Paula is your go-to pattern for a timeless yet playful pair of trousers or stylish summer shorts. With her high fitted waist, front pleats, and tapered legs, she brings just the right amount of volume and structure.

You can sew Paula with or without side seam pockets — add welt pockets on the back for a tailored twist. The shorts version makes her an all-season essential. No zipper fly required — the side invisible zipper keeps things sleek and easy to sew. 

Whether you go for casual linen shorts or statement trousers in flowy denim, Paula is designed to elevate your handmade wardrobe.

Fabric choice

Level

Without pockets, Paula is rated 2 dots out of 4. A great next-step project for ambitious beginners who want to level up their sewing skills. You'll learn how to sew pleats, darts, a shaped waistband, and an invisible side zip.

More advanced sewists will enjoy adding the optional side seam pockets and welt pockets for extra flair and challenge, 3 dots for this variant.

Fit

Paula has a high-rise waist with a shaped waistband for a perfect fit. She’s designed to be very roomy around the hips thanks to front pleats and tapers towards the ankle, with an extra dart at the hem to highlight her unique balloon shape. The waistband is non-stretch and closes with an invisible side zipper.

Choose from a full-length trouser or summer-ready short — both included in the pattern.

Notions

Fabric requirements 

The fabric lengths charts show how much fabric you will need for all variations, calculated on a standard fabric width of 140 cm - 1.55 yd. If your fabric is narrower, you will need more fabric length. For broader or narrower fabrics you can calculate how much fabric you will need by laying out the pattern pieces on the table according to your fabric width and measuring how much fabric length you will need accordingly.

Finished measurements

Variants

This pattern gives you the opportunity to make not 1, but several garments. Here is an overview of all the variants you can make with this set of pattern pieces.

Long trousers without pockets

Long trousers with pockets 

Shorts without pockets

Shorts with pockets

PDF files

Please note: This is a digital product. No physical items will be shipped to your doorstep.
New to PDF sewing patterns? Check out this guide.

Once your purchase is complete, you’ll find a download link on the confirmation page. You’ll also receive the link via email (sent to the address used at checkout). If you’ve registered an account, your files will be available there instantly as well. Click any download button to save the files to your computer for future use—we recommend doing this before printing.

Your purchase includes all of the following: 

• Extensive illustrated step-by-step tutorial
  Our interactive PDF tutorial is screen-friendly, with clickable navigation, and links to video tutorials (if available). Prefer to print it? You can on A4 and US letter.
  
• Cheat sheet
  A handy one-pager with key information and space for your notes—perfect to keep with your printed pattern pieces. 
• A4/letter pattern for home printing
  This file includes all the pattern pieces for every version of the design. You’ll need to tape or glue the pages together before cutting.
  Learn here how to do this quickly and easily.
  
• A0 pattern for copy shop printing
  Want to skip taping? Use this large-format file at a copy shop or fabric store with print-on-demand services.
  
• Both A4/Letter and A0 files come with layered sizes and seam allowances, so you can print just the size you need, with or without seam allowance. This means you can cut your pieces directly—no tracing required. Just make sure to select the right layers before printing, and remind your copy shop to do the same!
  Read more on print instructions here.
• Projector file. Prefer a paperless setup? Use this file to project pattern pieces directly onto your fabric using a projector or beamer.

Example of a A4/US Letter PDF with selected layers

Example of a A0/Large format, seam allowance included, no layers selected

Example of an optimized projector file with selected layers

Example page from an e-book with sewing instructions