How to Take in the Waist on Jeans/Pants - Make Waistband Smaller 

That's excellent! I'm glad it's helped.

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@@TailorItYourself mñn. Sc

👍my mom started me sewing at 8byears old I have seen for public and high schools, for cheerleaders, band dept, choir dept and for a faculty for MRDD. Been sewing for 56 years. Theres not much I haven't made and not much I dont kniw how to do. I have saved denim and made all kinds of things with it.

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That's awesome! I'm glad you had success.

Thanks very much! I do this often in my shop and sometimes I can get 3" plus out of there. The magic of stretchy fabric and easing!

That's awesome! I'm glad it worked out for you. Hope you feel fabulous!

Asansöre binen

Thank you! I made it with that in mind.

Of course! Glad you found it helpful. You can do it!

Thanks for the feedback!

So nice tenkyou

The goal with alterations is to try and make it look like it hasn't been altered. Glad I achieved that! I appreciate the kind words. Thanks for watching!

Hey Randy, thanks for the feedback! Are there specific "basics" you'd like to see?

@@TailorItYourself anything that might be unknown to brand new people. Like how to properly feed a sewing machine, different type of equipment and tools, sewing patterns and their uses.

Thanks for the recommendations. It's tough to do tutorials for machines as there are so many different kinds and each one is set up differently.

Denim is so stretchy now it's usually pretty easy to ease more in. If it's a raw denim less so. But I'm glad that worked for you! Thanks for watching.

You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed.

Thank you! I'm not so young anymore. I've been tailoring for over 15 years.

@@TailorItYourself You have good genes, obviously! After leaving my first comment, I read your bio on your site. Highly impressive. Very generous for you to share your skills here. Thank you!

Thank you so much! Glad it was helpful.

No problem! Thanks for watching.

No problem! Glad you enjoyed it.

I have to redo stitching fairly often! The beauty of fabric is that it's very forgiving.

Thank you! Glad I made the cut.

Practice makes patience =)

Happy to help, good luck with your project!

Thanks very much!

Thanks Chan! Appreciate the feedback.

Bravo for giving it a try! Practice makes perfect.

Thanks very kind, thank you!

Thrifting and altering is excellent! That's how I got started with sewing. I would thrift vintage stuff and then alter them to fit, since I was so picky about the style of clothes in the early 00s. Granted my skills were nightmarish looking back, but where this is a will there's a way!

@@TailorItYourself Where there's a will indeed. When I was as young as you were in the 00's, for me the early 80's, I started teaching myself to sew; once upon a time I made my own Halloween costume (huge black cloak). I got away from such skill building as men (back then) were looked down on if they weren't learning manly skills like hunting and football (never cared for football or hunting). I was always the practical one, eat healthy, make it work, earn and understand money etc. I imagine you as one who gets the practical and the pragmatic of life. Bravo to you and making your way in life. If you do Skill Share or Brilliant online courses please let us all know. I have learning to sew like a pro on my bucket list.

That's great! Glad to help.

Those Featherweights are great! - if you can find one, it’s a treasure!

Thank you! It's not without a ton of practice. But you gotta start somewhere!

Black is actually easier! Go for it!

Videos are a whole different game! Very time consuming. Thanks for watching!

All depends on the stretchiness of the fabric and the size of the pants. It's definitely possible. You may need to take in the side seams just a bit to help accommodate the larger amount.

Thank you very much!

Welcome 👍

I'm so happy to hear that! Glad I could help and that you made progress! I live by a fortune cookie I once got: begin, the rest is easy.

Thank you for your appreciation, especially for the pdf! I spent so much time on those and I didn't need to so I'm glad it's going to good use.

You're welcome, thanks for watching!

Wow, that's very nice of you to say! Although I used to want to be a gymnast when I was younger. I picked a good alternative =)

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Thanks!

Awesome! Happy sewing =)

I would do the waist, then the tapering. Once you've done those, try them on again with the shoes you'll be wearing and mark your hem. The width of the leg and how they sit up on your waist will effect how long the hems are, so you want to do the waist and tapering first.

many thanks for your prompt and very helpful reply!!!

Sometimes the quick and dirty way works just as well. Bravo! 😉

@@TailorItYourself 😉 So true! It was a method that I used for making costumes for school plays. I used zigzag stitching and wide seams in case a performer had to be replaced. 😉 From the audience seats everything looked perfect and so beautiful! Have a great day! Peace and blessings to you and all your followers!

Sure can! But it likely won't be any time soon.

Yes, I've tried to do it the quick and dirty way on garments for myself, and I find if you just sew darts through all the layers that the bulky seams push into my waist and after a while becomes uncomfortable.

Thanks!

Happy to help! Thanks for watching.

That's very kind, thank you for watching!

Whatever works for you!

That's the plan eventually!

That's great, I'm happy it was helpful.

Learn something new every day! Thanks for watching.

Thank you very much! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Bravo! I'm glad you had success. That's what this is all about. Thanks for watching!

Best of luck!

Sounds like a smart lady! I'm glad you enjoyed the series. Thanks for watching!

Thanks Raven! I appreciate the feedback.

Excellent! I'm glad you had success. Thanks for watching!

Thank you! And you are welcome.

Thank you so much for you kind words! I'm glad you found it helpful and you had success. Well done!

Ha! I should send you my outtakes.

Thanks much! Glad you enjoyed.

@@TailorItYourself You are most welcome.

You can certainly have all that altered, but especially with jeans it may not be worth the money. I would buy a pair and try them in first to see how much different they are and what you actually want altered. Hems are easy. But the combo of taking in the waist and legs will add up. Just depends how much you want to put into them. Could be looking $60-75 for everything. But you may not need all that.

That's great! I'm glad that worked out for you.

Thanks Aime!

Thank you very much!

You bet! Good luck!

The industrial machines tend to be pretty smooth. It used to have a clutch motor and I swapped it out for a regular electric motor and it's a bit more quiet now.

Wow! Great job!!! Thank you for the help.🤗

That's great, I'm glad you had success!

That's great! I'm so happy that worked out for you. Kudos for feeling the fear and doing it anyway!

@@TailorItYourself now I feel I don’t have to worry much about any jeans that may be loose on me cos i can fix it now :) Thank you again for making this helpful tutorial. Looking forward for more such helpful videos :)

I do not. Altering a bra depends on the style of bra and how the seams are constructed. A bit too much to try and explain here.

That's very nice of you to help! I hope it all goes smoothly.

I've got an old Brother DB2 or DB3. For the rest I've got a recommended tools list linked in the description.

Thank you very much! I appreciate the kind words.

This is discussed in the video. It depends on the size of the jeans to start, and how much stretch is in the fabric. If you find you're having trouble putting the waistband back on you can either take in the side seams a bit or put little darts in the back, or both.

Thank you!

That’s a nice alternative! The amount depends on the size of the pants to start and how stretchy the fabric is. I can usually ease up to 3" if the pants are stretchy and they're not a super small pair. Beyond that I usually take in the sides some.

It all depends on the size of the jeans to start and how much stretch is in the fabric. You may need to take in the side seams a little to take out some of the excess, or put little darts in the back.

@Tailor It Yourself thank you 😊

Ha, I guess where they're supposed to be is subject to the person's preference!

You're most welcome! Thanks for the feedback..

Glad that worked out for you!

Taking in the waist does not effect the rise. But you may feel like they fit different once you take in the waist because they will likely sit up higher on your waist once there altered and don't drop down. It's possible to take in that amount depending on how big the pants are to start and how much stretch is in the fabric. I discuss this in the video. You may have to take in the side seams a bit or add small darts to the bank if you find you can't ease all the fabric in. Good luck!

Thanks!

You're most welcome! Thanks for watching.

It's an old DB2 I bought on consignment from a sewing shop in Milwaukee probably 15 years ago. I don't know much else about it! It's served me well over the years. I would guess it's from the 70s or 80s. Older is better - more metal parts.

There's not really any fabric to let out on jeans. The way they make them doesn't really allow. The only way to make them bigger is to add fabric to the waistband and then the seat of the pants. It's a bit more of an involved process and you'll need to have fabric that closely matches, which can be tricky to do on worn jeans.

That's a tough one to figure out without pictures. You can email me at tailorityourself@gmail.com and I can try to give further guidance.

Thank you! I appreciate you watching.

Thank you very much!

Thank you so much!

Thank you!

Thank you very much! That's very kind.

Are you saying you take in the waistband in more at the top than the bottom?

@@TailorItYourself Yes. That is what I do.

That's the way to do it. Angle the seam so it leans more in at the top. There's a limit to how much you can do it smoothly, but that's the way I do it.

What do you mean angle the waist seam? I'm short waisted too and it seems like something I should know too 🥲

@@aximaysosa8885 I take in more at the top of the waist band and slant as I am sewing so that when I get to the part of the band that attaches to the pants the seam is angled. You have taken in more where the small of your back is and instead of sewing straight down you slant so you are taking in less as you get to the top of buttocks. Much easier to show than try to explain.

In the video I'm using my industrial machine, but works well on pretty much everything but may not be the best option for home use if you don't have a dedicated space for it. I recommend getting an older, refurbished machine. I have a beast of a Singer from the 40's that's all metal construction that can pretty much do the same thing as my industrial, it just works slower. I would stay away from any new machines. They tend to me more plastic-y and not as strong. Get a pre-80's used machine from a machine shop near you and you should be set!

@@TailorItYourself amazing Thankyou for your advice! I’ll have a look around

You are very welcome!

Taking the waistband most of the way off allows you to ease in the extra amount that's in the seat portion once the waistband has been taken in and is smaller. If you're taking in the seat as well, then you only need to remove as much of the waistband as needed to do the work. But since, in this video at least, we're not taking in the seat portion, you need more length around the waistband to work in that extra amount in the seat portion. This is explained in the video.

Obrigada!

I'm sure you can find other sources!

You're welcome! Thanks for watching.

Sorry you had trouble! But now you know for the future. Thanks for watching!

Thanks for the feedback, that's been noted by several others.

Glad you have someone trusted that gives you good results!

How many inches can you take out? I've lost a ton of weight and all my jeans are useless.