How to sew pants: A step-by-step guide for beginners

Learning how to sew pants can seem a little intimidating when you’re new to garment sewing. 

There are two legs, a rise, a waistband, pockets... and somehow all those oddly shaped pieces are supposed to turn into something you can actually wear.

The good news is that a simple pair of elastic-waist pants is a very manageable place to start!

In this guide, we’ll show you how to make pants from a sewing pattern, from choosing your fabric and size to cutting the pieces and sewing your pants together step by step.

If you’re ready to make your own pair, our Unisex Volume Pants sewing pattern is a great project for building your pants-sewing skills. The pull-on design has an elastic waistband, relaxed fit, inseam pockets, back patch pockets and distinctive barrel legs.

It’s designed for woven fabrics such as linen, cotton and viscose and includes fully illustrated step-by-step instructions to help you through the construction.

Once you understand the basics of how to sew your own pants, you can use many of the same skills for everything from pajama pants and linen pants to wide-leg styles and more structured designs.

How to sew pants for beginners – everything you need

If this is your first pair of pants, make life easy for yourself.

A simple design without complicated closures or tailoring gives you the chance to understand the basic construction before adding zippers, fitted waistbands and all the other details you can tackle later.

Elastic-waist pants are particularly approachable because you can practice the most important pants-making techniques without worrying about a fly front.

If you’re sewing the Volume Pants, you’ll need:

• A sewing machine
• Light- to medium-weight woven fabric
• Elastic
• Interfacing
• Sewing thread
• Pins
• Fabric scissors or shears
• Measuring tape

And, as always, an iron will be doing more work than you might expect.

Choosing fabric for your first pair of pants

When you’re learning how to sew your own pants, choosing an easy-to-handle fabric can make the whole project much more enjoyable. 

For the Volume Pants, choose a light- to medium-weight woven fabric. Linen, cotton and viscose can all work well, depending on the look and feel you want. A crisp cotton will behave quite differently from a soft viscose, even when you use the exact same pattern.

If you’re still building confidence, you can also make a practice version from inexpensive fabric or suitable recycled material such as an old sheet. That gives you an opportunity to check the fit and understand the construction before cutting into fabric you really love.

And don’t forget to prewash your fabric! It’s much better for any initial shrinking to happen before you spend hours turning it into pants.

How to make pants from a sewing pattern

Using a dedicated sewing pattern means you don’t have to figure out how to make pants from scratch. 

Your pattern gives you the shape of each piece, the size options, important markings and the order in which everything needs to come together. Our Unisex Volume Pants sewing pattern is a pull-on design with an elastic waist, relaxed fit, inseam pockets, back patch pockets and curved barrel legs.

The PDF pattern is available in unisex sizes 2XS-4XL and includes seam allowances, layered sizes and fully illustrated instructions. You can print it on A4, Letter or A0 paper or use the included projector file.

Once you’ve chosen your size, prepare both your pattern and fabric before cutting. A little preparation here saves a lot of confusion once the sewing machine comes out.

How to measure yourself and choose a pants pattern size

Before cutting anything, take accurate body measurements and compare them with the size chart supplied with your sewing pattern.

Do not automatically choose the same size you normally buy in ready-to-wear clothing. Sewing-pattern sizing works independently, and the number on the pattern is far less important than the actual measurements.

The exact measurements you need will depend on your pattern, but waist and hip measurements are particularly important for pants.

Keep the measuring tape close to your body without pulling it too tightly. 

If your waist and hips fall into different sizes, check your pattern instructions for guidance on grading between sizes.

How to sew pants together step by step

Once you’ve chosen your pattern, prepared your fabric and cut out the pieces, the fun part begins. 

The exact construction will depend on the design. Pants with a fly front, fitted waistband or more complex pockets will naturally have a different sewing order from simple pull-on pants.

But if you want to understand how to sew pants together step by step, the following gives you a useful overview of the basic process. 

If you’re making our Unisex Volume Pants, use the illustrated instructions included with your pattern for the exact construction.

Step 1: Cut out the pants pattern pieces

Lay out your pattern pieces according to the cutting layout.

Before cutting, check that the grainlines are positioned correctly. Then pin or weigh down the pattern and cut your fabric. 

Transfer any markings you’ll need later, including notches and pocket placement marks. It can be tempting to skip one because you’re sure you’ll remember where it goes, but you should mark it to make sure.

Step 2: Prepare the pants pieces

Before assembling the main garment, complete any preparation your pattern requires.

That might include applying interfacing, finishing particular raw edges or preparing separate pieces such as pockets and waistbands.

This stage may not feel very exciting, but it makes the actual assembly much smoother.

Step 3: Sew the pockets

If your pants include pockets, they’re often prepared before you assemble the main legs. 

Follow your pattern instructions for whichever pocket style is included, whether that’s patch pockets, inseam pockets or something else. 

Take your time with placement, particularly if the pockets are visible from the outside. Nobody wants one back pocket mysteriously sitting higher than the other.

Step 4: Join the front and back pieces

Match the relevant front and back pants pieces according to your pattern. 

Depending on the design, you might be sewing side seams at this stage or joining shaped panels. Match your notches and other markings before pinning.

If something isn’t lining up, check the pattern pieces before trying to persuade the fabric that it definitely should.

Step 5: Sew the inseams

Place the corresponding pieces right sides together and align the inseams. 

Pin and sew using the seam allowance specified in your pattern. Repeat for the other leg.

You now have two separate pant legs, which is progress even if they still look slightly strange lying on your sewing table.

Step 6: Sew the pants together at the rise

This is the step where pants construction can feel a little odd the first time. One common method for how to sew pants together is to turn one pant leg right side out while leaving the other wrong side out.

Slide the right-side-out leg inside the other. The right sides of the fabric should now be facing each other. Match the front and back rise seams, pin carefully and sew around the crotch according to your pattern instructions. Then turn everything right side out.

Voila! Pants! Or at least much closer to it.

Step 7: Finish and press the seams

Finish the raw seam allowances using a method suitable for your fabric, such as a zigzag stitch or serger. Then press your seams.

We know it’s tempting to keep sewing, but pressing throughout construction makes a huge difference to the finished garment. 

It also makes later steps much easier.

Step 8: Prepare the waistband

For a simple pull-on design, prepare the waistband pieces and press them into shape before attaching them to the pants. More structured pants may have a fitted waistband, zipper or fly, which requires a different process.

Always follow the instructions for your specific pattern rather than assuming every pair of pants goes together the same way.

Step 9: Attach the waistband

Position the prepared waistband against the waistline with the right sides facing. Match the relevant seams and markings, then pin evenly around the waist before sewing it in place.

Take care not to stretch the fabric unnecessarily as you sew.

Step 10: Add the elastic

For elastic-waist pants, finish the casing while leaving the opening specified by your pattern. 

Cut the elastic to the required length and attach a safety pin or bodkin to one end. Feed it through the casing while keeping hold of the other end. And keep checking for twists.

Elastic seems perfectly capable of turning itself around inside a waistband when nobody is watching. Once both ends meet, make sure the elastic lies flat, join the ends securely and close the opening.

Step 11: Hem the pants

Try on your pants before hemming so you can check the finished length. Turn the hem toward the wrong side according to your pattern, press it into place and stitch.

Repeat with the second leg and compare the two before you finish. You’ve come too far to discover one pant leg is mysteriously shorter now.

Step 12: Give your finished pants a final press

Press the waistband, seams and hems one final time. And that’s it – you now know the basic process of how to sew pants together step by step!

As your confidence grows, you can take those same fundamental skills into different pants and shorts sewing patterns with new leg shapes, pockets, waistbands and more advanced details.

How to sew pajama pants or PJ pants

Once you understand basic pants construction, pajama pants are another very approachable project. Their relaxed fit and elastic waistband keep the sewing relatively simple, while cotton and flannel give you plenty of options for different seasons.

The general construction will already feel familiar: pockets, legs, rise, waistband, elastic and hems. 

For the complete process, read our step-by-step guide to sewing pajama pants. That guide goes into more detail about how to sew pajama pants and how to sew PJ pants, including fabric choice, pockets and elastic.

How to sew wide-leg pants

If you want to learn how to sew wide-leg pants, start with the silhouette rather than trying to turn any random pants pattern into a wide-leg design. A dedicated wide-leg pattern has the additional width and shape built into the leg from the beginning.

You can also alter an existing pattern using appropriate pattern-adjustment methods if the design allows it. 

Fabric choice has a big effect here too. A crisp fabric can create a more structured shape, while lightweight fabrics with drape, such as viscose or some linen blends, can create softer movement through the leg.

Explore our pants and shorts sewing patterns to find different leg shapes and silhouettes.

How to sew linen pants for a relaxed fit

Linen and relaxed pants are a pretty lovely combination. If you want to learn how to sew linen pants, start with a sewing pattern that recommends linen or a similar woven fabric.

Linen can work particularly well for relaxed, straight, barrel or wide-leg styles, depending on the weight and drape of the fabric.

Because linen may fray, finish your raw seam allowances carefully using a suitable method such as a zigzag stitch or serger. And prewash it before cutting. Many linen fabrics can shrink during their first wash, and we'd rather that happened while your fabric is still a rectangle.

You can explore our women’s pants sewing patterns for more styles that may work with linen and other woven fabrics, depending on the recommendations for each individual pattern.

How to sew men’s pants

If you want to learn how to sew men’s pants, the same advice applies: start with a manageable design. 

A relaxed pull-on style gives you a chance to understand pants construction without immediately adding a zipper fly or more tailored waistband. 

Our Unisex Volume Pants sewing pattern is available in sizes 2XS-4XL and has a relaxed fit with an elastic waistband. When you’re ready for more structured designs, explore our collection of men’s pants sewing patterns.

How to sew dress pants and cargo pants

Once you’ve made a few simpler pairs, you may want to move on to more detailed designs. 

If you’re learning how to sew dress pants, you may encounter techniques such as darts, fitted waistbands, zipper flies, welt pockets and more precise fitting. 

Learning how to sew cargo pants usually brings in additional patch or cargo pockets, waistband details and sometimes shaped or articulated legs. 

You’ll still use many of the fundamentals from simpler pants (joining legs, sewing the rise, fitting the waist and hemming) but there are more construction details to manage. That’s why elastic-waist pants make such a useful starting point.

Master the basic structure first. Then add the fancy pockets.

How long does it take to sew pants?

So, how long does it take to sew pants? Unfortunately, there’s no magic number. A simple pair of elastic-waist pants will usually take less time than tailored pants because there are fewer pieces and no complicated closure.

Your own sewing experience matters too. If you’re a beginner, give yourself enough time to cut accurately, understand the instructions, pin carefully and check your work before sewing.

There is absolutely no need to turn it into a race. 

Pants with pockets, zippers, belt loops, lining or tailored waistbands will naturally take longer. And your second pair will probably be quicker than your first because you’ll already understand how all those pieces become pants.

Now you know how to sew your own pants!

Learning how to sew your own pants gives you a brilliant foundation for making all kinds of garments. Once you understand how the legs, rise and waist come together, the basic construction stops feeling nearly so mysterious. 

Then you can start experimenting! Make relaxed linen pants. Try pajama pants. Move into wide-leg styles. Add different pockets. Eventually, tackle a zipper fly or a more tailored waistband. 

Each pair teaches you something new. 

Explore more Wardrobe By Me sewing patterns when you're ready to plan your next project. You can also visit the Wardrobe By Me YouTube channel for sewing tutorials and sew-alongs or browse the Wardrobe By Me sewing blog for more guides, inspiration and sewing advice.