Comfort is top priority over the winter months, and this laid-back pattern offers up oodles of it. Designed for stretch knit fabric, the mid-rise Fortuna by Kennis Wong comes with a drawstring cord and elasticised waistband, plus you’ll find round-bottom back pockets with a woven fabric accent. Once you’ve finished, be sure to pick up the Sew Beautiful title to discover the shorts and joggers add-on for the summer months.
1 Download the pattern at sewmag.co.uk, then print and cut out. Follow the cutting guide and transfer the markings to the fabric before removing the pieces. Apply interfacing to the wrong side of the waistband, over the two circles at the centre front. Re-mark the circles’ position.
2 On the back pocket opening, fold and press 1cm of one long edge toward the wrong side. Pin the non-folded edge of the back pocket opening to the back pocket, with right side of the opening against the wrong side of the pocket, aligning the side edges. Stitch. Grade the seam allowances; the pocket allowance should be trimmed shorter than the seam allowance of the back pocket opening.
3 Press the seam allowances toward the back pocket, then understitch the seam allowances to the back pocket. Turn the back pocket opening to the right side of the back pocket and press; the seam should not be visible from the right side. Pin the fold created in step 2 onto the back pocket. Edgestitch close to the fold, through the back pocket opening and the back pocket. Edgestitch close to the top edge opening. Topstitch two lines of stitching, evenly between and parallel to the two lines of edgestitching, and press. Finish the raw edge of the back pocket as desired.
4 Using a 4mm stitch length, sew a line in the seam allowance along the rounded corner of the back pocket, starting 5cm on the side to 5cm at the bottom, leaving long tails of thread at the beginning and end; this stitch line will be used for gathering and will make folding the seam allowance along the rounded corner easier. Repeat for the other rounded corner on the same back pocket.
5 Fold and press 1cm of the side edges and bottom edge toward the wrong side. Pull the long tails of thread to gather the fabric at the rounded corner. As the fabric is gathered, a fold is created neatly around the rounded corner. Press. Repeat for the other rounded corner on the same back pocket. Pin the back pocket to the back, according to the pocket placement marking, with wrong side of the back po
