How to Take in Jeans - or Any Other Clothing with a Waist

Help my pants are too big! Some people have recently lost weight and find that their jeans are starting to fall down. Other people have never had anything fit them in the hips that also fit them in the waist. Whatever your reason for needing to take in the waistline on your clothes, be encouraged. One, you are not alone. Two, it is not too difficult. Three, you don't have to buy a whole new wardrobe, at least not yet!

Too many people are intimidated by a sewing machine. It is a priceless tool to have! Just like every home should have a hammer and nail somewhere, every home should also have a sewing machine. This is not to say that it can't be done by hand. The truth is, it can be done by hand, but; it won't be as strong and it won't be as easy or fast! Jeans are usually made from thick material that is difficult to stick a needle through by hand. Why risk blisters when a sewing machine makes the fix easily. It's like choosing to bike up hill over taking a car.

So, drag out your machine and dust it off. Find some basically matching thread. It only needs to be as dark or light as your material because it will be on the inside and no one will see it. You can actually alter dark navy jeans using white thread and no one will notice, unless it's your mother and she's a seamstress.

Next, try on your pants. They are loose, so pinch an equal amount on each side of your waist while looking in the full-length mirror to see how many inches you need to tighten them. If you don't have a full-length mirror, don't worry. Just look down at your hands, or ask a friend. Take a good look. Are you holding an inch between your fingers, or an inch and a half to make them feel as tight as you want? You can guess a little about this. Next, let the sides go and reach behind you with one hand and pinch the middle seam behind your back. How does that look?

Now you can decide. Do you want to do two 'v' shapes on each side, taking the pants in along the legs? Or, do you want to make one 'v' in the back? Most beginners opt for the one 'v' in the back because it's less work. Don't worry about ruining the pants. Face it, they don't fit anyway. How can you ruin them. You are not cutting anything.

So, let's say you need the material to come in two inches at the waist, but down at the bottom of your 'bottom' it fits fine. Make a little mark to indicate where the pants fit 'fine as is'. You can do this with a piece of chalk, or a safety pin, or if you are careful, a straight pin. Just be careful taking the pants off. That mark is where the bottom of your 'v' will end. You will need to see this mark from the inside of your pants. You are going to be sewing right over the original seam, just adjusting it to your necessary dimensions.

Take the pants off your body and turn them, inside out. The best seamstresses sew in their underwear, because within minutes the adjusted jeans can be worn. Pull the seam that you will be using to the right or left - depending on whether you are right or left-handed. For example, if you have decided to adjust the middle back seam of the jeans, pull that seam to your preferred side and lay the jeans flat on the table. This will look like to about to iron the jeans, although most people never iron jeans.

Next, using a ruler or other straight edge, mark a 'v' on your pants. The top of the jeans, at the waistband will be the top of the 'v'. The place on the seam where you marked (on the outside of the pants) will be where the 'v' stops (on the inside of the pants). See the attached photo for an example. Now, use a few straight pins to hold this line in place and run it through your sewing machine. If you are worried about making a mistake, you can use the basting stitch on the machine, which is the one with the longest and most easily removable stitches. Then after you try the pants on, if they are not perfect, you can easily pull the stitches out and have a do-over. The only problems with basting first is that if the pants fit perfectly, you should then switch to a tighter stitch and sew the seam again for strength.

When you get confident with your 'v', you will sew once and sail out the door in your altered jeans, your altered skirts, your altered shorts. When you know you like the fit, you can even bravely cut off the excess material inside. Or you can leave it there to let out if you choose to get bigger again!

Whatever you choose, have fun and enjoy your personally tailored clothes!