front to 15cm down

The back pocket is a bit less complicated

1. Draw a square of 15 x 15cm
2. Reduce the bottom part of the square to be 10cm (make sure it’s centred)
3. Lower the “square” 2cm and shape the pocket like the one in the drawing

I’ll also give you some guidance on how to place the pocket, but you can do it however you see fit.

1. On the centre back mark 10cm below the new waistline
2. On the side back lower 5.5cm below the new waistline
3. Connect these two points. You can place the pocket in a way that the top is touching this line. It doesn’t really matter if you place it at the centre or a bit to the side, whatever is easier for you to sew.

One last piece you’re going to need to make these pants is the shield that goes into the fly construction. For it, create a rectangle that is as long as your zipper plus 2.5cm and 8cm wide.

And just like that, the pattern is ready! The only thing left to do is adding the seam allowances. For this pattern I didn’t add a hem at the bottom of the pants because it was easier and I liked the look. If you want to add a hem, I would advice you to do a facing as it is going to be easier to control.

1. Add 1cm seam allowances everywhere (except for the fly, the centre back of the waistband and the top of the back pocket)
2. The fly has no seam allowance
3. The centre back of the waistband has no seam allowance as it’s cut in the fold
4. The top part of the back pocket has 2cm (3/4in) seam allowance because it’s folded twice