Menswear tailoring is often perceived as stuffy, mannish, and out-of-date, but the truth is, it’s as feminine, fresh, and stylish as you make it.  

Many techniques adapt beautifully to women’s garments. We’ve selected two methods to share: how to add a welt pocket and how to construct a two-piece waistband. Our emphasis is easing alterations and eliminating bulk.

The welt pocket is traditionally used on the back of men’s pants, but why hide it there? Move it to the front, and use it in place of the traditional slant pocket. It’s an example of a menswear method women can draw from in the name of style. 

Men’s custom-tailored trousers are worth the money because the construction techniques are selected for durability and to allow for alterations. Unlike women, who make pants in another size if their weight changes, men have their trousers altered, and a two-piece waistband simplifies this. 

By adapting some classic menswear tailoring techniques, you can improve the quality, appearance, and comfort of the pants you sew for yourself. 

Create a mitered welt pocket

A slanted welt pocket, sewn away from the side seam, allows for fitting adjustments at the side seam. The mitered welt ends also minimize bulk and conceal seams. French-seamed pocket bags make the inside of the trousers as attractive as the outside.  

Draft the welt and the Pocket bag 

1. For a 6-inch by 1-inch finished welt, first draw a 6-inch by 2-inch rectangle. Mark a foldline across the lengthwise center. Mark 3⁄4-inch inside the rectangle’s upper corners. Draw a line connecting the 3⁄4-inch mark, the foldline on the side, and straight past the bottom line on the side, as shown below (red lines), to form the welt’s pattern shape. 

2. Add seam allowances. Add 3⁄8 inch…