Cargo Trousers with Patch Pockets and Bottom Drawstring
Women's long trousers with a topstitched vertical panel seam down each front leg, slanted side pockets, zipped patch pockets on the outer legs and an elastic cord threaded through each hem and pulled out through eyelets.
When To Wear
- For everyday wear and travel in spring and summer, with T-shirts and trainers.
- Worn straight, or with the hems drawn in at the ankle.
Key Design Features
Silhouette: Relaxed legs with a vertical panel seam on each front.
Length: Full length, hem drawn in by the cord.
Front: Each front is made of a centre front part and a side front panel; the centre front part is topstitched close to the seam and 0.75 cm from it.
Closure: Front zip fly with cut-on facings, topstitched on the right front.
Waist: Interfaced straight waistband extending 3 cm for the overlap, edgestitched all round and closed with a buttonhole on the right end. Five belt loops 1.5 cm wide: at the front panel seams, at the back darts and over the centre back seam.
Pockets: Slanted side pockets with the side front cut in one with the pocket bag. Two patch pockets on the outer legs, each with a horizontal zipped opening made like a welt, the zip teeth left visible.
Back: One dart on each back half; side seams topstitched on the back close to the seam.
Legs: An elastic cord runs inside each hem and comes out through two eyelets near the side seam, finished with a cord stopper.
Level Of Difficulty
Intermediate. A zip fly with cut-on facings, slanted side pockets, zipped openings cut into patch pockets, a waistband with belt loops and set eyelets.
Fabric Recommendations
Lightweight trouser fabrics.
Additional Supplies
- Fusible interfacing (waistband; strips about 3 cm wide for the patch pocket openings)
- Zip for the fly
- 2 zips for the patch pockets
- Elastic cord, cut in half for the two hems
- 4 eyelets
- Cord stoppers
- 1 button for the waistband
Cutter's Must
- From main fabric:
- Front Part of Front Half – 2 pieces
- Side Front Panel – 2 pieces
- Back Half – 2 pieces
- Side Front (cut in one with the pocket bag) – 2 pieces
- Pocket Bag – 2 pieces
- Patch Pocket – 2 pieces
- Waistband – 1 piece
- Belt-Loop – 1 piece (strip, cut into 5 loops)
- Zipper pocket opening facing (cut by measurement, 17 × 4 cm including seam allowances) – 2 pieces
- From fusible interfacing:
Sewing Instructions
- Fuse interfacing to the Waistband (fusible interfacing is pressed onto the wrong side of the piece with a hot iron).
- On each front, make the vertical panel seam (stitch the Front Part of Front Half to the Side Front Panel). Topstitch the Front Part of Front Half along the seam, close to the seam and 0.75 cm from it.
- Stitch the darts on the Back Halves and on the Side Front pieces. Press the darts towards the center back/center front.
- Make the side pockets: on each front, face the pocket opening with the Pocket Bag and topstitch. Place the front onto the Side Front, aligning the pocket opening with the marked pocket opening line, and pin. From the wrong side of the trousers, stitch the edges of the pocket bags. Baste the pocket bags under the front, first trimming the seam allowance on the right pocket bag along the center front line.
- Stitch the side seams, topstitch the Back Halves along the seams close to the seam.
- Make patch pockets with zippers: on the wrong side of each pocket, press a strip of fusible interfacing approximately 3 cm wide over the pocket opening marking and mark the pocket opening on the fusible interfacing. Place the pocket opening facing on the Patch Pocket right sides together over the marked pocket opening lines, pin along these lines, and stitch from the wrong side of the pocket along these lines. Cut through the facing and pocket between the stitching lines, clipping diagonally into the corners. Pull the facing through the slit to the wrong side, baste the pocket opening, and press. Baste the zipper under the pocket opening so that the teeth are visible, and stitch close to the edge. Press the seam allowances of the pocket edges to the wrong side. Pin the pocket to the trouser half along the alignment lines and topstitch.
- Stitch the inseams. Place one trouser leg inside the other, right sides together, and stitch the crotch seam up to the closure mark.
- Zipper closure. Press the cut-on facings of the closure to the wrong side: on the right - along the center front line, on the left - stopping approximately 1 cm before the center front line (= seam allowance for the closure). Stitch the zipper under the edge of the seam allowance for the closure (left side) close to the edge, positioning the teeth flush with the fold. Pin the slit, aligning the center front lines. Stitch the free tape of the zipper to the facing of the right side of the closure, without catching the fabric of the front of the trousers. Topstitch the right front of the trousers along the closure according to the marking, catching the facing.
- Fold and stitch the Belt-Loop strip to a finished width of 1.5 cm, topstitch, and cut into 5 equal parts. Baste the belt loops to the upper edges of the trouser halves: at the front - at the panel seams, at the back - at the dart seams and above the back center seam.
- Stitch the waistband to the upper edge of the trousers, leaving the seam allowance for the waistband closure extending 3 cm beyond the edge of the seam allowance for the trouser closure. Fold the waistband lengthwise, right sides together, and stitch the front ends; turn right side out. Turn under the inner half of the waistband and baste over the stitching seam. From the right side of the trousers, topstitch the waistband along the contour close to the edge. Turn the belt loops upwards, turn under, and topstitch along the upper edge of the waistband.
- On the front and back panels of the trousers, punch eyelets at the bottom near the side seams, placing folded fabric scraps on the wrong side. Cut the elastic cord in half. Press the hem seam allowance of each trouser half to the wrong side, place a piece of cord under the hem, pull the ends of the cord out through the eyelets. Turn under the hem and topstitch according to the marking. Place a stopper on the ends of the cord. Make a buttonhole on the right end of the waistband.
