I had an idea to sew some chambray cargo joggers for a while. They needed to be something I could wear with almost any top and dress up or down. I really wanted something versatile. I just needed a good cargo pants pattern to do it.

Roughly 20 years ago I purchased McCall’s 2586. It’s a pretty simple unisex cargo pants pattern, with a faux fly and drawstring. It’s oversized and super comfy. I’ve made it probably 15 times. However, I wanted a different fit than the oversized McCalls one so when I saw the Largo Cargo pattern by Love Notions, I decided to try that instead. If you happen to have this McCall’s pattern deep in your stash, I highly recommend you dig it out and try this jogger hack. Below I’ll show you how I hacked the Largo pattern to make the cargo joggers of my dreams!!

 

The Largo Pattern Details…

The Largo pattern is suitable for woven fabrics and comes in sizes 0-32. Its high waist, faced waistline is easy to sew and super flattering. Included with this pattern is a full belly option to help you get that perfect fit. It has a zip fly, straight legs and LOTS of pockets. Plus a cute carpenter strap detail you can add if you choose. It is a digital sewingpattern.

Pattern Formats Included:

• Print at home for US letter & A4 paper, trimless format with layers
• Large format file for copy shop printing. This file will print on six A0 (33″ x 46″) size sheets. Be sure to instruct your printer to print actual size in black and white on their cheapest paper. We recommend PDFPlotting for printing the large format files.
• A projector file is also included for those using projector technology.

Now, I rarely sew a pattern exactly as directed and this pattern was no exception. I planned to hack it from the very start. This is what I did to make these chambray, cargo joggers.

Joggers, But With a Twist…

Since I planned on making jogger cargos I needed the legs on the Largo to be skinnier. To do that I used another pattern from Love Notions, the Allegro bottoms. I traced the largo pattern and then laid the Allegro on top of it, matching the crotch and triangles as best as I could. Then I retraced the legs to be skinnier and shorter. The picture below shows the two patterns layered and then traced. The traced one might be a little hard to see.

I really wanted jogger style bottoms, but I don’t really like the feeling of pants being tight or gathered at my ankle so I came up with an alternative idea that I’m completely obsessed with now. When I was hemming the legs I folded them up 1 ½ inches, ironed and then sewed the back part only. 

Then I inserted a 1 inch wide piece of elastic in the back part I had sewed and secured it to the side seams on both side of the pant legs. For reference on elastic size, my back pants measured 7 inches at across the ankle and I used 4 inches of elastic. Once the elastic was sewn in place I sewed the front on the hem. 

Snappy Pockets….

Another change I made was to the pockets. I thought the pockets and cargo pocket for my pant size looked really big so I actually downsized 3 sizes. I probably could have gone even smaller because I still feel like the cargo pockets look a little big, but that’s a preference thing. You can also see that I did a cargo pocket on each leg rather than just one like the pattern calls for. So that makes a total of 6 pockets for these pants!

 I also didn’t want to put buttonholes in the pocket flaps. So I opted to just sew snaps to each corner of the pockets and flaps instead. For now I really like how clean that looks but I could change my mind later and add a button. 

Some Fly Pants!

I am so happy with how well they turned out. This pattern really helped me get over that zipper hurdle. Skipping patterns with a zip fly is what I usually do so I’m glad I didn’t skip this one. Making the legs this modified jogger style is not only more comfy than a typical jogger pant but more versatile as well. I can dress these cargo joggers up or down and wear them with all sorts of shirts. I just love them!

Styling My Largo Joggers!

Just like I had planned, these new pants look great with so many differnt tops. Here are just a few tops I paired my Largo joggers. Below is my Arlington, square neck hack sweater. It’s one of my favorite tops!

I also made a new Forte top in camo jersey knit. It’s one of my go-to t-shirt patterns because the fit is just so perfect! I love the way this looks with my Largo joggers as well.

My Rhapsody tops are wardrobe staples for me when I want to dress things up a little while still being casual. I completely adore how this Rhapsody looks with this cargo pant. If you would like to try these patterns or any or Love Notions Patterns you can use code LOVEKOE for a discount.

Let’s be friends!

If you are looking for a pattern suitable for more than one occasion, hopefully this post helps you figure out what will work best with your wardrobe needs. Let’s be friends on all the socials! Come follow along on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook so we can chat about all our sewing projects!