DIY: Take pants in. Make them skinny. Easy!

Hello everyone!

Like promised yesterday,

I have another tutorial for you to take pants in.

The before and after picture are not as shocking, but they are still great!

I bought 2 pais of colored jeans at target in the tween section a while back for very cheap! (They are size 16 for teenagers. I usually wear a size 4 in adults, but the pants tend to be too long, so these were great!)

The Red ones

The Teal ones

Even though, they were a size 16, I still had to take them in because they were not skinny. 

One pair (the teal ones, which I forgot to take a before picture) were way looser than the red ones for some reason (even though they were both a size 16). 

So, here it is. Unlike yesterday's tutorial, today we will be taking in the outer sides of the pants..

Just like yesterday's tutorial, put them on inside out,

And start pinning the extra fabric together from the outside seam like so: (you only have to do one of the legs, unless they are extremely uneven)

Use tailor's chalk to go over the pins (or like me, use a pencil :) or washable markers). That's where your new seam will be

You can now remove the pins an re-potisions them for easier removal as you sew

This is an optional step: BEFORE sewing the new seam, remove the extra fabric leaving about 1/4 inch next to the pencil marks. DONT thow away this piece of fabric, it will be used at a later step

Now proceed to sew the new seam (I used white thread for the tutorial, but I'd recomend matching your thread to the fabric color)

If you didn't trim the fabric before sewing, you can trim it now.

You can use either one of the following steps:

Option 1: Remember that piece of fabric we just trimmed? well, place it on the opposite leg, matching the old seams and pin in place.

Mark where the new seam should go with your pencil (or  tailor's chalk, or marker, or whatever!)

Remember: you are tracing what you cut out, so your seam will be 1/4 inch in from that trimmed edge

Repeat the process done with the other leg to get your new seam

OR:

Option 2: If you don't have the trimmed piece of fabric, or if you endend up cutting off more, use the leg with the new seam as a guide for the other leg.

Instead of using the trimmed piece of fabric, place the leg with the new seam on top of the other one, aligning them like so:

You can now trace the new seam line (lift up the 1/4 inch of fabric next to the white thread seam, and trace the new seam on the unmarked leg)

Repeat the same process as the other leg 

Finish off the seam with a serger or a zig zag stitch

 Here is the finished product!

Some tips:

Make sure you blend the new seam with the old seam

If you start taking in below the pockets, make sure you re-inforce that area (it receives a lot of stress)

Look at the old seam for any other place that were reinforced

Use thread that matches your fabric color and that is for jeans (althoug, I used regular thread and it's holding up pretty well)

Use a needle for jeans 

Hello everyone!

Like promised yesterday,

I have another tutorial for you to take pants in.

The before and after picture are not as shocking, but they are still great!

I bought 2 pais of colored jeans at target in the tween section a while back for very cheap! (They are size 16 for teenagers. I usually wear a size 4 in adults, but the pants tend to be too long, so these were great!)

The Red ones

The Teal ones

Even though, they were a size 16, I still had to take them in because they were not skinny. 

One pair (the teal ones, which I forgot to take a before picture) were way looser than the red ones for some reason (even though they were both a size 16). 

So, here it is. Unlike yesterday's tutorial, today we will be taking in the outer sides of the pants..

Just like yesterday's tutorial, put them on inside out,

And start pinning the extra fabric together from the outside seam like so: (you only have to do one of the legs, unless they are extremely uneven)

Use tailor's chalk to go over the pins (or like me, use a pencil :) or washable markers). That's where your new seam will be

You can now remove the pins an re-potisions them for easier removal as you sew

This is an optional step: BEFORE sewing the new seam, remove the extra fabric leaving about 1/4 inch next to the pencil marks. DONT thow away this piece of fabric, it will be used at a later step

Now proceed to sew the new seam (I used white thread for the tutorial, but I'd recomend matching your thread to the fabric color)

If you didn't trim the fabric before sewing, you can trim it now.

You can use either one of the following steps:

Option 1: Remember that piece of fabric we just trimmed? well, place it on the opposite leg, matching the old seams and pin in place.

Mark where the new seam should go with your pencil (or  tailor's chalk, or marker, or whatever!)

Remember: you are tracing what you cut out, so your seam will be 1/4 inch in from that trimmed edge

Repeat the process done with the other leg to get your new seam

OR:

Option 2: If you don't have the trimmed piece of fabric, or if you endend up cutting off more, use the leg with the new seam as a guide for the other leg.

Instead of using the trimmed piece of fabric, place the leg with the new seam on top of the other one, aligning them like so:

You can now trace the new seam line (lift up the 1/4 inch of fabric next to the white thread seam, and trace the new seam on the unmarked leg)

Repeat the same process as the other leg 

Finish off the seam with a serger or a zig zag stitch

 Here is the finished product!

Some tips:

Make sure you blend the new seam with the old seam

If you start taking in below the pockets, make sure you re-inforce that area (it receives a lot of stress)

Look at the old seam for any other place that were reinforced

Use thread that matches your fabric color and that is for jeans (althoug, I used regular thread and it's holding up pretty well)

Use a needle for jeans