Drafting a Yoke On a Darted Pants Pattern

For years I have been making elastic waist pants, but decided I wanted a smoother look. I wear my tops on the outside of pants but feel there is excess bulk with the elastic waist. I have a skinny leg pant with a yoke and with fabrics with high spandex percentage I can make them minus the zipper and pull them on. My wider leg pattern is darted with a waist band and traditional fly front. The yoke style is more comfortable so I converted the darted pattern to a yoke pattern.

First, mark the yoke depth at the side seam and center seams. Trace around the pattern, including all markings. At center front (back) trace across waist from the side seam to the first leg of the dart. On the side seam trace up to the marking for the yoke depth.

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Next, using your pencil tip or a pin at the dart apex pivot the dart to a closed position. Continue tracing from the closed dart around the waist and down to the point on the side seam where the yoke ends.

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I used blue for the yoke and green for the pants. You will need to smooth the lines with a curved ruler.

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Add the appropriate seam allowance to the bottom of the yoke and the top of the pants.

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Using a separate piece of paper trace the yoke and label it. Once you cut out the yoke you can cut out the pants, ignoring the yoke markings or you can trace the pants also and save the draft. 

The final step is to walk the new seam lines and true the edges at the side seams only. Mark one notch in front and two notches in back to line up the yoke and pants seams. 

You can either cut the yoke as one piece placing CF on the fold or cut two pieces and seam the centers. It depends on whether you will be adding a zipper or not. With stretchy fabric these pants can be pull ons. I like to use an invisible zipper at the side seam when needed. 

Cut a facing for the yoke to finish.