Draft your own shorts/pants pattern in 20 minutes!

Learn how to draft a clean, beginner-friendly pattern for easy shorts and pants from your own measurements—no fancy tools required! In this step-by-step tutorial, I cover measuring accurately, plotting the basic block, adjusting rise and ease, and shaping the crotch curve. You’ll also be able to customize length (shorts to full-length pants).Perfect for beginners and a great refresher for intermediates, this method sets you up for quick sewing wins and repeatable results. Grab your ruler, paper, and tape—let’s draft a versatile base you’ll use again and again! *Remember, this pattern does NOT include seam allowances. For the shorts shown I used .5" seam allowances on the sides, 1" on the bottom, and 0 (no SA) on the top. Top fold over (fold under?) was 1.5" (0.5"+1"), into which I inserted a 3/4" wide elastic. These shorts took about 35 min to make.