The Swedish fashion designer Ann Ringstrand recently released one of her best-selling designs as a free sewing pattern. I’m a sucker for a wrap trouser, and I’ve heard good things about the AR brand. However, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for, and this free pattern comes with some big caveats.
Design and Fit
The Now trousers are a unisex design that feature a wrap front closure and a subtle barrel shape thanks to darts at the knee and hem. The fit is described as loose, relaxed, and comfortable, suitable for “yoga or meditation practice”.
Perhaps because this pattern is unisex, it runs quite tall. I am 5’10” (178cm) and I found the rise height and leg length to be just right without adjustments. If you are shorter, you may need at take length out of the pattern in multiple spots.
I’ve made this pattern twice in an 8 oz light wash denim and a 10 oz herringbone denim. The fit is indeed relaxed and loose (but keep reading for a note about the sizing), and I didn’t need any fit adjustments to the pattern, which is a rare but welcome surprise.
I have a little bit of pocket gaping, but well within what I would call normal for this type of pocket design. I’d recommend using self fabric for the pocket lining, or at least for the side of the pocket bag that touches the body. I chose a contrast fabric on my darker pair (below), and you can see the print when the pocket opens up.
I was also a bit concerned about whether the wrap front closure would stay wrapped throughout the day, or whether these pants would need to be relegated to in-home use only. The front overlap is fairly generous, and so far I haven’t flashed my underwear in public yet. But I also haven’t been doing any warrior poses in the grocery store, so you’ve been warned.
Sizing: pay attention to finished garment measurements
The Now trouser size chart goes up to a 53 inch (134 cm) hip, however this number is a bit misleading. Each garment size accommodates a range of hip sizes, and looking at the finished garment measurements, if you are a size medium or above and you fall at the top end of the measurement range for your size, you will have zero or negative wearing ease.
For a non-stretch woven garment that is supposed to be “relaxed” and “loose”, negative wearing ease makes little sense to me. For the intended fit described for this pattern, I’d expect a minimum of 2 inches (5 cm) of ease at the hip, but ideally more than that. So bottom line: pay attention to the finished garment hip measurement and size up if you can or need to.
On top of the size charts running small, the instructions advise us to choose a size based on the waist measurement, which again makes no sense. Since this is a wrap design, the waist of the finished garment is highly customizable and forgiving, whereas this hip is not. So I would recommend choosing a size based on the hip measurement, not the waist.
I have a 42″ hip (107 cm), which according to the size charts is a size M, but gives me 1 cm of negative ease. I could not get the size M toile on my body let alone have it be relaxed and comfortable. I sized up to a size large to get 3 inches (7.6 cm) of ease at the hip, and I’m very happy with the fit.
Construction: your sewing intuition is required
Here’s where this pattern falls apart. The written instructions and illustrations are VERY vague and occasionally inaccurate. This pattern is not suitable for beginners and possibly not even intermediate sewists; I constructed these trousers largely using my intuition and a couple of blind leaps of faith where the instructions really got murky.
To be fair, it is a free pattern, so I am grateful that it came with any instructions at all. I think some of the issues stem from the fact that the English instructions were probably translated from Swedish, but this does not fully explain why the illustrations would be inaccurate.
I’ll publish my notes and photos from constructing these trousers in a separate blog post for anyone interested. If you are on the Backstitch app (which I highly recommend, it’s like Ravelry for the sewing world), I’ve also published my notes and review of this pattern there.
Final Thoughts
I debated whether to post this public review since the barriers to making this pattern are sky high. The sparse instructions and limited size range are likely to be dealbreakers for many sewists. Also, AR have not made this freebie widely available, it was only downloadable via a link in their May and July newsletters, so it’s unclear if future subscribers will be given access.
So if you happen to have this pattern in your library already, AND you fall within the size range, AND you are undeterred by a challenging project, then I guess this review is for you?
In the end, despite the big negatives, I do like the design. The wrap front closure is relatively unique, comfortable, and a great option for a long-lived garment that will accomodate a fluctuating waistline. It’s nice to have some alternatives to an elastic waist this summer, even if making them was an ordeal.
The Crooked Hem 
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