Resizing Jeans

 Hello Readers. The only reason I started sewing was to make my clothes fit my body. That's it. I am short and I needed to alter clothes. I had kids and I also needed to dress them and myself on a budget. A very small budget. There are a lot of social and environmental reasons to thrift and buy second hand but my main motivation in the beginning was money. I was a thrift store shopper and I found out about clothes swaps. The beauty of clothes swaps is that they are totally free. The down-side is the size options are limited. You have to get lucky and find your size or make what you find into your size. 

Today"s post is about 2 pairs of jeans. One pair was too baggy and one pair was too tight. Let's start with the loose pair. These jeans were a hand-me-down and they were a little baggy. That is great because I can size them down and make them perfect for me. 

It is not hard to alter jeans. The first step is to try them on inside out and mark where the new side seams should be. Don't make them too tight. Make sure you leave room for the new seam and for you to move comfortably. I like to use a pencil and mark the waist, hips, thighs... all the way down the leg. Don't worry about length just yet.

It is possible that your new side seams will need to be right where the belt loop is. If that happens, just remove the belt loop with a seam ripper and then stitch it back on when you are done with the jeans. 

You can see the new side seams I made in this picture. I did not need to remove that much to change the fit. I made the jeans smaller and then tried them on. I was able to see where the jeans fit well and where I needed to make the jeans smaller. You can see I went back a few times on each side to make the jeans fit really well.

When the jeans fit like you want, it is time to make them shorter if you need to. Always hem them last because you won't get the right length until the fit is correct.

I like to use matching gold thread in the hem. I barely had enough to finish these jeans. I did not use the thick gold thread on my bobbin (It's too thick.), I used this denim blue thread in my bobbin. 

 My new jeans are ready to go. What about the tight pair?

These jeans were so tight, they hurt me to put on. I think if something is hurting you, you should avoid that thing. (*Life Tip-This applies to people too.)

I knew an easy way to make these jeans bigger. I was going to add something to the jeans. That something was this wide grosgrain ribbon. 

The first step was cutting the side seams open on the sides of these jeans. I cut the jeans open from the waistband to the hem. 

Here is a look at the new side seams. I used my sewing machine to connect the ribbon to the denim. It added 3 inches on each leg and 6 inches to the waist and hips. Your measurements will be different from mine so choose ribbon that works for you. 

These jeans fit so well now, I can move, breath, eat... That is all I wanted. 

I hope these ideas help you as much as they helped me. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

***Chickie's Year End Review-I am still wearing and liking these a lot. The gold stripes are a favorite.