3 Easy Ways To Draft a Harem Pants Pattern 21


Harem pants and all their variations never seem to go out of fashion. They are a great project for beginners in pattern making and sewing. There are many different options to style those types of pants, and they can be approached differently when drafting.

In this tutorial, I am going to show you three different ways to draft a harem pants pattern. You can choose the one that you like best, or make all of them. This is a beginner’s friendly project that can help you gain confidence when drafting your own patterns.

Drafting harem pants pattern - a complete beginner friendly pattern making tutorial.

If this sounds interesting to you, let’s get to the steps to follow.

 Steps to follow for drafting the harem pants:

1. Take your measurements.

  • Measure the waist or a little lower, where you want the harem pants to stay. As usual, we are going to work with 1/4 waist measurement when we build a quarter pattern and 1/2 waist we draft a half pattern.
  • The overall length. Measure how low would you like to go from the waist on the outer leg seam.
  • The width of the ankle/calf/knee where the leg opening would be, according to the overall length.

2. Get the tools and supplies you are going to need ready. That would be some paper, a ruler, scissors for paper, and something to draft with.

3. Start drafting.

Like any other type of flat pattern drafting, the harem pants might be approached differently. In this tutorial, I am going to show you three different ways to make the pattern. You can make the first two by drafting them up from measurements. The third way is going to use a basic pants pattern. It can be the one that we drafted in the previous post or a commercial pattern that fits.

Drafting the harem pants – version 1

To make the pattern, we are going to need these measurements:

  • 1/4 of the waist measurement (or lower, this depends on how low we would like them to go on the waist). Again, this is the basic flat pattern you can use in your designs. Have in mind that you need to add for a waistband, zip, seam allowance, etc. according to the design you are creating, the fabric and so on;
  • length – measure the outer leg. If you are planning to add cuffs, you might want to take them out of the overall length;
  • leg opening: you can measure around the calf, the ankle, or even the knee, according to your personal preferences for length. Leave an additional inch or 2, so it doesn’t get too tight;
  • drop crotch – measure how low you want the crotch. Make sure to have in mind the overall length so your design keeps proportions.

   Building up the pattern:

  • start by drafting the 1/4 waist horizontally and the length vertically. Mark points A and B as shown in figure 1. Lengthen the horizontal line with 8 inches/20 cm to form our imaginary centerfold. Finish the rectangle by drawing its other two sides. Measure down from point C to as long as the crotch would go and mark point E.
How to draft a harem pants pattern - a complete beginner friendly pattern making tutorial.
  • from point A towards D, apply the leg opening measurement (figure 2). Mark 2 inches/5 cm up from the hem. That would be point F. Connect point E with B and F. The harem pants pattern is almost ready. We just need to make some final adjustments to refine it.
How to draft a harem pants pattern - a complete beginner friendly pattern making tutorial.
  • You should always aim for a 90-degree angle at the crotch of the harem pants. Otherwise, there might be a strange curve at the bottom. The way we drafted the pattern, the angle at the crotch is a bit bigger. We need to work on that.

There are two ways to approach this issue (figure 3). You can curve the whole line that connects the leg opening and the crotch (option 1)

or,

you can lift a bit just at the crotch line for a couple of inches and keep the rest of the line straight (option 2).

How to draft a harem pants pattern - a complete beginner friendly pattern making tutorial.

Drafting the harem pants – version 2

To make the pattern we are going to need the exact same measurements we used to draft version 1.

This includes 1/4 waist circumference, overall length, leg opening, crotch rise. Unlike the first version, WE ARE GOING TO DRAFT A PATTERN FOR 1/2 THE PANTS, NOT 1/4.

 Drafting the pattern:

  • start by making a rectangle. The vertical side should be as long as the overall length and the horizontal side should be approximately 44 inches/112 cm (figure 1). If you are drafting a very large size, you might add a couple of inches/ cms to the horizontal side so that everything stays in proportion.
  • the next step is to mark the middle of the rectangle vertically (at 22 inches/56 cm). Then, apply 1/4 waist in both directions and mark it as points A and B (figure 2). As a result, you should have the 1/2 waist positioned in the middle of the line.
  • then, starting at the bottom angles of the rectangle, apply 1/2 leg opening and mark it as points E. In this example, a 1/2 leg opening would be 6 inches/ 15 cm. Then, from the corners up, measure 2 inches/ 5 cm, and mark points D (figure 2).
  • the last step here would be to measure the crotch rise (how low the crotch would go) and mark it as point C.
How to draft a harem pants pattern - a complete beginner friendly pattern making tutorial.
  • connect points D with A and B, to form the outer leg seam line (figure 4). Next, connect points D and E to make the leg openings. Connect points E with the center point C to make the crotch line.
How to draft a harem pants pattern - a complete beginner friendly pattern making tutorial.
  • the last thing we need to do is to create that right angle at the center bottom. I usually do that by curving the line so it looks natural. It looks like the image below with higher and lower crotch rise (figures 5 and 6).
How to draft a harem pants pattern - a complete beginner friendly pattern making tutorial.

Drafting the harem pants – version 3

How to make harem pants - a complete beginner friendly pattern making tutorial.

Drafting this type of pattern resembles drafting regular pants very much. The difference is that you have to make the crotch curves just 4-5 inches (10-12 cm) lower than a regular pants crotch. You can use a pants pattern that you have for a base and just make some adjustments to the crotch.

Or,

you can draft a pants sloper from scratch, following this tutorial, and then make these adjustments.

No matter how you chose to approach your pattern, I am sure you are going to get good results. Please share your results, questions, or frustrations in the comment box below, I would like to help any way I can.

Like what you read here? Support our site

If you would like to help me continue delivering similar content, please consider buying me a coffee to keep it going. I would really appreciate it.

Related posts:

  1. How to draft a pants pattern like a pro
  2. Free Downloadable Sewing Pattern and Sewing Instructions – Harem Pants
  3. How to draft a circle skirt pattern
  4. Tanya’s Jersey Knit Dress/ Tunic Sewing Pattern
  5. Girls Summer Dress Printable PDF Sewing Pattern

SIGN UP FOR SEWING FOR A LIVING NEWSLETTER

If you like what you read here, join our mailing list so we can send you our new sewing tutorials, pattern-making lessons, patterns, and some occasional offers that we think might interest you!

We will protect and use your data following our Privacy policy

You may unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the emails we send.


Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

21 thoughts on “3 Easy Ways To Draft a Harem Pants Pattern

  • Joan

    Thanks for keeping this active – needed to make these pants for Halloween – they’re a classic. Pattern is perfect. Great directions. Glad I found you and will be back for more holiday sewing. Also looking for riding (horse dressage) wear. Thanks again.

  • Richard

    Ty for sharing. I am a beginner taking on making pants. I am looking to make knee length shorts. This is to save fabric, as adding length once you have the rest of the pants worked out should not be too hard to do… I hope 🙂 I am looking to use knits as I want to avoid zips and at this stage I have no plans on pockets. I just want to keep it very simple, and add a simple elastic waist band.

  • Maybelle

    This is great! I’d be interested to know, however, what adjustments would be necessary (or more aesthetically pleasing) for someone with disproportionately wide hips as compared to their waist, because it looks like the outside edge of these harem pants (outseam?) is perfectly straight down the side. If someone has larger bulgier (for lack of a better word) hips and thighs (pear shape), should the pattern be altered to go out on the sides a bit? Or am I misreading the pattern? Thanks so much for the great tutorial!

  • Wendy V W Hawker

    Hi,
    Thank you so much for this tutorial. I have a question regarding Version 2; the last comment says –

    It looks something like the image below with higher and lower crotch rise (figures 5 and 6).

    Do you make a high AND low crotch? Is there a front and back? Do you cut both front and back exactly the same?
    Thanks in advance for your clarification.

    • Daniela Post author

      Hi Wendy,
      these are 2 different examples in figures 5 and 6. If you prefer a more draped look, you can draft them low as shown in figure 5. If you prefer less fabric draping down between the legs (and a bit more shaped legs) draft the curve a bit higher as shown in figure 6.
      When I draft this type of pants, I make the front and back exactly the same. Sometimes I shape a bit at the waist – I move the center waist 1 1/2 inch down and rise the center back with the same measurement. This depends on the type of waistband I am about to add and other styling elements, but in 99% of the time, I draft front and back exactly the same.

  • Sharon Joseph

    I just found your website and it’s awesome! Your instructions and patterns are so easy to understand. I’d like to see a post on drafting dhoti pants, particularly the type with a slightly narrow leg.

    • Daniela Post author

      Hi Heidi, it is actually a nice idea for a post. But if you know how to draft the bodice and use some of the ways described above to draft the lower part you can actually make it yourself.