Even if your pants come with pleats or have a flat front pants and fold naturally, this doesn’t mean you’re stuck with it. Side or front pleats can make you look older and wrinkles appear after sitting for long periods of time. Personalize your style by knowing how to remove pleats from pants
Can You Remove Pleats From Pants?
If only every question had a black-and-white answer! However, that’s not always the case. For example, can you pleats from pants? Well…it depends.
Generally, it’s easy to take out pleats from pants; however, there may be the odd occasion where it presents a challenge. This is because when designers add a pleat into a pattern, they also increase the fabric around the waist and at the bottom of the pant leg to allow for the said pleat.
If you remove the pleat, you’ll have a lot of leftover fabric. If you try to shift this material out of the side seam, it will ruin the grainline.
Although this might not be an issue depending on the style of pants, it’s possible that the pair you end up with might look and feel slightly different from the original pair. It’s worth considering that The distortion might not be very noticeable unless someone is looking for it specifically.
If you’re comfortable with the prospect, removing the pleats shouldn’t be a major issue. If the pleats are located at the front or side of your pants rather than the rear, that’s even better. Pleating this way may make your trousers appear old and shapeless, but it’s simple to get rid on them with some practice.
How to Remove Pleats From Pants
Turn your pants inside out and inspect the pleats for stitching, which might be used to keep a pleat in place. Locate any stitches or invisible stitch on the pants pleats, avoiding hems or seams, and snip them using your scissors or a seam ripper. Repeat the procedure for additional pleats, carefully cutting only stitches that are holding the pleats and not the pant seams or cloth
Washing the pants is a good idea. The label will tell you what temperature to use; however, some excess fabric, such as cotton mixes or denim, may shrink if exposed to too much heat.
Remove wet, clean pants from the washer and place them on a dry, level surface. Hang your wet pants by clipping them onto a hanger at equal intervals from the front-closure zipper. Make sure that the waistband is neither drooping nor uneven by centering the pants across the line of the hanger and adjusting how far apart you’ve spaced out each clip.
Hang your pants in a clean, risk-free location. To allow the pants to hang freely from the waist without making contact with anything, keep away from filthy surfaces and objects. Make sure the cloth isn’t clinging or wrinkled by removing any fabric that’s touching or gently shaking the legs of your pants from the bottom hem.
Unclip your pants from the hanger and check them for wrinkles. If they have pleats, make sure those are still visible. Remove any remaining wrinkles by ironing the area in small circles.
Remove Pleats From Pants Pattern
Don’t be alarmed if your wonderful pattern is ruined by some pesky pleats. It’s actually easier to remove the pleats from a pants pattern than you might believe.
Make a pair of small wing-like pleats. Cut the fabric, fold it in half, and make a crease down the center. Make another crease straight across from where you just made one if you want to divide your seam into two dashes. That’s all there is to it.
Should Suit Pants Have Pleats?
The mere mention of pleated pants is enough to make anyone’s stomach turn. These types of pants bring up images of the very worst fashion trends from the 80s and 90s. If you were around during that time, it’s highly doubtful you would want to revisit those styles now.
Flat-front cuts are in right now, and for the most part, that’s just fine. However, what about those individuals who still believe suit pants should have pleats? That a pair of pants with no pleats or two is too casual for a formal occasion. Do they have a point? Perhaps, but it all comes down to personal preference.
For the most part, we find all those pleats to be a nuisance. Pleats not only date clothes quickly, but they may also make them appear badly outdated. Pleaty pull a lot of extra cloth into the rise zone of pants (the region just below the waist), resulting in uncomfortable ‘ballooning’ in the crotch region…a style that even the greatest of us would struggle to accomplish.
There is, however, a solution. Outward-facing pleats are generally only seen on ballooning styles popular in the late 1980s by Italian fashion designers.
Rather than facing out, the British style of pleat faces inward. This results in a neater appearance that doesn’t have the issues that come with ballooning. If you want to avoid the problem altogether, stick to flat-fronted cuts; contrary to popular belief, this style can actually be pulled off for formal occasions.
Can a Tailor Remove Pleats From Pants?
If you still have clothes with pleats, it might be time to get rid of them. Though taking out the pleats can be tricky, a tailor will know how to do it perfectly.
If you’re afraid of attempting to remove your pleats yourself, don’t worry. Simply ask a tailor to take care of it for you. It may be as simple as making a few tiny changes or as major as total surgery in some cases.
Pants can be tricky, especially if they have front-facing pleats. But a good tailor can definitely help. Expect to pay around $50-$75 for a major job, and around $20 for something simpler.
