There are so many lovely culottes in the shops at the moment so this month I decided to make myself some. I have been embracing elasticated waistbands since having a baby so I made some small adjustments to the Classic Culottes pattern to turn them into elastic waisted culottes.

To do this I did the following:

– cut out the front, back and pocket pieces as per the pattern
– omit sewing the darts
– Sew the culottes as normal, but don’t add a zip, just sew the seam closed
– once the side, front, back, and inseams are all sewn, measure the waist of the culottes
– cut out a waistband piece the same width as the pattern but the length of the finished waist measurement + 3cm seam allowance
– Sew the short sides of the waistband right sides together using a 1.5cm seam allowance
– Sew the waistband to the top of the culottes, right sides together, matching the waistband seam with the centre back
– press up the bottom edge of the waistband, fold the waistband in half wrong sides together and stitch in the ditch from the right side, catching the other side of the waistband. Make sure you leave a gap at the back to insert the elastic.
– insert elastic into waistband, sew ends together and sew the gap in the waistband closed. Stitch through the elastic at the seam lines to stop it from getting twisted.

As the culottes have pleats and darts, it’s really easy to just omit these and turn them into gathers at the elasticated waist.

The fabric I used for these is the navy blue cupro from Rainbow Fabrics Kilburn. This is an absolute dream to work with and is so soft and drapey. It presses really well, doesn’t shift about and washes and dries well too. It’s my new favourite fabric and I’ve bought just about every colour in stock!

Let me know if you fancy making some elasticated waist culottes and if you need any clarification on the steps I took to make them. I love wearing these and can’t wait till the weather warms up and I can wear them without tights!

Jenny x