Elastic Waistband

This morning I decided to do a very simple but necessary mending job.

I have this pair of jeans, every time I wear them I complain and say that I have to fix the waistband. They are high waisted jeans and the waistband is a few centimetres too big.

There are 2 ways to make a waistband smaller. The first is to remove it, take the side or back seams of the pants in, adjust the waistband accordingly, make it smaller and reattach to the pants.

The second way is much easier and quicker and can be used when the band is only a few centimetres too large.

Make 2 small slits with a seam ripper at the side seams in the inner fabric layer of the waistband only.

Slit in the waistband

Take a piece of elastic which is slightly narrower than the waistband and cut it to the size of half of your waist measurement.

Attach a safety pin at one end, not exactly on the edge but about 2-3 cm in as in the picture

Attach the safety pin to the elastic

Insert the safety pin in the slit that you opened with the seam ripper

Insert the safety pin

and pull it through the "tunnel" in the waisband till it emerges at the second slit. Make sure that the end doesn't go through completely, otherwise you will have to rethread the elastic.

Pull the safety pin through the tunnel

Stitch the elastic down through both layers of the waistband. I threaded the machine with black thread which makes the seam almost invisible.

Stitch down over the elastic

Do the same on the other side of the waistband and cut off the excess elastic

Cut off excess elastic

A very simple and satisfying mend. One that took a few minutes only.

Elastic waistband

#mending #sewingclass #reuse #upcycle