Pleated Front Trousers with Back Welt Pockets
Full-length women's trousers with a straight, slightly wide leg, one pleat on each front, slanted side pockets with separate side pieces, a fly-front zipper and single-welt pockets on the back.
When To Wear
- For the office with a shirt, blouse or jacket.
- Year round, depending on the weight of the cloth: flat shoes or heels both suit the straight leg.
Key Design Features
Silhouette: Straight leg falling from the hip, with a little room through the thigh.
Length: Full length.
Front: One pleat on each front at the waistband, folded and basted before the pockets are made.
Closure: Fly-front zipper with a grown-on fly extension on the right front and a separate fly shield on the left; the right front is topstitched along the marked fly line.
Pockets: Slanted side pockets with separate side pieces, the opening topstitched 0.5 cm from the edge; two single-welt pockets with set-in ends on the back.
Back: Darts on each back half, centre back seam.
Waist: Straight waistband folded in half and edgestitched, fastened with a buttonhole on the right end and a button.
Lining: Pocket bags cut from lining fabric.
Level Of Difficulty
Intermediate. A fly-front zipper with a fly shield, welt pockets with set-in ends, side pockets with separate side pieces and a folded waistband.
Fabric Recommendations
Medium-weight woven trouser fabrics that press well and hold a pleat: suiting wool, gabardine, twill, linen blends.
Additional Supplies
- Lining fabric (pocket bags)
- Fusible interfacing (strips about 4 cm wide for the back pocket openings)
- Trouser zipper for the fly
- 1 button
Cutter's Must
- From main fabric:
- Front Half – 2 pieces
- Back Half – 2 pieces
- Side Part – 2 pieces
- Waistband – 1 piece
- Fly Shield – 1 piece
- Off-Set Welt – 2 pieces
- From lining fabric:
- Pocket Bag (front pockets, upper and lower parts) – 4 pieces
- Back Pocket Bag – 2 pieces
- From fusible interfacing:
- Strips about 4 cm wide for the back pocket openings – 2 pieces
Sewing Instructions
- Fold the pleats on the Front Halves and baste them.
- Side pockets with separate side pieces. Face the pocket openings of the Front Halves with the upper pocket bags and topstitch 0.5 cm from the edge. Stitch the lower pocket bags onto the Side Parts. Pin the Front Halves onto the Side Parts, matching the pocket openings with the marked lines. Stitch the pocket bags together from the wrong side. Baste the pocket bags to the Front Halves.
- Zipper closure. Stitch the center front seam from the opening mark downwards for 4 cm. On the right Front Half, press the grown-on fly extension to the wrong side. Turn the seam allowance of the left side of the opening to the wrong side, place the zipper under the fold and baste so that the teeth lie right against the fold. Fold the Fly Shield in half and stitch along its rounded edge, then turn it right side out. Baste the Fly Shield, with its raw long edges together, under the left side of the opening. Edgestitch the left side of the opening, catching the zipper and the Fly Shield. Pin the opening closed. Pin the free zipper tape to the fly extension and stitch it, without catching the right Front Half. Topstitch the right Front Half along the marked line, catching the fly extension.
- Stitch the darts on the Back Halves.
- Make single-welt pockets with set-in ends on the Back Halves. From the wrong side of the Back Half, fuse a strip of interfacing about 4 cm wide over the pocket marking. Turning under the allowance on one long side of the pocket facing, stitch the facing onto the Back Pocket Bag. Place the Off-Set Welt and the pocket bag with the facing on the Back Half, right sides together, and stitch along the corresponding stitching lines. Cut the opening between the stitching lines, clipping diagonally into the ends of the stitching lines. Take care not to cut the pocket pieces! Press the seam allowances open. Pull the pocket bag through the opening to the wrong side. Turn the welt to the wrong side and adjust it evenly so that its fold reaches the pocket bag seam. From the right side, stitch in the ditch of the welt seam. From the wrong side, stitch the second pocket bag to the welt seam allowances. Turn the small triangles at the ends of the opening to the wrong side and stitch them to the welt, from the ends of one stitching line to the ends of the other. Trim the pocket bags to the same size and stitch them together.
- Stitch the side seams and inseams.
- Waistband. Stitch the remaining section of the center front seam and, without breaking the stitching, the center back seam. Stitch the Waistband to the upper edge of the trousers, sewing the waistband extension to the Fly Shield. Fold the waistband in half lengthwise and stitch the short ends. Turn under the inner half of the waistband and slipstitch it to the seam. Edgestitch the waistband. Make a buttonhole on the right end of the waistband and sew the button on the left end.
- Hem the trousers.
