It’s Day Sixteen of National Sewing Month! Too see the daily blog posts, projects of the day, and more National Sewing Month details, click here.
We are so excited to welcome Sabra from Sew a Straight Line for today’s National Sewing Month post!
Hi, I’m Sabra from Sew a Straight Line. As a mom of three boys, all of whom I sew regularly for, I’m always on the lookout for cool techniques I can add to my sons’ clothing. In my experience, the best way to spice up a boy pattern is to add a funky, yet functional element. Pleated knees not only look cool, they enforce an area of the garment that normally wears the fastest, giving longevity to your homemade wardrobe. It only takes a couple of extra steps to add this detail to clothing, but pleated knees totally change up the look of jeans, making them modern and fun.
This pleated knee trick can be applied to any pant pattern: boys, girls, adults. Whatever you got, you can pleat those knees!
For my tutorial, I’m using Blank Slate Pattern’s W Pants. But like I said, any pant pattern will do.
Begin by cutting your front piece of the pattern at the knee. Most patterns will be marked at this area as a “lengthen here” point. Lay your top pant piece about 4-5 inches above the lower pant piece. You can use a ruler or other straight edge to make sure you keep the sides of the pant pieces in line.
When you cut that front piece, you’re going to go out at the extra knee area about 1/2 inch at the sides. See picture below.
After cutting, start making your pleats across the knee, pinning in place. 
Continue pleating and pinning the entire length of that extra knee area. Press.
Top stitch about 1/8 inch from the fold of each pleat.
Now just sew up the pants following the regular instructions from your pattern.
And you’ve got some rad pants that are unique, hip and extra durable where your kids need it most.
I’d love to share more of my sewing ideas, tricks and tips with you. Come check out my blog at www.sewastraightline.com and be sure to check out the Project:Boy area for tons of masculine-sewing inspiration!
Happy Sewing Month!
Do kids clothes wear out faster than adults?
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