If you have children who are tall and skinny/slim then you may need, on occasion, to add elastic to bring the waistband of their jeans in a bit. Now I realise that trousers with elasticated waistbands are not cool, but neither are jeans that are too short or all bunched up round the waist. This is a bit of a compromise, the elastic brings the waist in a bit but a belt is possibly still needed. But if you do still use a belt it just doesn't have quite so much work to do.

As the parent of 3 people who were very tall AND skinny when they were young, I've done this on almost every pair of trousers they wore when they were little and this is the simplest way I found of doing it. You do need a sewing machine but mad sewing skills are not required.

This method works just the same for adult sized trousers of course, if you’ve lost a lot of weight for example but are not ready to splash out on new jeans just yet then this will work for you too. Or if your jeans always have that annoying gap at the back you could give this a try to close that up in a comfortable way.

You need:

• The jeans that are too wide at the waist

• Elastic (about 2 - 3cm wide is ideal, just make sure it's not wider than the waistband)

• Sewing machine and thread

• Sharp scissors

Cut a little slot on each side of the jeans, on the inside, just in from the side seams.

Make sure you cut to one side of any belt loop and only cut through one layer of fabric.

Take a length of elastic just a little bit shorter than the jeans are wide. 

Pop a safety pin on one end.

Then start poking the elastic through one of the holes you have cut.

Once you are about half way along, stop and secure the other end, just use another safety pin to stop it disappearing (yes, I've done that and you just have to pull it right out and start again!)

Keep going, threading the elastic through until it comes out the other end.

Now you want the elastic flat and on the inside, but you don't want to lose the end. Remove the safety pin and carefully push the end back inside the hole. Use the safety pin again to secure it.

Then do the same at the other end.

Now you just need to fire up the sewing machine. I stitch either side of the hole back and forth a few times, then do a few lines of zig zag to close up the gap.

It looks like this on the outside.

That's it, finished!

It's actually only bringing them in by a couple of inches but makes a big difference to the fit and comfort.

This is SO much simpler and quicker than taking the waistband off, taking in the side seams and reattaching the waistband. If you wear a belt you cannot see any stitches at all and to be honest, even without a belt it’s pretty hard to tell. Comfier jeans in just a few minutes - result!

You’ll find lots more sewing projects and ideas here.

Julie

I'll be linking up to these great link parties