Breeches pattern and instructions

[Larcwide]

Hi all,

As I made my own soft goods for my Shoretrooper build, I thought it would be nice to make the pattern pieces I drafted available to the community to use, along with instructions on how to piece them all together to make something you can wear.

I would class this as an intermediate skill level requirement, there are some tricky curves to do and a small amount of hand sewing. Somebody with no sewing experience should be able to do this with a little patience.

Before making your breeches, I highly, highly recommend you make a muslin first. A muslin is a making the garment using very cheap fabric first. This is for two reasons, one it lets you go through the instructions to make sure you understand them, check how much fabric you need and more importantly, lets you check the sizing and make adjustments as necessary before using your nice fabric.

You can use any cheap fabric, or make sure of old fabric to make your muslin, just so long as you don’t use stretchy material, as the real thing won’t stretch! For example I made mine out of some green fabric I had lying around from a previous project:

You can also see I didn’t bother finishing the waistband, adding a zip etc, but feel free to if you want to!

Preparation

What you need

The pattern pieces file from this link
3.5-4m of brown duck cloth canvas
Sewing machine
Thread (approx. 400m) of a similar colour to the fabric
Bias binding (light brown or tan)
Zip (brown)
Iron
Button
Clasp
Waxed laces (approx. 1.5 m each)
Pins
Sewing needle

Getting the pieces ready

The pattern pieces have been created entirely with me in mind. I am tall and skinny, so as-is they will be the wrong proportions for everybody else. To get a good start point for scaling the pattern pieces I recommend using the “Front” piece to compare against an existing pair of trousers. These breeches are quite high waisted, so don’t use a pair of trousers that sit on your hips, or if you do, remember to add a bit to bring these up higher.

You can measure the side sea and waistband to get a rough idea of how much to scale against the X and Y axis to get proportions about right. But remember to make a muslin and then adjust as necessary!

Start by washing your fabric, using what it recommends. This will help clear any excess colour off as well as potentially shrinking the fabric slightly (which you don’t want to happen after you cut it or stitch it).

Next cut out all of your pieces. You’ll notice that all of the large pieces need two copies of each (two legs, two copies). The easiest way to get these is to fold your fabric along the selvages (this will be the long edges), then lay your pattern piece on top and cut through the two layers, getting two copies. This would also give you the mirrored copies you would need for most fabric, but duck cloth doesn’t have a right side (outside) and wrong side (inside), so it doesn’t actually matter in our case.

Once you’ve cut the pieces out you will want to iron them and then finish the edges. This means putting an overlock stitch over the edges to stop them from fraying (which this fabric will). While this is an optional step, I would highly recommend it. It will be a long and boring process, but is well worth it to keep your garment nice through many troops! If your sewing machine doesn’t have an overlock stitch, you can just use a normal zigzag stitch.

This stitch won’t be seen on the outside of the garment, so feel free to use any colour you want. You can see here I used black, because I have loads of it. Don’t worry about finishing the edges of the waistband pieces, we’ll do those later.

Once you’ve finished the edges of your cut pieces you’re ready to start putting them together!
 

[Larcwide]

The legs

With right sides together (this means the outside bit of the fabric), pin the lower back and upper back together, with the tabs of the lower back on the same side as the weird curves of the upper leg and the narrower part of the lower leg to the upper leg:

Remember there is no right and wrong side of the fabric, so at this point there is no right or wrong side, so just make sure you mirror what you are doing between the two legs or you will end up with two of the same leg:

Stitch ⅝” from the edge - all stitches for this will be ⅝” seams unless noted otherwise, so learn where this mark is on your sewing machine.

To end up with something like this:

Press the seam open. This means to use an iron to open the seam up. This isn’t ironing it, you should place the iron down for a few seconds, then lift it up, move it, put it down again etc.

Pressing is very important for getting a professional look at the end. Here is a pressed (right) vs unpressed (left) seam:

Topstitch the seam on both sides. Topstitching is stitching that holds a seam that will be visible on the outside of the finished article. You need to stitch closer than ⅝” from the seam to make sure you catch the seam allowance. I recommend using the edge of the foot to line up with the seam to stitch it. Depending on your machine this should be about ¼”

Fold the two darts, at the top of each leg, matcing the marked points and stitching them to the marked point. Make sure the small folded bit of fabric is on the inside. 

Press the darts towards the back. They should look like this:

And from the right side:

Darts are used to “bring in” pattern pieces. In this case to bring in the waist after the wider hips.

Press eyelet facings to inside on both front and back pieces (remember front has no right side, so mirror which way you do it). 

They should be pressed in by the amount extra that they stick out, plus ⅝” (in my case 1.5”)

Open the eyelets back up for now

Lay front and back pieces right sides together, matching thighs. Clip the front piece at  the “V” of curves on the back. This will be your stop point for the stitch we’re about to do.

Clip between your mark and the eyelet facing, make sure not to cut more than ⅝” so the clip in in the seam allowance. These clips will allow us to better get the fabric to turn how we want.

Now for the most difficult part of the pattern. We will stitch the back to the front from the eyelet facings to the mark we made/the “V” of the back curves. You’ll notice that the front piece curves the wrong way. This is why we clipped it, so we can bend it round to match the back piece. Have the back piece on the bottom while you stitch, as that just needs to stay flat, allowing you to keep an eye on the front piece and manoeuvre it as needed. Use lots of pins and stitch slowly, from the “V” to ⅝” past eyelets (you can use the press line to get the right stitch line once the facings are in the way)

Clip back eyelet facing from corner to near to the stitch line

Press seam towards the front (except for the back eyelet facings, which will be able to go the other way now we’ve clipped it) - this means instead of opening the seam up, we’ll press both of them the same direction, in this case against the front piece.

Top stitch the eyelet facings. You can stitch from the wrong side, putting the foot right against the edge and using that to guide you. 

Stitch a triangle from the topstitching to where the tricky stitch finished
 

Stitch the sides together at the thighs, right sides together

Press seam towards the front

Top stitch the side seam (so the stitching will be on the front piece) from the top down to the eyelet facing topstitching

By the end you should have something like this:

 

[Larcwide]

Fly

Stitch ⅝ from crotch to the mark on the tappern piece

Press 3/8inch of right front opening. ⅜”, not ⅝” - this is important if you don’t want the zip to be seen!

Baste zip to right, so that it looks like this on the front

Basting is a temporary stitch, usually done with a longer stitch length, just to hold something until you do the permanent stitch 

Baste right fly under the zip

So you get something like this

Use a zipper foot to stitch close to the zip, stitching through the seam, zip and fly piece

Stitch left fly to left front piece

Press the left fly over, then open it up and understitch it to the seam. Understitch is like overstitching, but not seen and is usually used to stop pieces from “sticking out” after they are folded

Trim the seam close to the understitch (to get rid of as much bulk as we can)

Press the fly to the underside

Pin/baste fly closed - the left side should overlap the right by about ¼” (as we only did ⅜” press earlier)

While closed, stitch the zip to left fly (make sure everything else is out of the way), then stitch again for security

 

Closing the legs

Mark the location of the knee diamond on the top. Clip between marks

Mark centre of diamonds

Line up centre of diamonds with top/bottom marks, ⅝ from edge, right sides together

Stitch - using the same method as we did before, keeping the knee diamond flat and pulling the legs, which are clipped, round to match

  
Stitch back to front, right sides together from the bottom of leg to bottom of diamond

Then do from the top of the diamond to crotch (meeting the crotch stitch)

Clip back between stitches for the knee diamond

Stitch the diamond to back

Press side seam open, or away from diamond

 

[Larcwide]

Waistband

Take one of right waistband. Lie with back on left and curved like a smiley face. Press ⅜ bottom up. This will be our facing.

Stitch facing to right waist

Press seam towards facing. Understitch to the facing and then trim

Press the facing over, so it is right side out

Open the fly and the waistband, then stitch right waistband to top of right leg, overhanging the centre front

Press waistband up. Trim the center overhang to match the fly and trim the excess zip

Stitch your button the right fly (sorry, I forgot to do this now, so my button suddenly appears later after I struggled to add it!)

Use right fly pattern to mark the circle on the right fly facing

Press ⅜ of the left side above the mark towards you

Stitch the right fly facing to the right fly along the curved edge and along the top matching the seam of the waistband. Catch the pressed edge to hold it.

Trim the seam, including the corner of the fly facing and waistband facing 

Turn the fly so the facing is on the inside, use scissors to push the corner out. Press.

Hand stitch the pressed edge of the fly facing to the edge of the fly, careful not to stitch through to the outside

Take one left waistband. With the back on your right and as smiley face, press the bottom ⅜ up. (Apparently I forgot to take photos, but it’s the same idea as we did with the right waistband)

Stitch the two left waistbands together, then press the seam to the facing. Understitch the seam and trim (again, like we did with the right)

Stitch the left waistband to the top of the left leg, matching the back and overlapping the middle

Fold the waistband over twice so that it is correct and do up the zip, then mark the button hole position. Stitch your button hole and cut it out (As I forgot the button, I forgot this bit too. Don’t be like me, do this now, please!). Then fold the faistband back open

Cut the excess of the zip off. Fold the left facing along the seam so it is right side to right side with the left waistband, it should be ⅜” from the edge. Stitch ⅝” from the edge - this should just catch the pressed edge of the facing - from as close to the main body as you can and along the short edge

Fold the waistband up. Trim the short edge and cut the corners at an angle (this will help us push the corners out when we turn it)

Fold the waistband over so it is the right way and then turn the tab right way out using scissors to push it out and get the corners pushed through.

Use the left fly pattern piece to mark the shape of the “J stitch” - you should make sure this line will go through the front and the left fly piece

Stitch the j-stitch making sure you stitch through the front and onto the fly. You want to stitch through the right fly at the bottom of the stitch, but make sure it is out of the way as you stitch the vertical part, or you won’t be able to open the fly!

Once stitched, stitch a bar tack (a zig zag stitch with a very short stitch length so you end up with a solid “bar” of stitches) through the bottom of the j stitch to reinforce it.
 

[Larcwide]

Finishing

Turn one leg inside out and keep the other right way out

Put the right way out leg into inside out one, so you end up with the right sides together. 

Keep the waistband open at the back and then stitch the back closed, starting from the stitch you did before the starting the fly and going all the way up through the opened waistband. Then stitch a complete stitch from fly all the way round to the waistband to reinforce.

Important: try the trousers on now and see if you need to adjust the waistband. It will be very difficult to make adjustments to the waistband after this point, so do it now!

Trim as much of the back seam in the waistband as you can

Fold the waistband over and pin in place

From the right side “stitch in the ditch” of the waistband seam (stitch in the seam so that the stitch will be hidden)

The waistband facing should be big enough that it will get held by this stitch

Stitch the bias binding to the bottom of the legs matching right sides and long edges. Have it overlap slightly and fold the overlap over so that it is caught by the stitch

Fold the bias binding over and stitch in the ditch like we did with the waistband, make sure to catch the back of it on the inside.

Finally, stitch your eyelets (or punch and add if using metal ones). I think  there are 10 on the outside of the legs and 9 on the inside, so that’s what I did, but I’m not 100% on this

Lace your laces

And enjoy your creation!

[Minimo]

Amazing! Thank you for sharing!

[BikerScout007]

Thank you so much!  I have pinned this post

[KOtrooper]

This is an incredible asset to the community. Thank you!!

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[Aradun]

What a great tutorial! This will be so helpful to future STs. Thanks for contributing to the good of the community!

[Larcwide]

I'm glad this has been well received and I hope it can help someone in the future! Glad I can give something back to the community that's helped me so much with my build. 

I've edited the first post with a link to the pattern now that I've finished it off. I've done it as an SVG as it should scale losslessly to help people size it to them.

If anyone does use it and needs any help just let me know and I can try and clarify anything I might not have detailed clearly. 

I plan on doing something very similar for the kama when I make it up, which should be a very easy pattern even for those without any sewing experience - its almost entirely straight lines!

[Gree23]

Ok first off, wow! this is awesome. But i do have a question. You said "this isnt approved yet" but then we have the Detachment staff pinning this to the thread. can we assume that this IS approved? also, I should be able to use the same pattern for a Tank trooper, right? just a different color material? 

[Aradun]

@Gree23 at the time this was posted Larcwide had not yet submitted for approval.  He was approved recently in February.  You’re good to go!

[Gree23]

1 minute ago, Aradun said:

@Gree23 at the time this was posted Larcwide had not yet submitted for approval.  He was approved recently in February.  You’re good to go!

Awesome! thank you! was just wanting to be sure before i take a dive for doing these lol. Any help i can get when it comes to patterns Ill take it! lol now to get the shirt

[Larcwide]

Whoops, I had forgotten I had put that note in! I've edited the post now to remove it, as Aradun said I have now gone through approval. I'll be looking to put them through level 2 once I've gotten through induction and been on my first troop.

Any questions with the pattern, please do ask and I will be glad to help. 

I don't have any experience with the Tank Trooper, but I know they use a lot of the same parts. A quick look at the CRL seems to suggest that the shape is the same, but I don't see anything about the laces or seam lines, so I'll have to defer to someone with more knowledge on that one.

[Gree23]

2 minutes ago, Larcwide said:

Whoops, I had forgotten I had put that note in! I've edited the post now to remove it, as Aradun said I have now gone through approval. I'll be looking to put them through level 2 once I've gotten through induction and been on my first troop.

Any questions with the pattern, please do ask and I will be glad to help. 

I don't have any experience with the Tank Trooper, but I know they use a lot of the same parts. A quick look at the CRL seems to suggest that the shape is the same, but I don't see anything about the laces or seam lines, so I'll have to defer to someone with more knowledge on that one.

What about the shirt?

 

[Larcwide]

On 3/21/2023 at 7:38 PM, Gree23 said:

What about the shirt?

 

Sorry, not sure if you’re asking about a shirt pattern? If so I decided not to do a pattern for it. Trying to match the screen used ones made for a very complicated pattern that people without any sewing experience would struggle to be able to follow. Most of that is then never going to be seen under the armour.
 

If you wanted to make your own, you can just use a long sleeve pattern (or cut up an old long sleeve) and add the mesh in. Stitching all of the ribs is the tricky part!

[BikerScout007]

6 minutes ago, Larcwide said:

Sorry, not sure if you’re asking about a shirt pattern? If so I decided not to do a pattern for it. Trying to match the screen used ones made for a very complicated pattern that people without any sewing experience would struggle to be able to follow. Most of that is then never going to be seen under the armour.
 

If you wanted to make your own, you can just use a long sleeve pattern (or cut up an old long sleeve) and add the mesh in. Stitching all of the ribs is the tricky part!

Very good advice, Seb!  Thank you for your contribution to the forum!

[Gree23]

15 minutes ago, Larcwide said:

Sorry, not sure if you’re asking about a shirt pattern? If so I decided not to do a pattern for it. Trying to match the screen used ones made for a very complicated pattern that people without any sewing experience would struggle to be able to follow. Most of that is then never going to be seen under the armour.
 

If you wanted to make your own, you can just use a long sleeve pattern (or cut up an old long sleeve) and add the mesh in. Stitching all of the ribs is the tricky part!

awesome. Yeah i ordered some fabric that has the ribs and going to make a basic shirt as i have seen and add the mess where its hidden. Hopefully it comes out great and I will have saved myself a bunch of money lol. I wont be going for Level 2 so just need it to look well enough to pass GML

 

[KOtrooper]

Yeah, not a lot of the shirt is seen so you should be fine. Just make sure the ribs for the bib are vertical. Some folks miss that detail the first time around.

[Gree23]

1 hour ago, KOtrooper said:

Yeah, not a lot of the shirt is seen so you should be fine. Just make sure the ribs for the big are vertical. Some folks miss that detail the first time around.

Yeah i definitely dont wanna mess up lol. But i do try and study the CRL pretty hard when I am working on something. but knowing myself i will most likely mess something up during the sewing part as i am still really new at it but its all lessons learned lol. 

[KOtrooper]

Get a nice seam ripper! We all use them.

[mgabriel74]

@Gree23 Hope you are dong well/. I'm doing my ST build too (targeting for Level 1), and I was wondering if you were able to complete the ST shirt? If so, can you please share the fabric you ordered?

[Gree23]

[mention=85013]Gree23[/mention] Hope you are dong well/. I'm doing my ST build too (targeting for Level 1), and I was wondering if you were able to complete the ST shirt? If so, can you please share the fabric you ordered?

Havent tried to be honest. Been working on a ton of other costumes to get those finished first.

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[mgabriel74]

I understand. Thanks anyway.


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[Aradun]

I understand. Thanks anyway.


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Reach out to @Cricket . I cannot find her build for the life of me, but I’m pretty sure she made her own soft goods. If so, she may have a pattern.