but unfortunately, necessary.
A friend/co-worker was complaining last week that she had to give a few of her clothes away as they did not fit properly anymore. I agreed. I must have three or four pairs of pants that are now too big. She scolded me, “… after all, you sew your own clothes … you can fix them” she declared.
oops! I am shamed!
So I dredged through my closet and my drawers and found what doesn’t fit anymore and yes there are four pairs of pants that needed to be taken in, another pair with a broken zipper and another that needs hemming still (I guess that one is in the UFO category actually!)
So what did I do this last weekend … I did the alterations on my pants. BOORRRING!
I did learn one thing though.
When I previously made these brown pants here, I attached the waist band according to the pattern instructions. Pants finished first, then the complete waistband attached.
So to do the alterations – take my waist and hips in 1/2 inch on each side – I had to remove the waist band first to expose the side seam,
take in the side seam and the waistband 1/2 inch,
and re-attach the waistband.
It was a bit of a process but it worked out just fine. I continued on with the same procedure with my blue plants.
My black pants were different though, surprisingly. Apparently when I first sewed them up I attached the front of the waistband to the front of the pants and the back of the waistband to the back of the pants and then sewed all the way up the side seams right through to the edge of the waistband. I don’t have the faintest idea WHY I did it that way, but it was a lot easier to make needed alterations afterwards.
I unstitched the waistband from the inside of the pants so I could access the long side seam,
See … the side seam runs all the way up into the waistband, so I just stitched in the extra 1/2 inch all the way through the hips and waistline,
and reattached the waistband.
I think I might try to remember to attach my waistband front to the pants front and the waistband back to the pants back in the future. It sure makes for quick alterations! What do you think?
I’m happy I only have a few alterations to make. I think Ali over at aka thimberlina has a whole wardrobe to alter! Actually, I think she has been working hard altering her health first, and as a result her wardrobe! Good for you Ali!
So be honest now – CONFESS – is your pile of repairs and alterations higher than your fabric stash?
Happy sewing!
Oh my goodness, I HATE alterations! =’D Luckily I rarely have any to do, but usually they are for the husband, which makes them that much more of a chore. I have repaired jeans multiple times but never right away–I suppose I hope that if I avoid them, they’ll fix themselves? 😉 But the real “winner” has to be a knit top of his that he asked me to fix. He had torn a hole in the sleeve, not on a seam, and asked if I would just remove the cuff bands and reattach them higher, thus removing the hole and preserving the shirt. I sat on that shirt–literally, it ended up on my sewing chair cushion and I would sit right on top of it–for A YEAR before I finally got it done. It was such a simple fix, especially with a serger, but I couldn’t bring myself to devote any time to it. In fact, Tom had forgotten all about that shirt by the time I presented it to him, all fixed up, haha!
I don’t even bother with jeans they are so hard to fix up! I do love your winner! A whole year, huh? Me, I probably would have “lost” it after a month or two… sucked it up into the vacuum or something! 😂
I ended up sending lots of my alterations pile either back into storage (in case I get pregnant again) or to charity. It was too overwhelming!
I know! I have maternity clothes from my three sisters all given to me – I was the last to have a child – those all went to charity. Just too much!
Congratulations! I avoid alterations like the plague normally, though once did a two week marathon of reducing a huge pile of one daughters clothes by a couple of sizes. At the finish line, I felt like I never wanted to see another zip.
Wow! Congratulations to you! Reducing a wardrobe is not an easy thing – a few pants and I was done!
I hate doing alterations. Picking seams out was never my strong suit. I rely on the 3 stage closet. It is like living with the 3 bears, I have a small, medium and a large section. I always tell myself I will throw out the large section when I make it back to medium but then I chicken out and just put it in a large Tupperware container under my bed. But, now that I know my sister likes to do alterations well….
NOOO! (you’re just teasing … right?) I love your Three Bears Theory! Nice to have an official name to what most the women in the world suffer from! 🙂
Women’s clothes are sewn, men’s are tailored, another example of male privelege? I have never seen women’s suits with that extra seam to alter. Men’s suit jackets are also designed with easy alterations in mind. It was a cinch to alter DH’s pants until he started wearing jeans almost exclusively. They can be taken in, with some difficulty, but not let out.
Not very fair, is it! Oh gosh! I’ve never had the courage to alter jeans, whether RTW or me-made … all that topstitching and the heavy denim to work with … whew!
Congarts on doing this! I’ve been procrasting over some much needed alterations of this kind…
Yes? I think I was shamed into it! 😂
Men’s trousers often have the waistband done like your black pair. It is a much better system as alterations are easier. If you inspect a pair you will see that the back seam is larger so they can be let out more easily.
It’s a great idea for construction and alteration. I wonder if a woman’s professionally made suit is the same way…. I wouldn’t know as I don’t wear them!
I’ve had loads, and rarely are the trousers made this way.
That’s a shame.
Alterations are such a pain, good on you for getting them done. When altering my brothers school pants once I noticed the centre back seam ran all the way up in the waistband. It had a very large seam allowance, so I assume this was to facilitate easy alterations. It certainly did the trick for me!
Yes, now that you mention it, I have seen the large seam allowance and that waistband construction on men’s suit pants. It sure does help with fitting and alterations!
Yep, you caught me! Luckily I have a sister who LOVES to alter things 🙂
Oh gosh! ☹️
I have just altered a beautiful pair of linen pants that were too large for me, a job that has been waiting to be done for quite some time. I also started to alter another pair of pants but these are proving to be more tricky and have been put to one side, just for a little bit longer. 🙂
Linen is one of my favourite fabrics. I’m glad you could save them. Good luck with the other pair!