Tips for Making Successful Harem Pants
1.Fabric Width
When choosing Fabric for harem pants, make sure to purchase fabric that is 45” (115cm) wide. Fabric that is 60” (154cm) wide will make a pant leg length fit for an Amazonian Warrior, not a belly dancer. If the fabric you want is unavailable in 45”, cut 15” off your 60” fabric to make a much more realistic length. Unless you have a 45” inseam, 60” of fabric will be WAY too long.
2. Fabric Choices
If you are a first time seamstress, you will want to choose fabrics that are easier to sew with. These would include cotton, poly/cotton blends, and other wovens. Knit fabrics are generally not a good idea to use for harem pants. Brocades are a good selection for the intermediate sewer to add to her repetoire. Satins and other slippery/shifty fabrics (silk charmeuse, glitter dot, chiffon) should be purchased only if you have a few intermediate pairs of pants under your belt.
3. How much fabric do I buy?
The amount of fabric that you need is completely dependant upon your size. A size 6 and a size 16 are going to need completely different amounts of fabrics. The best way to gauge how much fabric you need it to measure around the largest part of your thigh (usually best done sitting or kneeling). For Harem pants that are nice and full, add 5” to this measurement. For example: If your thigh is 29” around, add 5” to make it 34”. That is how wide your pant leg will need to be. Add 1” to this measurement for seam allowance. Multiply this measurement by 2 (afterall, there are two legs). This will be how much fabric you need for your harem pants. In this case, you would need 70” or 1.8meters.
Formula: (Thigh measurement + 5” + 1”) multiply by 2 = Amount of fabric needed. (Over size16 add 7” to measurement)
4. How do I cut out my pants?
The easiest fabric to cut for harem pants is woven Cottons or something else that is a woven. For these, all you have to do is fold your fabric in half widthwise (the two cut edges are together, salvage at top and bottom), make a small cut at the half way mark and tear your fabric in half. Then you will have two pieces of fabric that are the same size and a straight sewing line. Other fabrics you will have to lay flat and make sure that the cut line is straight.
Directions for the Best set of Harem Pants you will ever own:
1. Take your entire piece of fabric (amounts based upon directions above) and cut it in half creating 2 separate pieces, each the same size.
2. Match up the two pieces of fabric and fold them in half together, laying them flat and making sure that all of the points match up. Where the raw edges meet, you will want to cut a curve for the crotch. Take a legal sized envelope and place it in the top corner of the raw edge side. Cut out the crotch of your pants based upon this. If you are extremely long in the waist, add an inch or two. Do not add too much or the crotch of the pants will sit too low.
3. You now have the two leg pieces that you will need to make your pants. With “right sides” of the fabric together sew along the seam from bottom of pants to the base of crotch. Do not sew the crotch together at this stage. Repeat this for the second piece. You should be left with two cylinder looking pieces.
4. With “right sides” of fabric facing each other, match up the seams of the two leg cylinders. Pin together. This should form a ‘U’ shape. Sew along this “U”. You now have the base of your harem pants completed! Way to go!
5. Your selvage should appear at the waistline and at the ankles of the pants. You will want to turn these edges under once and sew along this line.
6. Now you will make the casing for the elastic. 1”-2" wide non rolling elastic is best to use at the waistline, and smaller elastic for the ankles. Fold the fabric over at the waistline 1.5”. Use the line that you have already sewn as a guide to sew a straight line. Make this casing all the way around the pants. Leave an opening about 1-2” wide so that you can insert elastic. Depending on the Elastic you are using for your ankles, repeat this process according to the elastic width on the ankles.
7. Now measure out the elastic you will need by pulling it at your hips and ankles to determine length. Add a safety pin to one end of the elastic and thread it through the casings you have made at the waist and ankles. Make sure to secure one end outside of the casing. Once the elastic has been thread through, remove the safety pin and sew the two ends of the elastic together.
8. You now have your very own set of harem pants made by you!
Helpful Sewing Terms:
“Right side” – this is the good side of the fabric that you want to show
“Wrong side” – this is the bad side of fabric that you want to hide
Selvage – the finished edge on fabric that appears on both sides of fabric
Rolling hem- this is accomplished on an edge you would like finished. You “roll” the raw edge underneath the fabric and sew flat.
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