Adventures in Drafting: Pleated Trousers Part 2

And I’m back with another installment of self drafted, self designed pleated trousers. Last time I shared my trouser block. I had created a custom block first to get the fit right. From that block I used my front darts and crease line to create pleats and then drafted the front zipper, pockets, and waistband. As a reminder I am using the book Patternmaking for Fashion Design, 5th edition which provides general instructions on these methods. Tracing my block and drafting all the pieces took some time, but it’s so fun to create each piece exactly how you want. Deciding on the zipper length, waistband height and pocket designs.

I almost jumped straight to my fashion fabric, thinking to myself, I loved the fit. What could go wrong? But I decided to do one last toile with muslin, just in case, and boy I’m glad I did. I made the mistake of forgetting to add seam allowances on my front and back pants. (insert palm hitting forehead) So, when I tried them on, they fit generally fine, but the pleats would not lay flat at all, because of course they were too tight through the hip. Luckily this was a simple mistake and not a complete drafting error. Once I realized the issue I was able to laugh it off and remind myself that no matter how long I, or anyone, has been sewing we all make mistakes. I decided to take them apart and add in the seam allowance so I could make sure the fit was how I wanted it. In the end it gave me some extra practice in deciding how I wanted to install my zip fly too. For reference I’m using this tutorial by Seamwork

The only minor changes I’m going to do is take in the waist about a half inch at the center back and grade to nothing at the back crotch. I think I’m also going to reduce any taper in the legs and keep them as straight as possible. 

I’m so excited to dive into my Minerva Core Range cotton twill, it’s washed and ready to go! 

Let me know what you think!