The heat is making me crazy and it looks like this may be a new trend for summer, so after weeks of peeling sweaty jeans off my legs I decided I needed to make some wardrobe changes. Skirts just result in sweaty legs rubbing together and aren’t great for bike riding, so I decided to make pants that are “skirt-like.” Aka, gaucho pants. These ones are made out of this fabulous Halloween cat woven cotton…
On the next pair I am taking out the zipper and drawstring and using elastic. Oh, I took one set of the pockets from the other version in the pattern and gave this pair pockets too!
Thank you! It may help that my legs are so short that they’re no longer actually gauchos but not yet palazzos… lol. I was worried about them looking dated but the black cats, I figured, would save me.
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AIMR
(Linda -2026 time to regroup and renew :us:)
4
That length is actually quite flattering. I am favoring the wider, looser styles as well. Leggings are so hot in the summer and I am not wearing my sari skirts with shorts underneath!
Thanks for posting. I think I have a few pieces of cotton that would work for pants like that. It is still ugly hot here!
This heat really brings out the swear words and the determination to find a more suitable wardrobe. Someone just gave me several yards of cotton gauze fabric, which I think will turn into version #2 of these pants…
They came out fantastic, and they look great on you too! I discovered the joys of soft, draped, wide leg pants last summer with my broken wrist. (I needed things that I could pull up one handed.) @AIMR, Last summer I grabbed a few pairs of sari pants from Darn Good Yarn (they fit great in the waist and have pockets, but some have more polyester content than silk, and the thighs are just a bit too tight as I put on a bit more weight with perimenopause) and a pair of gauze ones from Torrid. This summer I picked up another pair of gauze pants in another color, and some jersey gauchos. Evidently they are officially back in style, but I honestly wouldn’t care if they are considered a fashion disaster. I’m living in them and loving every second.
Pants pockets is non-negotiable! These look great on you. And so comfy looking. I have a pants pocket pattern that I have pinned to my bulletin board and use on everything. I don’t even remember which pattern they came from.
Those are fabulous and what a great fabric print! The pockets are a must, for sure.
1 Like
AIMR
(Linda -2026 time to regroup and renew :us:)
14
I have been eyeing Kantha Bae but there pants run a bit over $125 a pair.I believe they are 100% Indian cotton. I keep thinking I should order fabrics from my favorite Indian online store and make them. Elastic pants with pockets would cost me about $30 to make. I just haven’t found a pattern or a pair I own that I could use as a pattern. I just need to do it.
I just made some loose fitting linen pants for my DW out of an old linen top sheet. We wear out the bottom sheets and that leaves us nice big top sheets to repurpose. I used a scrubs pattern I happened to have. She calls them her “porch pants” for warm evenings on the porch. I did make a muslin pair to adjust the fit.
So grab an old sheet, a pattern that’s close and mock up something.
Thank you friends for your kind words and conversation!
These pants are like wearing my pj pants all day without looking like it. So comfy and breezy! Perfect for perimenopause during post-apocalyptic weather patterns…
