Easy and Fun: Rebecca Page's Women's Culottes

Updated: Sep 15, 2021

Do you love how feminine skirts look? And do you love the ease of sewing a good leggings pattern? The new Culottes pattern by Rebecca Page has the ease of sewing up a quick pair of leggings and the beauty of a dress, but it's even easier to wear!

This is the mid-calf length (I am 5'3.5", and I didn't shorten). I chose to make it in a black modal spandex that I got from Sly Fox Fabrics. This fabric is everything!! Gorgeously-drapey and lightweight enough for summer. I did need to add enclosed elastic to the waistband for the culottes to stay up, but they are perfect for an afternoon summer stroll around downtown or a fancy date-night in the evening. I will get a lot of use out of these ones.

Sewing it up:

I meant it when I said these ones are as easy as a pair of leggings. And they're constructed almost the same way. Sew the inseam and outseam. Put one leg inside the other and sew up the crotch. Sew the straight side of the waistband together, quarter it, and put it on the pants. Then you hem. Plus, they have optional pockets. Which makes them even more awesome!!

If you're looking for a super-quick sew that will give you a summer wardrobe staple, look no further. Rebecca Page's Women's Culottes is it!!

This post contains various affiliate links. Purchasing patterns using these links does not cost my readers more, but the designer does provide me with a small commission from any sales. The commission helps to fund my fabric costs, and is very appreciated.

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Disclosure: I am an affiliate and promoter for these two designers, and I will make a small amount of money if you make a purchase after clicking on my link. The cost to you will not change. These are designers whose patterns I love, and that I would sew up for myself whether I was an affiliate or not.

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Why "Sewing and the Trivium"

The Story

Classical educators like to divide education into developmental stages called the Trivium. These are called "Grammar," "Logic," and "Rhetoric." Grammar refers to the first steps of learning anything: learning the vocabulary of the subject being studied and memorizing facts about that vocabulary. Classically speaking, this corresponds to the elementary years of learning - years when students never seem to grow tired of astounding the adults around them with fact after fact about things they are interested in. Have you experienced talking to a six year old who is really into dinosaurs? enough said...

Adults also begin learning with the grammar of a subject. Each subject has its own unique terminology and facts that need to be mastered before one can explore the more complicated applications of that subject. Sewing is no different. What is a french seam? What kinds of knit fabrics are better for different applications? What is a dolman sleeve or a raglan top? These are grammar queries.

In classical education, logic refers to the action of logically processing the grammar facts students have learned, or are learning. The student who is particularly suited to this type of thought is the middle-school scholar - the student who wants to argue his or her way through the world and "be right" about all the things. This pattern of thought includes bringing different ideas together, comparing and contrasting them, analyzing what an authority figure says about an argument, and deciding whether different arguments are consistent with each other. In the sewing world, logical questions include things like, "How is knit fabric different than woven fabric?" and "Why does this pattern ask for a particular fabric type?" as well as tasks such as mashing two patterns together or changing the sleeve/length/placket from how the pattern was designed.

The final part of the classical trivium, rhetoric, is when a student makes an argument of his or her own by developing a "thesis" or main point and then laying it out for someone else in writing or speech. Typically, students are ready for formal rhetoric in their high school years - years that they are very concerned about what they look like to other people and gain an interest in learning to craft a message in a way that will be most effective for their purposes. Examples of rhetoric in sewing would be fully-formed tutorials or sew-alongs - or even the writing of a blog post itself. Anything that is explaining previously thought-out/tried-out projects can count as rhetoric.

My goal on this blog is to lay out my sews and thoughts using this framework. And that is why I chose this title.

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Easy and Fun: Rebecca Page's Women's Culottes

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Why "Sewing and the Trivium"