Replace the drawstring or elastic on skirt/pants waistband- PEP BB textiles.straw.repair.waistband

When I saw this BB, I knew just the garment that needed some help. After fixing it I feel embarrassed I was living with a messed up drawstring all this time! (Years...) I always imagined it would be easy to fix but I guess I just needed something like this BB to finally make me take the leap. Thank you for that ;)

When the drawstring first slipped into the waistband, I had placed a safety pin to keep it from falling farther into the abyss. I got these pants when I was young and ignorant (okay, maybe I'm still young and ignorant) so I felt a bit helpless at this point. (Feel free to laugh at me) This was the best fix I could think of at the time.

Well, now I'm not as young and ignorant and had been meaning to fix it by fishing out the drawstring with a crochet hook, but never did it... until today! After watching the video linked in this BB I felt so silly I had a safety pin ON MY PANTS all this time and could had fixed it that way... but regardless I decided to fish it out with a crochet hook since it wasn't too far gone. It worked quite well and only took a little bit of finagling. :)

Then, I put a double knot into each side of the string to prevent it from slipping back into the waistband. The ribbon is quite slick, so I'll see if it's sufficient or not.

This linen skirt is one of my favorites, but the drawstring--which dug into me uncomfortably anyway--broke leaving the skirt in need of repair. I decided to tie a ribbon through the drawstring gussets for decoration and replace the drawstring with a wide band of elastic. I used a seam ripper to open the waistband seam then measured, cut, and hand-stitched the elastic to size. (I used cotton thread for the stitching.) Finally, I stitched the opening closed and stitched the elastic to the inside of the waistband to prevent it from turning.

The elastic in the bottom of my husband's jacket came undone at one end. Here's how I fixed it:
1. I seam ripped a small portion near the zipper and used a larger eyed needle and some yarn to rethread it along the tube. Once I got it to the zipper, I pulled the needle out, the yarn off and both out.
2. I then used a similarly colored thread (dark red) to secure the fabric end that was attached to the elastic. I reinforced the elastic with several passes of thread and then sewed the seam shut.
3. I hid the closing knot as best I could in between the coat and the hem. My husband's modeling the repaired coat at the end.

So I originally was doing this for the "alter the waist on skirt or pants to fit" BB, but then realised this bb was more suitable. I took the old elastic out, cut it shorter and sewed the ends back together, but then I decided it wasn't in good condition so I put a new elastic in instead. I bought this skirt from a thrift store, planning on modifying it so it would fit. It's great to be able to alter garments, you have a wider range of what you can get from thrift stores.

I have multiple pairs of pants that the elastic is fraying on and one where it had come adrift from the fabric. I sourced some organic cotton and rubber elastic and tried to replace the elastic. They are functional, but it was my first time trying to sew with elastic. I removed the old elastic, cut a new piece and sewed to make a circle of elastic, then pinned in place and sewed to the fabric. It was difficult to get the fabric level with the elastic and keep the elastic under a good amount of tension. I discovered you need to apply the tension either side of where the needle is, otherwise it gets stuck.