LJ Pattern Hack: Classic Jeans to Zipper-Front Jeans Free Tutorial

Ever wonder if you could add a real zipper to the front of the Liberty Jane jeans? Well, in today's post, we're about to show you how.... 

Today's pattern hack was inspired by a post originally shared by Donna of Sweetscraps on Liberty Jane Patterns in 2011. Thanks for the great hack Donna!

I'm going to add a zipper to the front of a pair of cut-off shorts -- it's been so warm here lately that it's been hard to think of wearing much else! :) You'll need all the normal pieces for a pair of jeans or shorts, plus:

One rectangle 1" wide x 2" long (this becomes the Facing)
One rectangle 2" wide x 2 1/4" long (which will be the Fly).
And of course, you'll need a zipper! The regular kind works great.

Are you ready? Let's get started!

Line up one side of the pants front with one side of the zipper -- right sides together. Pin. You want about 1/8" of zipper tape showing beyond the raw edge, so that way when you sew at 1/4", the teeth will be close to the seamline. Set this aside for a minute.

Fold the fly piece in half (it should be 1" wide), and sew a curve along one lower edge. Clip and turn right side out.

Use the fly to sandwich the zipper tape to the Pants Front. The raw edges of the Front and Fly should line up, but you should still have about 1/8" of zipper tape showing.

Stop stitching right at the bottom of the fly, and clip into the seam allowance on the Front side just to the stitching.

Press and topstitch! If you want, you can also zig zag here. Just be sure to leave the clipped edge of the seam allowance free....

Sew the Facing piece to the other Crotch edge on the other Front piece. Clip into the seam allowance as you did before, and then fold the facing around to the wrong side. Press. (I zig-zagged my facing first, just to keep all the edges tidy.)

Close the zipper, and then line up the two fronts so that the facing edge covers the zipper entirely.

Hold the facing in place; pin the free side of the zipper tape to JUST the facing. Stitch.

Sew a bar tack over the bottom of the zipper, and cut off any extra tape. Finish sewing the rest of the front crotch seam. 

Then, re-fold the Front over the facing; carefully topstitch to hold everything in place. Be sure not to catch the Fly when you topstitch!

Whew! Congrats! Now you can finish sewing the pants together.

When you reach the waistband step, you have two options: 1) sew the waistband as directed in the pattern, in a circle or 2) sew a modified waistband to let you open the pants fully at the zipper, which I'll show you next...

Cut a waistband 3/4" longer than the pattern calls for. (This extra is to account for the width that the fly adds.) Press under 1/4" along one long raw edge, and pin the waistband to the inside of the pants. Leave 1/4" extending beyond the opening on either end. Sew!

Fold the short ends back on themselves, and pin. Cut a piece of elastic 3/4" longer than the pattern calls for (I used 11" of 1/4" wide elastic). Include the elastic when you sew this seam. Tricksy, right? :) You should have a loop of elastic floating around the waistband, just kinda hanging out. 

Now turn the waistband right side out, and carefully fold it over the elastic as you pin it into place. Sew that waistband down!

At the front openings, sew squares to hold the front edges of the waistband flat.

Finish off your pants by adding a small snap or a little patch of velcro at the front.

Congratulations -- you just added a real working zipper to the front of a pair of jeans!

Thanks everybody, and have fun with this!

For Pixie Faire,
Melinda and Cinnamon