French Navy Calyer Pants

I've made these a few times now and they've become my go-to pattern for a partially elasticated waist.  They work incredibly well in a stretch cotton.  The pocket detail and side seams really set it apart while making it fun to sew.

For the pair of shorts photographed I went with a 4" inseam.

These trousers are very similar to a RTW pair that I bought a few years back from Matalan in the UK and is a style I prefer as it sits below the natural waistline.

Firstly this is a PDF pattern that comes in sizes XXS – XXL (UK size 6 – 18) with the option to print at home or as an AO file for copy shop printing. There is a flat front version and a pleat front version – I made the flat front version.

The instructions are very detailed and easy to follow and overall I really enjoyed the construction of these trousers especially how the waistband came together. The side seams sit towards the front of the pant legs, with a part elasticated waist that sits a couple of centimetres below the natural waistline. These are fairly easy to construct and I feel would be suitable for an intermediate beginner with the basic sewing skills under their belt.

I used a lightweight fabric with some drape (although not as much as my RTW ones) from my stash – I think it may be a cotton or rayon blend.

I am 5’1” and 35” / 29” / 37” and cut a size small. The trousers are drafted for 5’6” however I only reduced the length by 2” which was perfect.

A couple of things that I did but really shouldn’t have were:

I was worried that the crotch depth / length would be too long and that the trousers would end up sitting on my natural waist so when cutting along the top of each trouser piece I used the XXS lines – this wasn’t necessary and I will not do this on the next pair I make.

I was also worried that the front waistband wouldn’t be long enough (had waistband issues on other trousers I’ve made) and so added a couple of inches to either end to give me a bit of leeway. Don’t do this, trust in the pattern. Doing this only made it really hard for me to get my head around how the front waistband came together with the back waistband and I ended up cutting it back down to the correct size before joining the front and back pieces together.

The last change that I made which was really due to lack of supplies was to change the 2” elastic to 2 x 1” elastic on the back waistband. To accommodate these I sewed along the back waistband creating two separate casings and then inserted a length of 1” elastic into each. I’m happy with how that turned out and will do it on any future pairs.

Finally the pattern advises you to handstitch the trouser hems however I used my sewing machine for speed – they look okay but I may well consider hand stitching on the next pair.

Overall I am really pleased with these; they fit me well and look casual yet smart. I enjoyed making them - the instructions and pictures were good and easy to follow – now I just need to make up a stellan tee to go with!

I like the fact that these are a fairly quick sew and they are comfy to wear. Style wise they have a flat waistband at the front that is flattering and although the elastic gathers the fabric up at the back, they don't look too hideous from behind! Another flattering detail is that the side seams are slightly forward, which means the front leg piece is narrower than the back leg piece. This gives the illusion of your legs being narrower slimmer and longer!

I say this is a quick sew, but that is only true if you can understand the pocket instructions. Also I found that my first pair were not very neat around the pocket and some bar tacks were in order to keep raw edges, that were poking through, under wraps. I had to cut 1 1/2 inches off the top of the trousers as they came out far too high on me and I also changed the super wide elastic for 1/1/2 wide elastic and adjusted the width of the waistband to fit as I thought this would be more comfortable. The fit around the crotch was perfect for me - yay! I'm 5'6'' and they were only just long enough for me if I hemmed them with bias tape. So next time I will have to adjust the pattern there too. I used a pinstripe cotton grey twill from Clothkits in Chichester which was only £5 per metre...sorry guys I bought the last of the bolt!

Overall I would make these again with all the adjustments mentioned and I would recommend the pattern. If I work out the pockets perfectly, I'll youtube or link a blog post with a tutorial. :-)