Culottes are wide-leg shorts or cropped trousers with enough width in each leg, 60 to 80 cm (23 5/8 to 31 1/2 in) around the hem, to hang like a skirt when you stand still. The quickest way to sew them is from an elastic-waist shorts pattern lengthened to the knee or mid-calf and cut in a drapey fabric: four leg pieces, pocket bags, a fold-over casing and a hem, in about three hours. About 1.8 m (2 yd) of 140 cm (55 in) wide fabric and 1 m (1 1/8 yd) of 3 cm (1 1/4 in) elastic are the whole shopping list.
What makes culottes different from shorts?
Three things: length, width and fabric. Culottes end somewhere between the top of the knee and mid-calf; shorts stop above it. Each culotte leg is wide enough that the two legs read as one skirt from the front, which means a hem at least 60 cm around on an adult; roomy shorts are nearer 50 cm. And the fabric has drape, so the width falls in folds rather than standing out like a box. The waist, the crotch curve and the construction are the same as pull-on shorts, which is why a shorts pattern is the right starting point.
What do you need to sew culottes?
The pieces, from a pull-on shorts pattern:
- Front leg, cut twice as a mirrored pair, with the casing folded from the top edge.
- Back leg, cut twice as a mirrored pair.
- Pocket bags, cut four for in-seam pockets, or none.
Notions: 3 cm wide elastic, your waist measurement minus 5 to 8 cm (2 to 3 1/8 in) long; polyester thread; a universal needle in 70/10 for viscose and crepe or 80/12 for linen and twill; a safety pin or bodkin.
Fabric on 140 cm wide fabric: 1.6 to 1.8 m (1 3/4 to 2 yd) for knee length, 2 to 2.2 m (2 1/4 to 2 3/8 yd) for mid-calf. On 110 cm (45 in) wide fabric add about 0.5 m (5/8 yd). Viscose twill, Tencel, a linen-viscose blend, crepe and lightweight wool crepe all move the way culottes should. Cotton poplin or a soft linen give a crisper, more A-line version. Avoid canvas and stiff twill: in a wide, short leg they look like boxy shorts. Pre-wash viscose and Tencel, which shrink the first time, and press while still slightly damp.
How do you turn a shorts pattern into culottes?
Length. Measure down your side from the natural waist to where you want the hem: the top of the knee is about 55 to 60 cm (21 5/8 to 23 5/8 in) on most adults, mid-calf 70 to 75 cm (27 1/2 to 29 1/2 in). Extend the front and back leg pieces straight down from the hem, following the angle of the side seam and the inseam, to that length plus 3 cm (1 1/4 in) for the hem.
Width. Choose the roomiest fit the pattern offers before you add anything. Then, if you want more swing, add 3 to 4 cm (1 1/4 to 1 1/2 in) at the hem on both the side seam and the inseam of every leg piece, tapering the new line to nothing at the hip on the side seam and at the crotch point on the inseam. Four pieces with two edges each at 3 cm adds 12 cm (4 3/4 in) around each leg without touching the waist or the crotch.
Hem. A wide hem on a drapey fabric is partly off grain, so plan to hang the culottes overnight before you hem them, as you would a circle skirt.
Note: If you want a true wide leg from the start, a pull-on trousers pattern with a wide leg cropped to culotte length gives more width at the thigh than a lengthened shorts pattern. The shorts route is quicker and uses less fabric; the trousers route swings more.
How do you sew culottes, step by step?
- Cut and mark. Lay the pieces with the grainline parallel to the selvage and mark the pocket opening notches, the center front and back of the waist, and the hem line. Cut the pocket bags from the main fabric or from a lighter lawn if the main fabric is bulky.
- Sew the pockets into the side seams. Sew a bag to the front and one to the back at each pocket opening, right sides together, press the bags away from the leg, then sew the side seam above and below the opening and around the bag in one pass. How to sew in-seam pockets shows the pivot at the opening.
- Sew the inseams of each leg, right sides together, from the hem to the crotch point. Finish the allowances with a zigzag or a serger and press them toward the back.
- Sew the crotch seam. Turn one leg right side out and slip it inside the other, right sides together, matching the inseams and the center front and back. Sew the whole curve in one go from front waist to back waist, then sew the lower part of the curve a second time 2 mm inside the first line and trim the allowance there to 1 cm (3/8 in).
- Make the casing. Finish the top edge, fold it down 4 cm (1 5/8 in) for a 3 cm elastic, press, and stitch close to the finished edge, leaving a 5 cm (2 in) gap at the center back. Thread the elastic, overlap the ends by 2 cm and zigzag them in a square, let the elastic settle into the casing and close the gap. Stitch in the ditch of the side seams through the casing so the elastic cannot twist. Sewing an elastic waistband casing has the details.
- Hang overnight on a hanger clipped at the waist if the fabric is viscose, crepe or Tencel, then level the hem on the body with a ruler from the floor.
- Hem with a double fold, 1 cm then 2 cm (3/8 then 3/4 in), stitched close to the inner fold. Press with the iron lowered onto the hem rather than pushed along it.
What are the most common mistakes with culottes?
- Stiff fabric. The width stands out and the skirt illusion is gone. Drape first, color second.
- Elastic cut to the waist measurement. It holds nothing. Cut it 5 to 8 cm shorter and pin-fit before joining.
- Hemming the same day. The bias parts of a wide hem drop; hem a day later.
- Adding width at the waist. Culottes get their width at the hem and the thigh. The waist and the crotch stay as drafted, or the elastic gathers too much fabric.
- Pockets without a stay. A short piece of stay tape on the front pocket opening keeps it from stretching in a drapey fabric.
Can Sewly draft the culottes for you?
Sewly's pull-on shorts pattern is drafted from your waist, hip and seated crotch depth, with a short, mid-thigh or Bermuda length and a length adjustment of up to 25 cm (10 in), a regular, relaxed or oversized fit, an elastic width from 1 to 5 cm and in-seam or patch pockets. For a wider leg, its pull-on trousers pattern has a wide leg with a culotte length built in. Either way, the sewing guide gives the elastic length for your waist and the fabric quantity for 110, 140 and 150 cm wide fabric.