Any tricks for adding new elastic to old pants?

All my clothes are quality name brands, just old and the elastic has died.

Skirts are easy to figure out.

It is the pants that I am not sure the best way to add new elastic.

I really don't want to take the old elastic out since that has a lot of stitches.

I am considering undoing the last set of stitches and adding the new elastic.

How do I ensure I get the elastic in the right length since I can't use my waist measurement?

Any other tips or suggestions?

I am going to hand sew the elastic as I don't want to get my machine out.

How do I ensure I get the elastic in the right length since I can't use my waist measurement?

I never measure my waist. I take a piece of elastic, put it around my waist, pull it till I like how tight it feels,then give myself about 1.5 inches to sew it together with. If you are sewing by hand you might not need that much.
I have no clue what my waist measurement is :D

I discovered elastic in my son's jeans when he was little! The elastic was added loose inside the waistband and secured at each end by a button sewn on the right and left sides in the front (of the inside of the waistband).
I even added it to some jeans later as he is slim. I cut a slit on each side, finished it like a button hole, added elastic, finished the ends of the elastic, cut a buttonhole in each end, finished the button holes, and added a button in front of each slit to secure the elastic.

One suggestion is to cut out the whole waistband and sew on a new one with new elastic.  I have done this;  I've also replaced a waistband with a half-elastic back (front half of the waistband has no elastic, just lies flat;  back has elastic).  I looked this up on youtube.  

Most of my clothes are good quality too, but I bought them all secondhand.  Since I didn't pay a lot for them, I'm willing to experiment on them

Another thing I've done is taken an elastic hair band and tied the two back belt loops together with it.  All of my tops cover my back waistband, so no one notices.  Much quicker and easier than replacing it!  Comfortable too, and easily undone if needed.

Tina Wolf wrote:I discovered elastic in my son's jeans when he was little! The elastic was added loose inside the waistband and secured at each end by a button sewn on the right and left sides in the front (of the inside of the waistband).
I even added it to some jeans later as he is slim. I cut a slit on each side, finished it like a button hole, added elastic, finished the ends of the elastic, cut a buttonhole in each end, finished the button holes, and added a button in front of each slit to secure the elastic.

My waist stays at about 10" narrower than my hips, so I often need to take in the waist or add strategically placed elastic, to stop the 'gaposis', and this is my preferred method. Depending on the item, particularly if doing that way isn't possible, I'll either sew in a pocket to run it through or sew it directly to the fabric, but I measure the elastic the same way Pearl does.

So much depends on exactly how the elastic is sewn. Sometimes the rows are stitching are far enough apart that I can slide a shoe lace through between two rows. Then I put one of those spring toggle clips on the two ends and just pull on the string and adjust the toggle to whatever tightness I want. This is particularly helpful on farm clothes - if I'm doing a lot of kneeling or bending in the garden, having the lace a little looser is more comfortable.

Many pants with elasticated waist bands have the elastics attached so securely it's hard to undo. Usually one edge is coverstiched to the waistband fabric, folded over and have 2 to 3 parallel rows of stitching all around. See if those are easy to remove a section of the stitches to make a channel. The elastic doesn't need to go the entire length, depending on how loose the pants are, sometimes two short sections replaced on the sides are enough.

I like what they do in kid pants.  Just a little piece of elastic on each side with button holes in it.  Then there are buttons on the pants inner waist band.

I bought 1/2 inch elastic because I thought that 1/4 inch elastic was too narrow.

I feel that my pants are sown the way May has suggested.

The material is a corduroy so it is bulky.

It has been a long time since I have seen kids' clothes though my kids' clothes had elastic waists like my pants.

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions.

Tina Wolf wrote:I discovered elastic in my son's jeans when he was little! The elastic was added loose inside the waistband and secured at each end by a button sewn on the right and left sides in the front (of the inside of the waistband).
I even added it to some jeans later as he is slim. I cut a slit on each side, finished it like a button hole, added elastic, finished the ends of the elastic, cut a buttonhole in each end, finished the button holes, and added a button in front of each slit to secure the elastic.

My husband lost some weight and his jeans started to fall. I put elastics inside the waistband pretty much like in kid's pants but without the adjustable buttons. He was reluctant to try at first now he asked me to do the other pair.

But I don't think Anne's pants have a channel ready so it will need different approach.

Tina Wolf wrote:I discovered elastic in my son's jeans when he was little! The elastic was added loose inside the waistband and secured at each end by a button sewn on the right and left sides in the front (of the inside of the waistband).
I even added it to some jeans later as he is slim. I cut a slit on each side, finished it like a button hole, added elastic, finished the ends of the elastic, cut a buttonhole in each end, finished the button holes, and added a button in front of each slit to secure the elastic.

Samantha said, I like what they do in kid pants.  Just a little piece of elastic on each side with button holes in it.  Then there are buttons on the pants inner waist band.

Would it be possible to post a picture so I can understand what this looks like?

I tried searching eBay though I didn't see anything that looked like this.

The faded sweatpants I wore all winter keep falling down so I used a couple of diaper pins to make the waist smaller.

Small kids pants are mostly with snaps and adjustable elastics. If you go to the grocery store, check out the garment section. I got rid of old kids clothes but I do have some specialized elastics with buttonholes.

Do your sweatpants have drawstrings? If so, maybe you can replace part of it inside the waistband with elastic ribbon of the same width. If not, here I made a sample with shoestring and elastic cord. Slit two openings in the front WB and pull it through the middle channel. Tack down in the center back WB to secure.

The elastic is available here on Amazon.

The price has really come down since I searched for it a few years back. Hmm. Maybe more than a few years. Then, the option was only available in very arge bulk purchases. Also clothes made with it were only in high dollar stores.

Joylynn Hardesty wrote:The price has really come down since I searched for it a few years back. Hmm. Maybe more than a few years. Then, the option was only available in very large bulk purchases. Also clothes made with it were only in high dollar stores.

I ran across it in maternity clothing, and that was 30+ years ago! I was able to get it in a regular fabric shop in Ottawa Ontario, so it may be that there was a mini-baby boom happening, or that a few enlightened people had pressured the shop to carry it?

May Lotito wrote:
Do your sweatpants have drawstrings? If so, maybe you can replace part of it inside the waistband with elastic ribbon of the same width. If not, here I made a sample with shoestring and elastic cord. Slit two openings in the front WB and pull it through the middle channel. Tack down in the center back WB to secure.

Anything with a drawstring can be converted to the orange/white 'flexible drawstring'.  I use 10 stretched inches of elastic added to the middle of the drawstring. 1/4" flat elastic or 3/8" round elastic.  It's tight enough to not fall down, but stretchy enough to go over my hips without messing with the tie.

Very easy to adjust to different sizes as needed. I lent a skirt to a friend and it fit fine, my waist is about 55", theirs maybe 25".

Maybe a flexible drawstring can be threaded into the waistband of OP's skirt, without removing the old elastic.  Add the 'button holes' to the inside of the waistband so it doesn't show.
Jennifer

I had never seen that elastic with button holes.  That is a great idea.

Thanks for sharing.

Anne, if the elasticized part is all stretched out and useless, but it's too much work to rip all the stitching out, how about sewing a band/strip-of-fabric to the inside of the waist band and putting a wide piece of elastic through that? You can get wide elastic that's woven to not fold up. or you could make 2 or more channels in your new band and put in several narrow pieces of elastic.