How to Make Wrap Pants

Wrap pants are simple and stylish clothing that can be worn to yoga class, around the house, as flexible maternity wear, as a swimsuit cover-up, as part of a pirate or harem costume or even as everyday wear. They’re also known as Thai fisherman pants or sarong pants. They’re comfortable to wear, and easy to sew, since they’re one-size-fits-most and don’t require any elastic or zippers. You can make wrap pants from any type of lightweight fabric, including cotton, polyester blends or rayon.

Things You'll Need

• 2 yards of fabric
• matching thread
• 2 yards of 1/2 to 1 inch wide ribbon
• scissors
• measuring tape
• straight pins
• sewing machine
• iron
• ironing board
• safety pin

Instructions

Make Wrap Pants

1. Trim the lower edge of the fabric (the selvage, or finished edge) so that the fabric is about 3 inches taller than the distance from your waist to your ankles.

2. Cut the fabric in half to make two sections, each 1 yard wide.

3. Place the pieces of fabric on top of each other, right sides together. Smooth out any wrinkles and pin the fabric together.

4. Cut a u-shape in the center of the top of the fabric, about 12 inches tall and 8 inches wide. This will be the crotch of the pants. (You may need to make it a bit smaller or larger, depending on your size.)

5. Stitch the fabric together along the u-shape. The fabric on one side of the u-shape will be the front of the pants, and the fabric on the other side of the u-shape will be the back. (It doesn’t matter which is the front and which is the back.)

6. Hem the bottom and side edges of the fabric by folding each raw edge over about 1/2 inch toward the wrong side. Press the fold flat, then fold it over about 1/2 inch again. Press the fold flat, then stitch along the fold.

7. Fold the top edge of the front of the wrap pants toward the wrong side about 2 inches. Press the fold, then pin it in place. Stitch the selvage edge of the fold to the wrap pants to make the casing for the drawstring.

8. Repeat step 7 to make a casing on the back of the pants.

9. Cut the ribbon in half. Attach a safety pin to the end of one piece, and use the safety pin to pull the ribbon through the front casing. Pull the other piece of ribbon through the back casing. The wrap pants are now ready to wear.

Tips & Warnings

• These pants fit people up to about 5 feet, 8 inches tall. If you’re taller than that, you may need to buy extra fabric, or fabric that’s 60 inches wide rather than 44 inches wide.

• Use caution when working with scissors, pins, irons and sewing machines.

Resources

• These video instructions show how to tie wrap pants.