My Jeans Are Too Tight

 Hello Readers. It's almost time for America to celebrate Thanksgiving. That usually means turkey and stuffing. My family doesn't love turkey so we went rogue a few years ago. We have a roast or ham, lasagna, side dishes, veggies, bread and deserts. Of course, there are deserts. All this good food means I need cozy stretchy pants. Tight waistbands will ruin Thanksgiving for sure. But what if you gained a few pounds during Corona? I have an idea for that.

These green denim jeans had a little stretch to them already but that waistband was at maximum after quarantine. I was going to donate them because they were too tight in the waist and hips. They just were not comfortable at all. Then I had an idea.

I decided to make these pants larger. I cut the side seams open on both sides. I cut from the waist to the ankle.

I also cut up these leftover pant legs. I think I made shorts out of them and saved the legs. I cut the leftovers on the bias so I had long strips of gray fabric to use.

I used my sewing machine to put the pieces of gray sweatpants in the open side seams. I sewed them shut. Because I added the gray fabric on both sides it made the legs, hips and waistband grow.

 

I used the binding from the bottom of the sweat pant legs. I put the binding at the waist and the ankles of the new green jeans to make them look more polished and intentional. Are they sweats or jeans? You decide.

 These new green jeans were a perfect partner for this sparkly sweatshirt.

 

Thanksgiving 2020 has been down-sized at my house. This outfit will be dressy enough for the day and comfortable enough for me to eat pie and cupcakes after dinner. 

 

Thanks for reading along, I hope your Thanksgiving holiday is wonderful. If it isn't a holiday where you live, I wish you a great day.

 

Make These Jeans Bigger!

Hello Readers. How are you doing? To be completely honest, I have doing a lot of snacking and eating. I have eaten more potato chips in the past 2 weeks than anyone should eat in a year. And the cookies.... I love cookies. My jeans were getting a little uncomfortable in the waist because of all the snacks. I decided to make my jeans bigger. It's easier than you might think.

This picture is from Thanksgiving but it illustrates the problem I was having with the jeans. It also gives you an idea for an emergency fix for a tight waistband if you ever need it.

I began by cutting my jeans open along the outside seams.

 I just followed the seam on the out side of each leg and cut from the waist to the ankle. I cut right at the seam and that helped me keep a straight edge to my cuts. I cut the actual seam with all the stitches out and threw it away.

My next step is to insert something in the openings I just made. I decided to use ribbon. I had a box of it from my mother-in-law on hand. We are avoiding the stores. A thick ribbon is strong enough to handle being paired with denim. 

(I have tried strips of knit fabric before. It didn't hold up very long.)

After some thought I went neutral and chose gray and tan ribbon. I stitched the ribbon in the side of each leg from the ankle to the waist. You can add some needed breathing room to your jeans this way. The wider the ribbon you use, the more space you will add to your jeans.

 

 I was so much more comfortable in my slightly larger jeans. The stripes of color add some fun to the jeans too. A bold color would be a lot of fun too. Yes, I got out of my pajamas for a little while.

 

All kidding about snacks aside, I hope you are well. 

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.