Seamwork Witt Woven Joggers in Green Cotton Twill

When I decided to revisit Seamwork and its offerings after breaking up with them four years ago, I knew I had to sew a Seamwork pattern.

I landed on the Witt woven joggers as the pattern to review. I wanted a pattern that would offer fitting challenges, and when do pants ever NOT deliver on fitting woes, amirite? HA!

Keep reading for tips on how to sew your own Seamwork Witt woven joggers.

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Pattern Description and Sizing for Witt Pants

Seamwork Witt pants are woven, pull-on joggers with an elasticized waistband, drawstring, and front and back patch pockets. The fit is relaxed (more on that later!), drawing inspiration from your favorite pair of knit jogging pants.

The sizes for this Seamwork pattern are 0 to 26 (35-inch hip to 58-inch hip). My measurements (28.5-inch waist, 39-inch hip) put me in a size 8.

When I sewed a size 8 muslin, however, I was turned off by the generous ease in the seat and thigh. The Witt pants you see in the photos here are a size 0 with heavy enlarging modifications.

Fabric for Woven Joggers

I used Robert Kaufman Vertana cotton twill in beryl green. When I ordered this fabric from Amazon, I thought it was going to be MUCH darker — almost a greenish black or charcoal, which I thought would be a moody neutral.

I should have gone to the Robert Kaufman website and cross-referenced the color on Amazon, because my Witt pants DEFINITELY are not dark moody green.

I have another pair of pants that’s beryl green, and I wore them a lot when I worked in an office. I found this green to be a fun hue and surprisingly compatible with a lot of my clothes. So, for your consideration: beryl green as a neutral.

As for fabric weight, Ventana cotton twill is 7.9 ounces per square yard. I sewed Hampshire trousers in Ventana twill as well, so I knew it was a good bottomweight fabric and easy to work with.

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My Modifications to the Witt Joggers

1.) Front Pockets

Seamwork’s instructions call for cutting FOUR front pocket pieces and sewing two mirror-image pattern pieces together to finish the raw edges (vs. turning the raw edges to the wrong side and stitching them down).

I thought this double layer of front pocket would be too bulky. Instead, on ONE fabric layer, I staystitched and interfaced the diagonal opening.

2.) Fit Modifications

Here’s a post that gets into the nitty-gritty of how to fit woven joggers. For our purposes in THIS post, you should know that I started with a size 0 and:

• Lengthened the legs to hit my ankle (about 3 inches)
• Lengthened the crotch
• Added overall width to the waist, hip, and thigh 

To make these fitting mods, I used the pivot-and-slide method in Nancy Zieman’s “Pattern Fitting with Confidence,” my favorite fitting book.

3.) Construction Technique

I used the assembly procedure from “Sewing Secrets from the Fashion Industry,” because I hadn’t tried it. I have a lot of sewing books, and I surely haven’t exploited all their knowledge!

This technique for sewing pants has the crotch sewn in two sections (front and back) and joined later. According to the book, “This two-step procedure is used in better-quality pants because the crotch will hang better.”

The pants-assembly method looks approximately like this:

1.) Sew the left and right FRONTS together at the crotch, starting at the waistband and ending 1.5 inches before the raw edge.

2.) Sew the left and right BACKS together, starting at the waistband and ending 1.5 inches before the raw edge.

3.) Sew the front unit and back unit together at the side seams. Press open.

4.) Sew the left front to the left back at the inseam, starting at the crotch and stitching to the hem.

5.) Sew the right front to the right back, at the inseam, starting at the crotch and stitching to the hem.

6.) Press the inseams open.

7.) At this point, the front and back crotches are sewn, save for a 3-inch gap. Sew that gap, taking care to match the intersecting crotch seams. Press open.

If you please, you can add a second line of crotch stitching for reinforcement.

I approve of this technique! I found it gave me the PERFECT crotch intersection. The crotch seam also was easier to press and I think less likely to be pressed out of shape.

And, for the record, after wearing these joggers a few times now, I do think the crotch hangs better vs. other pants I’ve made.

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What I Liked About This Pattern

1.) Easy to Sew

Once I got all the fitting malarkey out of the way, these pants were not difficult to sew. At all. Definitely could be stitched by a beginner.

2.) Comfort Meets Formality

I wouldn’t go so far as to call these pants secret pajamas, but they’re close. The relaxed fit and elastic waistband allow maximum movement and expansion of your lower half.

But, because they’re WOVEN, they feel slightly more formal than jeans, IMO. Like, if your workplace is business casual, you could wear these woven joggers before you could wear jeans.

3.) Many Fabric Options

I would like to make at least three more Witt joggers in the following fabrics: linen, chambray, and a drapey fabric — maybe silk or Cupro. I think it would be interesting to play with the body and drape of these pants via fabric choice!

RELATED: Pattern Fitting Tips for Woven Jogger Pants (Pivot-and-Slide Method)

What Could Be Better About the Witt Woven Joggers

1.) Mark Hipline on Pattern

The longer I sew, the more I appreciate points of measure on sewing patterns. You know — major body landmarks: bust apex, hipline, kneeline, back width, etc. That way you can clearly see a designer’s vision as it relates to ease on the body.

This pattern said it had 1.375 to 1.875 inches of ease at the hip for size 8. And I looked and measured and looked and measured and COULD NOT figure out WHERE I should be measuring to fact check this stated ease.

Using “Pattern Fitting with Confidence,” I set the hipline at 2 inches above the crotch line. Setting ease was a breeze once I established where the hips should hit.

2.) Decrease Hip and Thigh Ease

Related to Opportunity for Improvement No. 1 (above), I found the ease in the hip and thigh to be too great for my body when I made a muslin of the size that best corresponded to my measurements. I thought the proportions of a straight size 8 on my body didn’t jibe with the proportions of the model featured in Seamwork.

That said, I *could* have sewn the straight 8, and *most* people wouldn’t have looked at me and thought, “Why is girlfriend wearing those clown pants?” The straight 8 looks like a pair of relaxed-fit pants.

But, I am happier with the fit and proportions of my final Witt joggers vs. the straight 8, especially how they fit around the booty and crotch. Relaxed pants like this sewing pattern can give you a “diaper butt” effect if you’re not careful about the crotch depth and ease around hips and thighs.

My Top Tips for Sewing Witt Woven Joggers

1.) Trim Down the Waistband-Pant Seam Allowance

After you sew the waistband to the raw edge of the pants, Seamwork’s instructions call for trimming down the seam allowances. Do this. I didn’t do this, because I knew these raw edges would be encased in the waistband.

What I didn’t think about was how much more difficult it was going to be to cram the elastic through the channels past the full 5/8-inch seam allowance (vs. a trimmed 1/4-inch seam allowance).

2.) Measure Pattern Pieces

Before you even pick fabric, PLEASE flat measure the pattern pieces. You might be surprised how much design ease is included in “your” size. I suggest measuring a pair of pants you like in a similar style to get a feel for how much ease normally feels good to you.

3.) Use Existing Back Pocket Pieces

Instead of using the back pockets provided by Seamwork, I used the pockets I drafted for my Stitch Sisters bib overalls. I held my bib pocket pressing template over the back leg piece and decided it would work just fine. Save some time and use pattern pieces from other patterns!

4.) Make Edgestitching the Waistband a Better Experience

When edgestitching the waistband to the pants from the right side, I suggest a heavier needle. I used a 100/16. I also used a stitch in the ditch foot and sewed S-L-O-W-L-Y. Also, a hump jumper helped me stitch smoothly over the bulky spots, and there are MANY bulky spots.

RELATED: Flat Pattern Measuring for Fit Adjustments

Final Thoughts on Seamwork Witt Joggers

I would like to sew these pants a few more times, especially since I have them fitting well now. The last part I need to tweak is making the bottom hem wider. My foot catches a bit when I put on the pants. 

And I recently had a brainwave to hack them into a JUMPSUIT. Wouldn’t they be great for a boiler suit situation?

The No. 1 thing to remember should you stitch your own Witt woven joggers is to measure your pattern pieces and modify accordingly. There’s a lot of hip and thigh ease; proceed with caution.

Beginner sewists with 2-3 garments under their belt should give Witt a try for their first pants. Like I said, they’re not difficult to sew, and you can play with new skills — patch pockets, elastic waistband with channels.

Over to you, sweet sewists: What do you make of “woven” joggers? Yea or nay? If “yea,” do you have a preferred sewing pattern? What’s the biggest hurdle you face when sewing pants of any persuasion?