How to make a pair of plus fours from long pants…
I had a pair of black dress pants which would make ideal plus fours, or pedal pushers, for the Tweed Ride: they are tighter at the waist, holding them up at the back, then loose in the upper legs. I cut them off just below the knee, allowing a little extra length for bent knees and for the seam allowance needed to attach the cuffs. Then I cut two lengths from the offcut part to use as cuffs. These needed to be double the width of the intended cuff plus an additional 2cm to allow for the hem and seam allowance. It’s best to cut them longways down the fabric length as this adds strength to the cuffs.
I then gathered the bottoms of the pants using a loose running stitch around the whole leg diameter in a contrasting thread, then pinned them to the cuffs. I used back stitch to attach the cuffs to the pants, then rolled them over and hem stitched the cuff to the inside of the pants near the back stitched seam. This could all be done using a sewing machine, if you have one, but as there is not a great deal of sewing to do, it doesn’t take long to hand sew. I had to undo part of the outer leg seams to allow for a small placket so I could get the cuffs over my feet and calves. I didn’t have enough fabric to allow for buttonholes in the cuffs, and this would have been challenging anyway due to the many layers of fabric, so I found some ribbon from hanging loops that were on an old skirt and made button loops to do up the small buttons I sewed on the cuffs.
I am so pleased with these pants that I wear them still, with tights under them. They are more comfortable than jeans and, if worn with black or grey tights, they are quite dressy.

Penny farthing and me in plus fours at the Tweed Ride