Are you tired of the same old spring pants you own and want to try something new? The Nova Pants give you two fresh looks in one free sewing pattern! With a waist similar to our Stonecress Pants, this new pattern can be cropped and cuffed for a relaxed vibe, or easily elevated with a balloon silhouette and cute ankle tie! Fabrics that are suited best to this pattern are linen, chambray, twill, and suiting.
Purchase Materials Used Below:
View A: (Red)
- 2 yards Stratton Chili Pepper Solid Organic Cotton Twill
- 1 yard White Knitted Elastic Trimming – 0.75″
- Optional: Weft Interfacing
- MDF301 – The Nova Pants Sewing Pattern (free download below!)
View B: (Yellow)
- 2-3 yards Grasmere Bright Gold Medium Weight Linen Woven
- 2 pc Carbon Cast Metal Rounded D-Ring – 25mm
- 1 yard White Knitted Elastic Trimming – 0.75″
- Optional: Weft Interfacing
- MDF301 – The Nova Pants Sewing Pattern (free download below!)
Note: All seam allowances are ½’’ aside from the ankle ties, which start at ½’’ then go to ¼’’, as noted on the pattern. Because the pants are balloon-style pants, they have an extra 6″ built into the inseam in order to bunch at the ankle. If you’d like less volume there, shorten accordingly.
Step 1
Print, tape, and cut out your pattern.
Step 2
Pin and place the pattern on to fabric.
Step 3
Cut interfacing for waistband.
Step 4
Notch all your pattern pieces and mark pleat tucks on the front pieces.
Step 5
Sew your pleat tucks, then press the tucks so they are facing each other.
Step 6
Pin and sew the front pieces together.
Step 7
Once the center front is sewn, press seam open. Press in your pleats.
Step 8
With the right sides together, pin and sew your pockets. Trim seam allowance and press.
Step 9
Once the pocket is pressed, pin pockets in place and stitch the bottom of the pocket shut. Once that is done, baste at the top and the sides to temporary hold the pocket.
Step 10
Pin center back seam together, stitch, and press.
Step 11
Fold down the top edge of the pant ½’’ and press. Then make another fold that is 2’’ wide, press and edge stitch down.
Step 12
From the bottom edge, mark a 1’’ line with chalk and stitch across.
Step 13
Fold belt loop in half, pin, and stitch. Once stitched, press and top stitch on both sides. Cut belt loops in 2 ½’’ strips.
Step 14
Fold ends of belt loops ¼’’ in on both sides.
Step 15
Pin and stitch loops to the back of the pants. Pin one loop in the center and the other two six inches apart.
Step 16
Measure your waist, then divide that by half. Cut your elastic that length. Once cut, thread the elastic through the tunnel you sewed previously. Secure the ends by sewing a line over the elastic.
Step 17
Pin the front interfaced waistband to the front pant. Stitch across and press.
Step 18
Pin two belt loops matching the first or second pleat on the front waistband and stitch.
Step 19
With the right sides together, pin the other waistband and stitch. Once stitched, trim seam allowance in half then press. Next, fold the raw edge in and slip stitch shut.
Step 20
Pin front and back together, matching crotch seams and side seams. On the outside seam, leave a 4’’ slip opening at the bottom.
(If you’re not using the ankle tie, you can simply hem your pant legs with a 1/2″ rolled hem to finish!)
Step 21
Press all the seams open. Next fold the slit seam in and edge stitch.
Step 22
Sew two basting stitches at the bottom of the pants.
Step 23
Pin the ankle tie, starting at the side seam, and then pull gathers to match the end of the tie. Stitch where you have pinned.
Step 24
With the right sides together, pin the other tie around and stitch at ¼’’ leaving an opening at the top where you just sewed. Next trim seam allowance around the corners and flip inside out. Tip: sew around the corner twice to make a secure stitch.
Step 25
Fold the raw edge under and slip stitch shut.
Step 26
Fold the belt in half, pin, and stitch leaving an opening in the middle to flip right side out and press.
Step 27
Thread the D rings through one of the sides, pin, and stitch.
Step 28
Press your pants and you’re ready to go!
Do those wanting view A just stop at step 21 and finish the hem as a standard finish to achieve the cuff of the red pants? (Assuming there’s nothing else to them but rolling up? The image is small to see details and it’s not mentioned.)
Hi Ly! For View A, you can stop at step 20, finish the pants with a 1/2″ rolled hem, and cuff to your desired length. You also don’t have to create the seam opening at the leg. If you would like a more permanent cuff, you can always hand-tack the cuff on either side seam for each leg. 🙂
Hello,
Where do I find the yardage requirements for the different sizes?
Thank you,
Hi, Janine! Yardages are available in the ‘Shop this Look’ widget. 🙂
Hi. looks like a great pattern. do you think these pants could be converted into a men’s pair?
Hi Daliya! Yes, I think they would work quite well as a men’s pant. 😀
Hi,
The pattern pieces and size guide mention a faux fly, but there doesn’t seem to be any instructions for this. The centre front seam of my pants also looks very different to the picture at step 6. What do I do here?
Hi Louise, we’re sorry for the delay in responding to your question! We get dozens of comments and questions each day, and so many questions get buried and, unfortunately, unanswered. We are now focusing user support on patterns 2 years and newer. We hope this will prevent questions on our more current patterns from going unanswered. Although this is late, we wanted to respond in case anyone else has the same question: that’s the placket for the faux fly, however you can fold it back and cut straight up to the waist if you’d prefer to skip it!
You have written the pattern with a “faux fly” yet it doesn’t seem to be pictured on either model – or mentioned at all. If anyone else is as confused as me, I strongly advise curving the crotch seam as usual and just forget the faux fly. I’ve made it work – but if I do it again – I’ll deffo miss it off, it doesn’t add anything (other than a few swear words)
Hi! We’re sorry for the delay in responding to your question! We get dozens of comments and questions each day, and so many questions get buried and, unfortunately, unanswered. We are now focusing user support on patterns 2 years and newer. We hope this will prevent questions on our more current patterns from going unanswered. Although this is late, we wanted to respond in case anyone else has the same question: the faux fly is intended to be optional and can be skipped to be more beginner friendly.
When I downloaded the pattern, the center front seam had a weird dip in that isn’t shown in the sewing instructions of this article. Is that purposeful?
The CF of the pants is angled down slightly. Once you pleat and sew the waistband, it’s not visible!
I made these pants recently out of stretch sateen — I measured my waist as being 30ish inches and my hips being 38″ inches, so I went for the size 10. This ended up being way too big, so I ended up taking 3 inches off of each side in the back (total of 6″) and took 1 inch off of each of the inseams. The piece of elastic I used in the back ended up being best as 12″ (rather than 15″ as suggested by the pattern). I also was very confused by the faux fly, so skipped it.After these adjustments I think they’re super cute and fit well!
Hi Jojo, we’re sorry for the delay in responding to your question! We get dozens of comments and questions each day, and so many questions get buried and, unfortunately, unanswered. We are now focusing user support on patterns 2 years and newer. We hope this will prevent questions on our more current patterns from going unanswered. Although this is late, we wanted to respond in case anyone else has the same question: we’re so glad you enjoyed the pattern and thank you for the feedback! 🙂
I quite not understand the 11 step and how you form the tunnel for the elastic. Perhaps you have a video or somehing please ? thank you so much
Hi Elisa, we’re sorry for the delay in responding to your question! We get dozens of comments and questions each day, and so many questions get buried and, unfortunately, unanswered. We are now focusing user support on patterns 2 years and newer. We hope this will prevent questions on our more current patterns from going unanswered. Although this is late, we wanted to respond in case anyone else has the same question: Step 11 is showing how to create a casing. The photo right below step 12 shows a close up of what the casing should look like once it is completed. The center between the two stitched lines of the casing is where you will insert your elastic.
Why doesn’t my front rise at the beginning look like that!!! If you look at the pattern, it has a little curve inward a small amount, then curves back up for a straight front rise. Is that right? It looks much different than the pictures
Hello! we’re sorry for the delay in responding to your question! We get dozens of comments and questions each day, and so many questions get buried and, unfortunately, unanswered. We are now focusing user support on patterns 2 years and newer. We hope this will prevent questions on our more current patterns from going unanswered. Although this is late, we wanted to respond in case anyone else has the same question: that is intended to be a faux fly, which is optional for this pattern. We recommend folding it back and cut straight up to the waist if you’d prefer to skip it!
Great pattern! I can’t wait to sew it up. Question, where can I find the pattern for the blouse that you used in the second photo?
The blue checkered one with the floppy sleeve ends?? Thanks!!
Thank you for your kind words! We’re delighted that you’re excited to sew the Nova Pants pattern! The blouse you’re referring to is our ‘Wren Shirt’ free sewing pattern, and the pattern can be downloaded here. Happy sewing!
Great Patterns! I wanted to know if you guys are ever going to convert these to A4 or A0 sizes?
Hello,
Thank you for visiting and downloading from Mood Sewciety!
In order to keep our free sewing patterns free, we are exclusively offering an A4-Letter size version that includes all sizes.
We appreciate your request and will keep it in mind for future patterns.
Happy Sewing!
The MoodSewciety Team
they are very cute however if you have a regular sized torso (ie you don’t have to buy tall pants and have no problems with one piece swimsuits) you will want to remove *at least* an inch from the top of the front and back pattern pieces before cutting out your fabric as the rise is crazy tall.
I had to remove the waistband, remove 2 inches from the top and sacrifice the pockets to make a wearable pair that doesn’t make me look like Erkle lol I should have made a muslin before starting with my good fabric to prevent this.
I would also reccomend working off the “finished garment measurements” when choosing a size as I did this and still had to remove 2 inches from the sides of the pants (so about 4 sizes down from the initial reccomendation from body measurements.
I would reccomend making a muslin draft first before using your good fabric so you can troubleshoot worry free. don’t worry about doing pockets on your muslin, just sew the body and add the front waistband for sizing.
these are very close to Zoot suit pants. I think I will try to make them a little wider with the narrow bottom. Thank you so much for the inspiring that you all do
I absolutely love these pants! The look fabulous, however, I did make some changes to better fit with my body type (1m65, 57 kg). I used size 6 of the pattern, but it was too large at the waist, so I took 2 inches off at the back center seam. Also, I know the legs are long to have this bubble effect at the bottom, but it was too much, so I cut off 4 inches of the legs. And finally, I didn’t use the ankle strap that was provided, because I only wear flats, the knots would just sweep across the floor. So instead, I made ankle bands that could be closed with a push button. Very happy with the result!
That’s great! Thank you so much for your input and experienced advice! We truly appreciate thoughtful suggestions like yours—they help others get the best results from the pattern.