[sosew]

i may have just skipped this in some description, but trying to decide on which size to make and wanted to understand where on the waist they fit? are they high waisted or sitting lower? i like my pants to sit lower for comfort and would probably size up a bit if they fit high

Thanks!

[Liesl Gibson]

The culottes are designed to sit at the natural (or actual) waist, and I do think they look better worn that way. I tend to wear most pants and jeans lower on the waist, but I would encourage you to wear these higher. We’ve sort of forgotten where our actual waists are over the past ten years of fashion, haven’t we?

[Nicole]

I wonder if you could add elastic to the back waistband for some ease?

That would be awesome for my 6 child waist line.

[sosew]

thanks! i will give it a try, i do know what you mean about the style of pants that fit that way

unfortunately i find even well fitting pants often make me uncomfortable when im sitting, something about how they press on my stomach even if its not overly tight. maybe there is a sewing/fit trick i could use to address this.

[meleliza]

I think these fit more like a skirt than pants, so they don’t dig in when you sit the way pants do.

[suse]

I’ve just made a pair of these, and made them to sit a little lower. Likewise, I just can’t wear anything around my stomach, too many years of wearing hip fitting clothes. I went up one size, then extended the pleat lines about 1 – 1 1/2 inches so that the pants fit a little more snugly around the hips. I only just finished my practice pair today, and they fit nicely. It’s a slightly different shape to what it would be sitting on the true waist, that might be why it works with the pleats extended, otherwise they’d balloon around the hips. Next time I’ll do one size smaller, because they are still a little big (I went by the waist measurement as recommended on the pattern, but I think US sizing is different to Australian sizing, because normally I’m a size 10, which I think is a size 12 in Australian fittings?). I have a habit of making pants too small and prefer them not to fit too snugly, so I erred on the side of caution, but was a bit too cautious I think.

[Jillls]

The pair I made sit lower on my waist but the crotch is too low. Maybe you could trim an inch off the top before attaching the waistband.

[Liesl Gibson]

A couple of tips for you:

1. This tips applies not just to this pattern, but to any sewing pattern: Always look at the finished measurements if you’re unsure which size to make. Different patterns will be designed with different amounts of ease, so if you know how you want them to fit or where you want to wear the waist you can confirm the size by comparing other similar items or your own body measurements to the chart.

2. For the culottes, you want the rise (crotch) be be really low so they don’t pull oddly when you sit down. The crotch should be MUCH lower than ordinary trousers, so don’t raise it too much! That’s what gives them the right look.

I hope that helps!