How to Make Your Own Canvas Pants

Make a comfortable, durable pair of canvas pants for your outdoor adventures.

Create a comfortable pair of heavyweight canvas pants to withstand hiking, mountain biking and other outdoor activities. You can make the pants without any commercial pattern by using a pair of old, comfortable pants as a guide for the project. Add a few of your own custom embellishments when the pants are finished to personalize this simple sewing project, such as a unique zipper pull or decorative button closures for the pockets.

Things You'll Need

• Seam ripper
• Old, comfortable pants (for template)
• Iron
• Canvas fabric
• Tailor’s chalk
• Rotary cutter (or sharp scissors)
• 4-inch-long zipper
• Straight pins
• Sewing machine
• Thread

Instructions

1. Use the seam ripper to open the inner stitches of an old pair of comfortable pants, then open the stitches along the outer edges to separate the front and back of the pants. Pull out any loose pieces of thread, then iron the edges of the two pieces to lay the seam allowances flat.

2. Lay the canvas fabric on your work surface and lay the front of the pants on top. Trace around the edges of the pants with tailor’s chalk. You do not need to leave additional room for seam allowances because the pants include this already.

3. Place the back of the pants on another piece of canvas fabric and trace around the pants in the same manner as the front. Cut out the two shapes from the canvas fabric with a rotary cutter (or sharp scissors if necessary).

4. Lay the new canvas front of the pants on your work surface with the good side of the canvas downward and the top of the pants in front of you. Fold over 1/2-inch of fabric along the top and sew a running stitch to secure the fold. Double back over the beginning and end of your stitches for extra reinforcement.

5. Measure across the top of the pants to find the center and make a 4-inch-long slit down the center of the pants. This creates the opening for the zipper. Fold back 1/4-inch of fabric on either side of the slit and sew a straight stitch to make finished edges for the zipper.

6. Lay the zipper down the slit with the teeth against your work surface. Pin the fabric surrounding the zipper to the pants and sew around the zipper to secure it to the pants.

7. Flip the pants over to lay the good side upward and place the back of the pants face down on top. Insert straight pins around the edges of the pants.

8. Sew the outer side seams of the two layers together, leaving a 1/4-inch seam allowance and then sew the inner edges of the pants together with the same seam allowance.

9. Fold over 1/4-inch of fabric along the bottom cuff of each pant leg and sew a running stitch all the way around.

10. Sew along each of the seam allowances with a zigzag stitch for extra durability. Flip the pants right-side out.

11. Cut four more pieces of canvas fabric for pockets. Make each piece a 4-inch to 5-inch square for adult pants or a 2 1/2 to 3-inch square for a child. Lay each square good side down and fold over 1/4-inch of fabric along all of the outer edges of each square. Sew along one side of each fold to make a smooth top edge for each pocket.

12. Pin two of the pockets to the back of the pants, about 2 inches from the top on the left and right sides. Sew a straight stitch through the three folded sides of each pocket to attach them to the pants.

13. Pin the remaining two pockets to the left and right sides of the pants, about halfway up the thigh. The pocket should be centered over the side seam of the pants. Sew the three folded sides of each pocket to attach them to the pants.

Tips & Warnings

• Add extra pockets to the pants across the thigh or at either side of the zipper for additional storage space.

References

• "Pants for Real People: Fit and Sew for Any Body"; Pati Palmer, et al.; 2007
• "Easy Guide to Sewing Pants"; Lynn MacIntyre; 1998