Q&A
PLUS-SIZE SEWING
By Barbara Deckert
I'm looking for information on altering pants with pleats. Can the pleats be removed without affecting the pocket or zipper?
Pam T.,
e-mail
Some women regard front pant pleats as bulky, and prefer the look of flat-front pants. Everyone has some normal roundness to the abdomen, and plus-size women may have abdomens that protrude beyond the hip bones or hang downwards.
Some shaping between the center-front and the side seams is necessary in pants of all sizes, especially if they're made of nonstretch woven fabrics. If this shaping was left out or eliminated by removing the pleats and taking in the upper side-front seam, the fabric would be off grain in the side seam area and would strain over the roundness of the abdomen. The lack of shaping would form unattractive diagonal lines radiating from the abdomen towards the crotch, center front, waistline and side seams.
The needed shaping can take the form of pleats, darts or gathers. It's easy to convert the pleats to darts without altering the side seams or the center-front zipper. For pants with one to two average-depth pleats on each side of the zipper, do the following:
Remove the stitches on the waistband seam about 1" on either side of the pleats so the waistband is separated from the pant front in the pleat area only.
To convert to darts, pin out the extra pleat fabric toward the pant wrong side, centering the fold vertically to form a dart in the middle of the original pleat location. Pin out a triangle shape of excess fabric, tapering to a point just above the full hipline; baste.
Try on the pants, and adjust the dart shape and depth as needed to match the curve of your abdomen.
Permanently stitch the darts, and remove the basting. Press toward the center front, and reattach the waistband.
|
