Easy Culotte Shorts (with pockets): Sewing pattern & tutorial

Culottes, gaucho, skorts, scants, skircho, wide-leg short pants… there are so many (Japanese English?) names for these skirt-like shorts. 🤣

Let me note down my culotte pattern, as well as how to sew it together.

Culotte pattern

Taking inspiration from Yan’s gaucho pants, Usako’s culotte skirt, and Nunocoto Fabric’s relaxed wide pants; I decided to make my culotte with the measurements below.

Sewing the pants

I used my Baby Lock Gloria (Triumph) overlocker and Singer Simple sewing machines.

Step 1 : Prepare the pockets

(I can’t own a pair of pants or skirts without pockets that fit my phone.)

Start by sewing pockets to the two front panels. (See how to sew front pockets.)

Step 2: Sew the legs

Once the pockets are prepared, serge the front and the back panels together; down the outer and inner legs (ie. along the red clips).

Step 3: Connect the crotch

Turn one leg right way out, then insert it inside the other leg. Serge along the crotch (along the red clips) to connect the legs.

Step 4: Add the waistband (elastic casing)

If needed, cut to adjust the waistband fabric length to match sewn pants’ waist dimensions (plus ~2cm seam allowance).

Sew the waistband fabric into a loop, leaving a gap for elastic to be inserted later. (See tips for sewing waistbands if you want to make inserting and replacing elastic a breeze.)

Serge the waistband onto the waist of the pants. Insert elastic all the way through, then sew the elastic into a loop. (I used 72cm of 20mm-wide woven elastic looped at 70cm for a comfort fit.)

Step 5: Hem the pants

Now for the last step! Try it on to check the length of the pants.

If no adjustment is needed, then hem the bottom. If it’s too long, cut the bottom off to the desired length. If it’s too short, you can add cuffs, tiers, or lace.

I decided to keep the length and serge a rolled hem.

Outcome

Tada~. Here’s a super comfy pair of skorts.

The length of the culotte was perfect – although it almost failed the toilet test.

What’s the toilet test, you ask? It’s whether your wide-leg pants can be pulled down without touching the ground 😂 (These one were a bit close; I better roll it up once before sitting down. A tad unfortunate, but not too bad at all!)

This was my third sewing project using a king size bed sheet set from Big W (which included a flat sheet, a fitted sheet, and two pillow cases). After making a long sleeve wrap dress, a tiered maxi skirt, and these shorts, I think I still have enough fabric for one more small project 😀

Variation

A slight variation to above is pleating the 4 panels.

Apart from it being colour-blocked, the main difference to the pattern was that all four panels were cut to be 50cm at its maximum width, and the panels were pleated to become 25cm wide before sewing them together.