The Wardrobe Architect's Classic Culottes

I have made several pairs of the Classic Culottes over the last few years. For this version I decided to hack them a little for extra comfort whilst I work from home.

I was very kindly provided the fabric for these from Abakhan, and I chose this gorgeous tercel denim. It is very light weight and floaty, but also presses well, so that the pleats look nice and sharp. Tencel is a great eco-friendly, breathable fabric. It’s perfect for these culottes. I’ve actually ordered some more of this fabric to make a matching top for a faux jumpsuit!

The changes I made to the pattern were to slim and lengthen the legs and have an elastic back waistband. I made most of the changes to the pattern pieces before I cut the fabric out.

Step 1
Straighten up the back side seam so that the top of the trouser leg (at the waistband) is wider. This should allow you to be able to get them on and off without a zip. Ignore the dart markings as there is no need for the dart with an elasticated back. The back waistband should be in line with the hip now, rather than curved in at the top.

Step 2
Take a slice out of the front and back leg pieces to slim them down. I did this by folding the pattern lengthwise and overlapping a chunk. I think I took out about 2 inches front and back.

Step 3
Measure the top edge of the back leg piece. Deduct 1.5cm (seam allowance for the back crotch) and multiply by 2. This is the length of your back waistband piece. Using the waistband pattern piece as a guide cut out the back waistband to this dimension.

Step 4
After sewing the front pockets, pleats and crotch, measure across the top to get the length of the front waistband piece. Cut this out as you did for the back piece, but make sure to interface this piece.

Step 5
After the front and back legs are sewn together at the side and inseams, sew the front and back waistband pieces together and attach to the culotte legs as per the instructions. Stitch the inner waistband down at the back only, then thread elastic through this channel, securing at the side seams. I use half my waist measurement as the elastic length. Then sew the front inner waistband to the trousers to fully enclose the waistband.

The result is a nice, clean flat front and comfy elasticated back. Perfect for current working from home scenario and (hopefully) the summer when we can go back outside!

If Jenny’s Classic Culottes has piqued your interest and you love her ‘go with everything’ choice of soft denim tercel, from Abakhan we’ve picked out three other denim’s but this time with different details – all that would work well for the Classic Culottes pattern.
Find the details on how much fabric you’d need on the back of the pattern envelope below.