My “Finished on Friday” project this week has turned into a tutorial. I think you are going to love it. I had written a similar tutorial about a month ago complete with pictures. Something just didn’t feel right about it, though. I figured there must be an easier way to tackle this problem. Then I found a great fitting pair of jeans at the thrift store. The secret: a “comfort elastic waistband.” See how the elastic is incorporated around the entire waist?
Then my friend Amy commented on my frustrations taking in the waist on these pants. “When I have encountered that I sometimes just open the side seam in the waistband area and thread new elastic right over the old.”
Aha! Remember my adjustable elastic tutorial? This is kind of the same, but better. The elastic goes around the entire waist, so there’s no bunching up in any one place. The fabric is evenly distributed for a smoother finish.
You can even do this without a sewing machine as long as you don’t mind a little hand stitching.
Materials
3/4″ or 1″ wide elastic
small, sharp pair of scissors
Fray Check
pin, needle and thread
Step 1
Snip two holes on either side of the waist to create a casing for the elastic — one just inside the buttonhole/snap and the other just inside the button/other snap. Make sure your scissors don’t go through to the other side! Apply Fray Check to the raw edges.
Step 2
Thread the elastic through the casing and secure with stitches on one side. (My thread matched the denim a little too well. The arrow is pointing to the stitches. If you look really close, you’ll see them.)
Step 3
Try on pants and pull on the elastic until you’ve got a good fit.
Step 4
Pin elastic in place, take off pants and secure with stitches on the other side. Trim excess elastic.
That’s it! Totally easy! You can do this to any pants that:
- fit your hips, but are too big in the waist
- fit everywhere except that annoying gap in the back
- are made of denim without that 2% of spandex to make then snap back into shape after one wearing
- need to tide you over while you lose weight and fit into the next size