Eeek! Today is the big day! We have been working away in secret for a couple weeks now in order to prepare for today’s post…and here it is: A You-Tube video on how to sew the fly!
We hope that you like it and find it more helpful than photos would be. This is our first time (ever!) making a video so it is far from being professional quality (we have already learned so much that we want to do differently on the next one). And, since I’m really shy, I just have to say – please excuse my nervous awkwardness in front of the camera…it was terrifying!
If anyone would prefer a photo tutorial to the video, let us know in the comments and we will take stills from the video and turn them into a traditional photo post on how to sew the fly.
Good luck with your sewing today! Just pause the video whenever you reach a tricky point and re-watch. It goes a little fast compared to the real life sewing process as we cut out anything repetitive but we were careful to include a video for every sewing step so you can follow along using the written instructions.
Thread Theory 
January 20, 2024 at 3:04 pm
Hello ! Thanks for the video, I’ve used it every time to sew my various versions of the Jedediah pants and shorts over the last few years. It now appears unavailable, is this due to my location (France) or have you removed it? Would it be possible to make it available again? This is the most difficult step for me, and the video was a great help. Thank you so much!
January 19, 2024 at 4:22 am
Hello ! Thanks for the video, I’ve used it every time to sew my various versions of the Jedediah pants and shorts over the last few years. It now appears unavailable, is this due to my location (France) or have you removed it? Would it be possible to make it available again? This is the most difficult step for me, and the video was a great help.
Thank you so much!
Pauline
January 19, 2024 at 3:37 pm
Hi Pauline, Our blog is no longer active but we have a new version of the sew-along for the Jedediah Pants over on our website! https://threadtheory.ca/blogs/sew-alongs/tagged/jedediah-sew-along There is a very clear photo post on how to sew the fly. If you’re looking for a video, you might like to check this one out that Phee Fabrics made: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBWS6SlUMkw
December 19, 2016 at 1:50 pm
I know this is many years post sew-along but am i the only one having trouble binding the zipper area??? it’s such a sharp corner… Does it need multiple pieces of binding? The curve just makes it kind of bulky and weird…
December 19, 2016 at 4:32 pm
Yes, it can be a tricky little corner to do! I manage it with just one piece of binding but tend to soften the corner while I sew on the binding (I don’t have the binding fully aligned with the fabric at the corner). I then clip in to the binding to allow me to press the fly facings in the following steps. Since I end up clipping anyways, your fly would be just as nice if you bind the fly facing and then bind the seat seam separately (with two pieces of binding). Then you wouldn’t need to clip at the sharp corner :).
June 29, 2016 at 9:04 pm
Thank you for making the instructional video! Your sewalong posts have made this project achievable for me and I have been nervous about the zipper 🙂
July 6, 2016 at 5:10 pm
I’m glad the video has helped you! It isn’t the most professional but it gets the job done 😛
March 16, 2016 at 2:17 am
Hi, I bought the PDF pattern and would like to make the pants for my bf, but just like Maree, I am also not able to watch the video (sewing the fly) in Hungary. Could you please solve this?
Thank You.
March 16, 2016 at 1:53 pm
Hi Petra, Thanks for letting me know that you aren’t able to view the video as well! As I’ve commented to Maree, it turns out that the song we had playing throughout the video has caused the video to be blocked in a couple hundred countries! I’ve temporarily removed the song but this has caused the audio to no longer match the video. I’ve left it posted like this for now so hopefully you will be able to view it. Matt is fixing the audio this afternoon (I hope) so we will have a far better version of the video/audio up on Youtube very soon. I hope your pants turn out wonderfully!
March 13, 2016 at 7:42 pm
Well I’m sewing up Jebediah, doing great guns until I get to the fly video which is blocked to Australia on copyright grounds. WAH! I know that I was previously able to watch this because I used it over a year ago to sew a pair for my hubby. Please please change the permissions on this video so that I am able to watch it. 😦
March 16, 2016 at 1:52 pm
Hi Maree, Thanks for letting me know! It turns out that the song we had playing throughout the video has caused the video to be blocked in a couple hundred countries! I’ve temporarily removed the song but this has caused the audio to no longer match the video. I’ve left it posted like this for now so hopefully you will be able to view it. Matt is fixing the audio this afternoon (I hope) so we will have a far better version of the video/audio up on Youtube very soon. I hope that you are able to see the original video in the meantime so that you can keep flying along through the sewing process :).
March 16, 2016 at 7:37 pm
thank you wonderful news!!
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September 29, 2014 at 4:10 pm
Morgan and Matt!
I just wanted to write how much I appreciate this excellent sewalong and video for the fly zipper. I generally don’t like videos (just a personal preference) but this is great and I have smoothly made the best fly zipper following your instructions (even if I say so myself).
September 30, 2014 at 7:01 am
Thank you so much for taking the time to tell us! We’re still a little bashful about it since it was our first video and it was a HUGE amount of work since video editing and speaking in front of a camera is so new to us…hence no new videos in the last year despite grand plans lol. But if it helps people make painless fly fronts then it has served it’s purpose wonderfully! I hope the rest of your pants turn out just as nice as you zipper did!
September 1, 2014 at 1:42 am
Morgan!! (And Matt) THANKYOU! I have just made up the fly on some Jed pants (Fathers day is coming up in Aus) and that was by FAR the best fly-insertion I’ve ever done! I usually fumble through not actually knowing what I’m doing but this video made it so simple to understand. I usually prefer picture posts, but this was the perfect step for a video. Just wanted to pop by & say thanks!
September 2, 2014 at 7:54 am
Thanks so much for taking the time to tell us you enjoyed our video! I hope we can continue to make more videos in the future – they are a lot of work and I usually prefer picture posts as well…but sometimes with small and complicated steps, there simply isn’t a better way to demonstrate the sewing process than video!
December 20, 2013 at 9:38 am
Wonderful – thank you for your hard work putting this together, it was really helpful!
December 20, 2013 at 9:46 am
No problem! It is worth all the work every time someone finds it has been helpful to them!
December 17, 2013 at 4:46 am
Just want to chime and add my thanks for the video! It really helped me out sewing my first ever zipper fly.
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November 12, 2013 at 8:00 pm
Love the video! At first I thought I wouldn’t be able to follow along but I was actually able to follow along better with the video than with just pictures. Also, what sewing machine are you using?
November 13, 2013 at 12:14 pm
I’m glad you like our video! It was a LOT of work to make so we are thrilled any time someone mentions that they used it! My sewing machine is a “Reliable” industrial machine. It is lovely to sew with and lives up to its (slightly cheesy) name :).
September 10, 2013 at 10:39 am
Where did you get the zipper placement marker? Its not on the pattern – I think I have missed something!
Thanks
September 10, 2013 at 11:10 am
Hi Jeremy,
Thanks for pointing out that it’s missing, I can’t believe that this is the first we’ve heard of it! The latest upload of the Jedediah Pants pattern seems to be missing the zipper placement mark so we are adding it back in right now and will email you a revised copy of the pattern (along with the page number that you will need to print so that you don’t have to reprint the whole pattern!) as soon as it is ready.
Anyone else who would like a revised copy of the pattern with the zipper placement mark added onto the Pants Front pattern piece is welcome to email us to request their copy. Drop a line to info@threadtheory.ca. Sorry about this error!
Morgan
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September 1, 2013 at 5:54 pm
Wow! The tutorial was great! I just propped my ipad up next to my sewing machine & stopped & started the tutorial as needed while inserting the fly. Thank you so much it is super informative and I loved the back ground music!
September 2, 2013 at 8:55 am
I’m so glad it was helpful and that you could follow it so easily while actually sewing! Thanks for the comment!
August 23, 2013 at 9:58 am
Thanks for that! The video was really helpful and clear – I’ve always struggled with fly fronts and have bookmarked this so I can go back over it for other projects too 🙂
August 23, 2013 at 9:06 am
Great video. Informative and fun to watch because of the variation of scenes, angles and music. I thought the written instructions for the Jedediah fly were clear, but the video is helpful to know exactly how to fold, press and stitch everything. 🙂
August 23, 2013 at 9:40 am
We’re thrilled that you liked it 🙂 Matt had a lot of fun trying to figure out the most effective angle for each shot.
August 23, 2013 at 8:04 am
Are there any special instructions if we want to make a flat-felled seat-seam? I’m not sure how to do it, since the seam allowance goes outwards in this kind of seam, and I need it to go inwards for the fly. Thank you for this wonderful video!
August 23, 2013 at 9:32 am
Hi Elena,
I’m glad you liked the video!
In response to your question about the flat-felled seat seam, here is my experience: I really wanted to include one in the Jedediah Pants instructions and attempted to make up one of the samples in this manner (the greenish brown pants that were worn at my school fashion show). Since I decided to use the method where the fly is attached AFTER the seat seam has been sewn and after the pants front and back have been assembled (I like this method because it warms you up gradually to sewing the fly), I found the only way to do a flat fell seam is if the seam is completely clipped at the base of the fly. This makes it so that the seat seam can be sewn from the outside and the fly can be folded on the inside. This results in a slit in the finished pants that can be covered up with the zipper shield, the fly facing and bar tacking. Despite this approach working, I didn’t want sewers to have to cut into their pants in this way because it is so easy to cut too far and it is pretty scary! So I thought that the faux flat-fell seam is very strong, looks very similar and is much easier.
If you want to sew a flat fell seam, it is much easier to do this if you assemble the pants using the other common method – instead of assembling either side and then sewing the crotch, you assemble the front (including the fly and the front crotch section which you can faux flat fell) and the back (including the crotch seam which at this point is really easy to flat fell) and then sew the two inseams all at once. Peter Lappin (Male Pattern Boldness) has done this method in his pants sew-along and he does a really good job of explaining his seam choices:
http://malepatternboldness.blogspot.ca/2011/05/jeans-sew-along-5-fly.html
http://malepatternboldness.blogspot.ca/2011/05/jeans-sew-along-3-seams.html
Happy sewing 🙂
Morgan