Taking in Jeans Tutorial

You know what I have always hated? The way that the back of my jeans always pooch out and never lay flat against my back. For some reason my curvy shape doesn't like the fit of the waist band of store bought jeans and I really don't want to undertake the project of making my own. Way too much work when I can find jeans on sale for ten dollars or less {usually}. 

The other thing I hate is wearing belts to fix this problem. This usually leads to the belt riding up and the back of my jeans still pooching out the back. 

So I figured I had two options: 1: Constantly be looking like a fool with my pants on the ground (or at least look like a fool pulling them up every few minutes) or 2: Find a way to fix them.

I went with option number 2. 

Here is the unsightly look of my pants before I took them in. 

{This picture was also very awkwardly taken by looking at a mirror to get the position right while holding up my shirt and trying not to give you all a peep show of my underwear. I'm sure it was quite the show!}

Step One: Put on your jeans and pinch the area between the center belt loop and the side belt loop on either side of the center. You can pin this pinch {or have someone help you pin it} or just eyeball it like I did. Usually I end up taking my pants in about 1/2 and inch on either side. Get too much more than that and your pants will start to pucker funny and they won't lay flat once they are sewn. 

Step Two: Take your pants off {and make sure to replace them with others-or brightly patterned pj pants like me} and find the center point between the middle and side belt loops. If you are taking in pants without belt loops, then fold your pants in 4ths to find all the points you will need to take in your pants. 

Step Three: Match up the belt loops with right sides together. Make sure the top edge is even and if you really want to be precise, that the bottom of the waistband is even too. 

Step Four: Once you have the belt loops and top edge lined up, pull the waistband tight and determine how much you want to take in. You can pin this or once again, eyeball it like I did. 

Step Five: Now it's time to start sewing your dart! {Make sure you are using a jean or heavy duty sewing machine needle.} Sew from the top at your desired width of the dart down diagonally to the decorative seam that is one most jeans along the backside an inch or so down from the waistband. Make sure to backstitch at the beginning and the end of your stich line. 

{Here is a better picture of the spot your dart should be tapering to-the yellow stitching at the bottom of the picture.}

Step Six: You now have a completed dart! Repeat steps 2-5 on the other side of the back of your pants.

{Another example of what the dart should look like.}

This is what the outside of your pants will look like. As you cans see, I wasn't as careful as I could have been with lining up the waistband, but I don't usually tuck in my shirts, so I didn't take the time to be precise. It will also look flatter if iron or even after washing a few times. 

The finished product! I have done this to almost all of the jeans that I own and for those of you who are belt haters {at least for belts that are used as something other than an accessory} I would recommending trying this out! 

{*Note: I don't cut the excess fabric off of my darts just in case I need to take them out at a later date. If your darts aren't too large, they shouldn't affect the way your pants wear or be too bulky and awkward.}

It was hard to get a good picture that didn't make my butt look huge, so this is the best I could do! :) 

Happy Sewing!

xoxo

C.R.M.