Agave Pattern Hack: Ankle-Tie Pants, Part 3
Today, we’ll wrap up the Agave Pants ankle-tie hack sewalong using the Agave Pants / Shorts Pattern.
Start with Part 1 and Part 2 for the full sewalong, or skip ahead to see how the cuff construction varies from the standard pattern.
We’ll start by attaching the waistbands using the stitch-in-the-ditch method. I have some short video clips and tips in my Instagram highlights if you’re new to this method or want to compare techniques.
One of the things I love about sewing is that, even though I’ve been sewing for most of my life, I’m always learning new things from other sewists and while working on projects. And with both the waistbands and cuffs of the Agave Pants using stitch-in-the-ditch, I spent a lot of time thinking about how to perfect my techniques.
Let’s start with the Front Waistband. For the version I’m making, the Front Waistband does not have ties.
Start by pinning the side of the Front Waistband without interfacing to the Pants Front with right sides together, matching notches and the center front. Your Front Waistband should extend 5/8” (16mm) beyond the sides of the Pants Front at both ends.
Attaching the Waistbands
If you are working with a shifty or slippery fabric, you can start at the center front or center back when attaching the waistbands and sew two separate lines of stitching to ensure that the waistband is centered.
Sew the Front Waistband to the Pants Front with a 5/8” (16mm) seam allowance. (Step 20)
Pin the side of the Back Waistband without interfacing to the Pants Back with right sides together, matching notches and the center back. If your waistband has ties, the seams that attach the ties to the waistband should line up with the outer edges of the Pants Back.
Sew the Back Waistband with a 5/8” (16mm) seam allowance. (Step 20)
Trim the seams of the Front Waistband and Back Waistband where you just attached them to the pants. Leave approximately 1/2” (13mm) untrimmed at each end to make it easier to pin the layers together before you stitch in the ditch. (Step 21)
To finish the ends Front Waistband (or any waistband on your version that does not have ties), pin the ends together with right sides together and sew with a 5/8” (16mm) seam allowance. Your stitch line should end just outside of the side seam of the pants. (View B, Step 19)
Trim the side seams and corners, and then turn and press, using a point turner or similar tool to get crisp corners. (View B, Step 20)
To prepare to stitch down the waistbands, pin both in place so that folded edge of the inner waistband falls approximately 1/4” (6.5mm) below the seam that attaches the waistband to the pants. Once you have the waistbands pinned, stitch in the seamline from the right side (stitch in the ditch).
I always start in the middle and sew outward in two separate seamlines when I sew a waistband using this method. Not all fabrics will shift, but starting in the middle ensures that your center front/center back markings will line up — reduces the possibility of seam ripping significantly, in my experience. If you use this method, don’t backstitch at the start of each seam (this would increase the likelihood that your stitches will be visible on the outside). After sewing both lines of stitching, pull all of your threads to the inside in the middle where the seamlines meet and tie them off. (Step 22)
When you stitch the waistbands down, the edges of the waistbands should line up with the sides of the pants for both versions with and without ties.
Next, we’ll sew the inseams. I used French seams for mine, but you can sew them using any method you prefer. To sew the inseams with French seams, start by pinning the inseams with wrong sides together and sew with a 1/4” (6.5mm) inseam. Turn and press the seams. Sew the inseams a second time with the right sides together at 3/8” (9.5mm). For a more detailed description of French seams, refer to Part 2 of this sewalong.
Now that the inseams are complete, we can move on to the cuffs. The cuffs are assembled and attached using the same steps as the waistbands.
Start by turning one long edge of the two Cuff pieces with interfacing 3/8” toward the wrong side. Pin one Cuff piece with interfacing to one Cuff piece without interfacing, right sides together, and repeat with the other set. Sew with a 5/8” (16mm) seam allowance. Grade the seams of both cuffs.
Open the cuffs flat and press the seams to one side, then fold them with wrong sides together and press again. This two-step pressing process gives crisper seam than jumping directly to the second step and pressing once.
If you’re using ties for the ankles, you’ll need a total of four ties (two for each leg opening). Alternately, you can use buttons or snaps at the ankles. If you choose buttons or snaps instead of ties, you would sew the sides of the cuffs in the same fashion as the Front Waistband described above.
I have two ties that I cut using the modified Cuff Back piece from Part 1. For my other two ties, I cut four of the regular Cuff Back pieces and sewed pairs of two together along the long edge with a 5/8” (16mm) seam allowance. You can use whatever combination fits best in your cutting layout.
Pin one tie to each end of the two cuffs, aligning them so that the long edge of the outside cuff (the section without interfacing) is flush with one long edge of each tie. The other long edge of the ties should extend beyond the folded edges of the inside cuffs (the section with interfacing) as shown above.
Sew the ties to the cuffs with a 5/8” (16mm) seam allowance, stopping 5/8” (16mm) from the edge (approximately 1/4” (6.5mm) from the fold). Once you have attached all four ties, press your seams open.
Fold all of your ties with right sides together, matching the long and short edges and pin. Sew with a 5/8” (16mm) seam allowance. Trim the seam allowances to approximately 1/4” (6.5mm). Trim corners at a 45 degree angle 1/16-1/8” (1.5-3mm) from the stitching. Turn the ties and use a point turner or similar tool at the corners. Press.
You should now have two complete cuff and tie assemblies. On to the fun part: gathers! There are a number of ways to sew gathers, so if you’re familiar with the process you can use your favorite method.
Sewing Gathers
When using basting stitches for gathers, you can add a third row of stitches past the seam allowance. The seam falls between the second and third row of stitches, helping to keep the gathers in place as you sew.
Be sure to test this method on your fabric first, as some fabrics will shown holes or damage where the stitches from the third stitchline were removed.
My fabric is a lightweight georgette, so I only used two rows of basting stitches for my gathers.
Set your stitch length to the longest option on your machine. Sew the first row of stitches 1/4” (6.5mm) from the edge and the second row 1/2” (13mm) from the edge, leaving long thread tails at each end. I sewed my basting stitches in two sections, one along the Pants Front and one along the Pants Back, to make it easier to create and distribute my gathers.
Tie off the threads at one end and then gently pull the bobbin threads until the overall length of the bottom edge of the pant leg matches the length of your cuff. Using your fingers, space out the gathers until they are evenly distributed along the edge, then tie off the basting stitches at the other end of each stitchline.
Pin the uninterfaced side the cuffs to the bottom of the pant legs with right sides together. Sew with a 5/8” (16mm) seam allowance. This seam should fall 1/8” (3mm) beyond your second line of basting stitches, hiding all of the basting stitches in the seam allowance. If you used a third row of basting stitches past the seam allowance, you can remove them once you have attached the cuffs.
Pin your cuff in place and then stitch in the ditch to secure the inside of the cuffs using the same process as you did for the waistbands.
Choose your fasteners
You can use sew-on snaps, buttons, another fastener of your choice — or no fasteners at all if you will be wearing your pants as a swimwear coverup.
Attach your snaps or sew your buttons and buttonholes in the locations marked on the pattern. When using sew-on snaps or buttons combined with front ties, mark the locations on the inside of the button placket (on the Pants Back) and on the outside of the Pants Front.
Sew-on snaps are convenient and quick fasteners, but you may not have these available in your stash of notions. Buttons are a great option for this version because they face to the inside and are hidden when the pants are worn, giving you a great opportunity to use up some of those mismatched buttons that every sewist has sitting around.
When sewing snaps or buttons onto the button placket, hand sew through only the inside layer of fabric so that your stitches aren’t visible from the outside. For the side of the snap on the Pants Front, attach through both the Pants Front and buttonhole facing.
An alternate option for this look is to eliminate the ties all together and use visible buttons to fasten the sides of the pants. For this option, you would use steps 23-24 of the shorts version of the Agave Pattern (View B) to sew your buttons and buttonholes.
Thanks so much for joining me on this sewalong! I’ll have more Agave pattern hacks in the future, including what changes to make when sewing the pattern in a knit and a quick overview of how to alter the pattern for gaucho length Agaves.
xo,
Julie