Alter the Waist of Pants or a Skirt - PEP BB textile.straw.repair.alterwaist

Here is my submission for the Textile - Straw - Alter the Waist of Pants (or Skirt) BB.

To document the completion of the BB, I have provided the following:
- before, during, and after altering the waist of pants or skirts

These pants have a super-high waist (about 5" above my natural waist) and I prefer all my pants to sit at or slightly below my belly button.  I really like the length and general fit of these pants with the exception of the height of the waist so I decided to alter the waist.  

First, I put the pants on inside-out and put the elastic over my natural waist.  My sister pinned the elastic to the pant and I headed to the serger to serge/cut off the extra material.  Next, I brought out my Singer and stitched an elastic casing for the waistband.  Now, I like everything about these pants.

This exercise taught me to appreciate pants designed for alteration, because this pair was not. Fortunately, the belt loop covers most of my wobbly hand stitching after which I could use the sewing machine. About an inch and a half was removed from the rear waist seam to get the waist height where I wanted.

They are too tight. I've already removed a pocket flap to use as repair material.



Why, or why, don't all patterns and commercial clothing have what quality men's suits have - a seam through the waistband at the center back so they're easier to alter. I had to loose half the "doubled" belt loop to make this happen.


Trial fitting the gusset.


The gusset in position, sewn and edge stitched, from the inside.



The second half of the pants flap was used to fill the gap in the waistband. Now the pants fit.

Would detailed measurements (photo witb ruler) be acceptable instead of body pictures?

I don't think I can get my husband to model his pants publicly on the internet, and I can't exactly model them myself, but I do have detailed before and after measurements.

Otherwise it's no big deal - the biggest reward is having saved his wedding pants from the charity bin. I'll just have to wait until I gain 10 pounds myself to get the BB .

Kena, you really need to stick to the requirements as written. The picture doesn't have to include face, head, or upper body. Nor do you have to tell us who it is. The BB reviewer just has to see the fit.

Leigh Tate wrote:... The picture doesn't have to include face, head, or upper body...

I agree with Leigh. We're looking for the fit across the hips and the waistband. The reviewers want it to be clear that the necessary work was done, and we really can't see that without clear pictures of how it fits in the end. If you showed your husband the picture of me from the rear, would that reassure him? There is no need to show his face or even most of his body to demonstrate the fit.

Story time: There is *no* way my husband would still fit his wedding pants 30+ years later. However, his son had been wearing them the odd time for job interviews and graduations. However, he's an avid cycler, so he has muscles! I had to let out the waist of the pants, and every scrap of extra material on the inner thighs from the knees to the crotch so that he could wear it for his wedding this spring.  I thought it was pretty neat that he wore his dad's wedding suit to his own wedding. He looked wonderful, but one person did comment that he thought the suit looked a little "retro"!