Shopping for jeans is extremely frustrating. Finding a pair that perfectly accommodates your hips, waist, and leg length is next to impossible. And the thousand trips to a fitting room that has no locks (I’M LOOKING AT YOU, ROBINSON’S MALL, FUENTE!) don’t help the quest to find the ideal pair.
Because I’m short, I always have my jeans shortened at the mall. Yes, I could buy smaller, (hence, shorter) jeans, but my butt, hips, and waist have an aversion to size 24 jeans. Often, I end up buying a pair that’s perfect on the waist but baggy everywhere else. This is the case for the last three pairs I bought.
So I did some research on making jeans tighter. It seems that a hot wash and long drying time combo works perfectly. I have no access to a drier or washing machine. I turned to Lorelai for help.
1. Fit your jeans. Estimate how many inches tighter the legs should be.
2. Turn jeans inside out. Sew the inseam, starting from one leg. If you need to make your jeans an inch tighter, sew the inseam a half inch from the edge.
3. Sew all the way to the crotch and turn to finish the other inner leg. You may choose to stop at the crotch to see if your new pant leg is tight enough. Or too tight.
4. Fit your new jeans!
Obligatory before and after pics:
NOTE: When you lay down your new jeans, you will notice some bunching on the crotch area. Do not worry, this will not affect the overall appearance of your jeans. In fact, I think they help lift your butt when you finally wear them jeans.
UPDATE
Here is what you do with the waist area:
Notes:
Make sure that you don’t sew the pockets.
Always use needle fit for thick fabrics.
Jul 10, 2008 @ 16:34:42
I love how you make things like this look so easy to do. I should try this with some jeans of mine…
Jul 15, 2008 @ 12:19:05
Hi. do you have any suggestions for dealing with the waste as well… i bought a pair of jeans about a month ago and they have grown i swear!
Jul 15, 2008 @ 12:24:39
waist maybe… (sorry moved house and am having oh so tired day!
Jul 17, 2008 @ 09:29:07
You are my hero..
Aug 13, 2008 @ 08:17:24
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!
make jeans tighter in 4 easy steps «
May 18, 2009 @ 16:51:52
[...] Read the rest of the tutorial HERE. [...]
Sep 04, 2009 @ 12:24:33
I accually tried this and I really lked how easy it was to do and changed a pair of jeans that I would have thrown out!
Thanks!
Sep 04, 2009 @ 20:01:37
You’re welcome. Glad the tute helped. :)
Nov 21, 2009 @ 02:05:01
I am so going to try this with my baggy-arse jeans!
Nov 21, 2009 @ 05:18:55
Haha baggy-arse is a funny word :D
Jan 29, 2010 @ 04:02:58
nice! i’m wearing very wide jeans because i have extra weight ;p but when i get lost all the extra fat i’m not going to buy new clothes! hohoho
Feb 11, 2010 @ 05:53:03
just an FYI, i have found that, personally, it is easier to sew on the outside. especially if you dont need to sew all the way up to the hip (ie. making flared jeans skinny, just tightening some looseness up to the thigh) and you also dont get stuck with weird, uncomfortable bumps which i always experienced when i sewed on the inside. and if you do get bumps on the outside, its just from not having tapered off your stitch smooth enough and can easily be fixed.
Feb 11, 2010 @ 06:07:47
Yepyep, that works, too. :)
Nov 16, 2012 @ 13:36:00
You can’t sew the outside if you have a double seam there like with Wrangler jeans. That’s when you have to do the inside but it never feels right doing the inside. I would love to have my jeans tailor made! Have been going through this all my life.
Mar 24, 2011 @ 23:56:39
LOVE THIS! Very much a life saver!
I added your tutorial to my blog here… http://onesewingmommie.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-to-alter-your-jeans-for-that.html
May 22, 2011 @ 21:13:22
This blog has been sooo helpful already! I’m a highschool teacher with an interest in arts and crafts as well (particularly crocheting) but I’m a bit interested in sewing as well! I don’t sew.. I wish I could! We actually have a sewing machine at home because my mom is a home ec teacher. Maybe I should start learning soon and try this out!
May 30, 2011 @ 15:54:20
this seems so easy!
another way of fitting jeans (if they’re too loose in the waist but fit everywhere else) is to very painstakingly slowly repeat the following steps all the way around the inside of the waist:
1. spray a tiny bit of water on the inner waistband
2. use an iron on a very hot steam setting to press the denim, shrinking it
3. move over about an inch and repeat
when you’ve done this all the way around the waist, obviously try them on first, but be careful not to restretch them! then, sew in a strip of some fabric that has very little stretch to it, making sure not to sew over the beltloops. this should keep your jeans at their new, shrunken size.
keep in mind, this will only shrink them a little, and if your jeans are drastically too big, consider eating lots and lots of chocolate or greasy, tasty food.
hope this helps!
Jun 17, 2011 @ 23:44:32
This is an easy way to size down pants to fit better. The only problem I have is that sometimes when you take in the legs, you also shorten the crotch area which makes the waist of the pants to rest lower on the hips. If the pants are “hipsters” you’ll want to be careful when you take your pants in that they’re not TOO LOW on the hips! Thanks for the illustrations! I LOVE this website! :)
Feb 25, 2012 @ 08:13:09
I love this, btw. I’ve done the sewing on the outer seam thing and I like this much better.
Feb 26, 2012 @ 07:37:51
So glad I found this… I’ve lost weight, and none of my dress pants fit any more… Not in the budget to buy more, and hell… I live in a tiny town in south tx… Don’t need them a lot… But on occasion, there’s a thing… So thanks!!!
Apr 18, 2012 @ 00:16:30
I so have to try this. i have a few pants that are very big. i used to be like almost 300 pounds,i lost so much weight now im 176 so yea this may help me so much . thank you.
Oct 26, 2012 @ 20:18:33
Hi, I’m so impressed, smarty pants! j/k ;) But kinda cute considering the post! I was wondering if you any any tricks, ideas or techniques for keeping the original hem? I have a pair I have under-grown, lol. I’ve had 4 kiddo’s and have finally started getting my original body back! The problem is the hem in decorative and on the inseam, ugh. I love these jeans. Help! Please! And, like most can’t afford a taylor!
Nov 14, 2012 @ 08:42:23
Do you have a tutorial on how to sew the ‘darts’?
Great Fashion DIY – How to Make Your Jeans Fit Better - DIY & Crafts
Apr 23, 2013 @ 23:26:01
[...] Great Fashion DIY – How to Make Your Jeans Fit Better [...]
Apr 24, 2013 @ 14:35:36
Our readers love your tutorial:) Feel free to submit your future posts to us! 1600 visitors checked out your blog from our readerbase! Keep rocking with cool projects.
P.S your smile is stunning!
Apr 30, 2013 @ 03:04:22
To make them smaller in the waist only, open up the side seams on the inside of the waistband. Insert elastic thru the back and tighten up as necessary. Sew thru elastic at side seams to secure. Won’t show on outside as is on original stitching line.
May 02, 2013 @ 20:19:39
does this work with dress pants too or will it make them bunchy in the crotch?
May 03, 2013 @ 09:41:12
This method will probably not work with dress pans; there might be unfortunate bunching by the crotch. I suggest ripping the inside seams first :)