Slash-and-spread is the pattern maker’s basic way to add fullness: cut the pattern, open it, and redraw. Godets are triangles set into a seam or slit to make a hem flare. Flounces are curved strips that ripple at a hem. Together they turn a straight trouser into a flare, a palazzo, a sharara or a ruffled child’s pant. Part IX, Slash-and-spread for design, uses the same method for style lines.

Teacher to check: spread amounts and flounce radii are starting points, not yet checked by a D&D teacher.

Three slash-and-spread versions of the women’s trouser front, to scale. (a) Parallel spread: slashed on the crease from waist to hem and spread 2 inches (5 cm) evenly, adding width everywhere, for pleats. (b) Hinged at the waist: four slashes from the hem up to the waist, each spread 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) at the hem and nothing at the waist, for a palazzo. (c) Hinged at the knee: slashes from the hem to the knee line, each spread 2 inches (5 cm), for a flare or bell. Original outline dashed, new outline solid, with a smooth redrawn hem.
Slash-and-spread: parallel, hinged at the waist, hinged at the knee.
Photo: A godet in the side seam, and a circular flounce.
A trouser side seam opened 10 inches (25 cm) up from the hem with a godet set in: the godet a triangle 10 inches (25 cm) tall and 8 inches (20 cm) wide at the base, with a rounded hem. Beside it, a circular flounce drawn as a ring whose inner circumference equals the hem width: inner radius equals hem width divided by 6.28, worked for the Part IV women’s block hem of 17 inches (43 cm), and depth 4 inches (10 cm).
A godet in the side seam, and a circular flounce.

What you’ll learn

  • The three ways to slash and spread: parallel, hinged at the top, hinged at the bottom.
  • How to add flare to a trouser leg from the hip or the knee.
  • How to cut and set a godet neatly into a seam or a slit.
  • How to draft a circular flounce and finish its edge.

Slash-and-spread in three moves

  1. Trace the pattern piece and draw slash lines where you want fullness.
  2. Cut along each line, leaving a tiny hinge of paper at one end if you want the fullness at the other end only.
  3. Spread the pieces on fresh paper by the amount you want, tape them down, and redraw the outline as a smooth line.
  • Parallel spread adds width everywhere: for pleats and gathers at the waist.
  • Hinged at the waist adds width at the hem only: for palazzos and wide legs.
  • Hinged at the knee adds width below the knee: for flares, bell-bottoms and shararas.

Adding flare to a trouser leg

  1. Trace front and back from your block (see Part IV, Every silhouette from the block).
  2. Draw three or four slash lines on each, parallel to the crease, from the hem up to the knee (for a flare) or to the waist (for a palazzo).
  3. Spread each slash equally at the hem. Add the same total to front and back so the leg hangs straight.
  4. Redraw the side seam and inseam as smooth lines and true the hem as a curve, at right angles to each seam.
  5. Keep the crease line as the grain line.

Godets

A godet is a triangle of cloth, often with a rounded base, inserted into a seam or slit to add flare at the hem. On trousers they sit in the side seams or the inseam below the knee, or in slits at the front and back.

  1. Open the seam from the hem to the godet point, or cut a slit and stay-stitch it in a narrow “V”.
  2. Cut the godet with its centre on the straight grain or the bias, by the look you want.
  3. Sew one side from the hem to the point, stopping exactly at the point with a backstitch.
  4. Sew the other side from the hem to the point, so the stitching meets.
  5. Press the seam allowances away from the godet; hang overnight and level the hem.

Flounces

A circular flounce is cut as a ring. Its inner edge equals the hem it joins; its outer edge is longer, so it ripples. For an inner edge of a given length, the inner radius is that length divided by about 6.28. Cut the ring, slash it once, and join it to the hem.

Where you see these
  • India: the sharara’s knee flare; bell-bottoms of the 1970s Hindi film era; flared palazzos; ruffled-hem girls’ pants for festivals.
  • World: flared jeans, bootcut trousers, sailor bell-bottoms, flamenco-inspired trousers with flounces.
  • Men: flares and bootcuts; godets at the hem of some performance and dance trousers.
  • Children: flounced hems on girls’ leggings and pants; keep them short so they do not catch the feet.
Variations
  • Gathered flounce: a straight strip, 1½–2 times the hem length, gathered (see Gathers and elastic shirring).
  • Spiral flounce: a spiral cut from a circle, for a cascading hem.
  • Double flounce: two flounces, one shorter, layered.
  • Pleated godet: a godet folded into a box pleat for a crisp flare.
  • Left-handed: no change in method.
Planning and control
  1. Decide where the flare starts: hip, thigh, knee or hem.
  2. Spread equally front and back unless you want a deliberate swing.
  3. Check the cloth width: a very full leg may not fit across the fabric; add a seam or a godet instead.
  4. Bias flounces and godets drop; always hang before hemming.
Before you start, and what you need
  • Prerequisites: a trued block (Part IV), tracing and truing (see Draping basics: marking and truing onto paper).
  • Time: an hour per pattern change; two hours to set two godets.
  • Difficulty: beginner for slash-and-spread; intermediate for godets and flounces.
  • Tools: pattern paper, paper scissors, clear tape, a long ruler, a hip curve, a compass or a string-and-pencil for circles, a fabric marker.
  • Budget: old newspaper for quarter-scale practice; a drawing pin and string as a compass.
Women, men and children
  • Women: flares from the knee balance a wider hip or add swing; palazzos spread from the waist suit every body and are cool in Bengaluru summers.
  • Men: bootcuts are a small spread below the knee, usually 1–2 inches (2.5–5 cm) in total; bell-bottoms more.
  • Children: modest flares only; a wide hem can catch on stairs and bicycle chains. Flounced hems should finish well above the ankle.
  • Every body: the hem width and where the flare starts change the line; try both on a toile before deciding.
Worked example: a palazzo from the block (method only)
  1. Trace the front block. Draw four slash lines from the hem to the waist, spaced across the leg.
  2. Cut each line up to the waist, leaving a paper hinge.
  3. Spread each slash 2 inches (5 cm) at the hem. The front hem gains 8 inches (20 cm).
  4. Repeat on the back, spreading the same amount.
  5. Remove the waist darts by moving their intake into the spread (the slashes can pass through the dart points).
  6. Redraw the side seam and inseam, true the hem, and add a wide elastic or a flat-front waistband.
Tips, tricks and hacks
  1. Leave a paper hinge of 1–2 mm when slashing to a point; it keeps pieces lined up.
  2. Spread on a printed grid so the pieces stay square.
  3. Mark the stitching point of a godet with a dot on both pieces.
  4. Reinforce a godet slit with a tiny square of fusible interfacing at the point.
  5. Hem flounces with a rolled hem or a narrow overlock; a deep hem stops the ripple.
  6. Use a fishing-line hem on light flounces for a stiff, wavy edge (lettuce edge on knits).
  7. Professionals true the hem curve by folding the pattern at the crease and checking both halves match.
  8. A small godet fixes a tight hem on a narrow trouser as an alteration.
  9. Cut circular flounces on the fold to save cloth.
  10. Check the flare with a mirror on the toile walking, not standing.
Problems and how to fix them

1 · The flared leg twists

  1. Re-balance the spread equally front and back.
  2. Recut with the crease on grain.
  3. Prevention: equal slashes on both sides of the crease.

2 · The hem is pointed or uneven after spreading

  1. Redraw the hem as a smooth curve.
  2. Hang and level the toile.
  3. Prevention: true the hem at right angles to each seam.

3 · A pucker at the godet point

  1. Unpick a few stitches and re-sew exactly to the point.
  2. Clip the seam allowance at the point.
  3. Prevention: sew from the hem up, both sides.

4 · The godet slit frays

  1. Patch with fusible at the back.
  2. Re-set the godet into a seam instead.
  3. Prevention: stay-stitch and interface the point.

5 · The flounce does not ripple

  1. Cut a smaller inner radius (more circle).
  2. Use a lighter cloth or a narrower hem.
  3. Prevention: sample a flounce first.

6 · The flounce hem drops unevenly

  1. Hang overnight and re-trim.
  2. Hem with a rolled hem after levelling.
  3. Prevention: hang bias pieces before hemming.

7 · The leg will not fit across the cloth

  1. Add a seam in the leg.
  2. Use godets for part of the flare.
  3. Prevention: check the pattern width against the cloth before cutting.

8 · The waist grows when slashing up to it

  1. Check that the slashes are hinged exactly at the waist line.
  2. Ease or gather the small extra into the waistband.
  3. Prevention: leave a paper hinge on the seam line, not the cutting line.
Beginner mistakes and myths
  • Mistake: spreading only the front.
  • Mistake: forgetting to redraw a smooth outline.
  • Myth: “More flare is always more drama.” Too much flare in heavy cloth just hangs.
Practice drills
  1. Beginner: make the three slash-and-spread versions in paper at quarter scale.
  2. Intermediate: set two godets into a skirt sample, then a trouser hem.
  3. Advanced: make a flared trouser with a circular flounce at the hem.
As a hobby, for earning, for teaching

As a hobby: slash-and-spread unlocks every silhouette from one block.

For earning: converting straight trousers to flares with godets is an alteration and upcycling service.

For teaching: quarter-scale paper patterns let a class try many versions in one session.

Care and finishing
  • Hang flared and flounced trousers by the waist.
  • Steam flounces from below; avoid pressing the ripple flat.
Sources and uncertain points
  • D&D ebook ch. 9 (silhouettes) and ch. 37 (using the block for styles); general pattern practice.
  • The flounce radius formula is standard geometry; fabric behaviour varies.
Check yourself
  1. Can you name the three ways to slash and spread?
  2. Can you add a flare from the knee?
  3. Can you set a godet without a pucker?
  4. Can you work out the inner radius of a flounce?
Key terms
  • Slash-and-spread: cutting and opening a pattern to add fullness.
  • Hinge: the uncut point a slashed piece pivots on.
  • Godet: a triangle set into a seam or slit to add flare.
  • Flounce: a curved strip that ripples at a hem.
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