How To Alter Pants

The sexy legs of Beyonce get accentuated when she wears pants. It is as if the pants were stitched on her body. However, very rarely do you get such a perfectly fitting pair of pants. The pants that you last bought might not fit properly at certain areas and you end up looking like a circus clown wearing a pair of baggies. Any fashionista will not tolerate a loose-fitting pants to rest for long in her/his wardrobe. There must be times when you look out for that perfect pair of pants, and finally when you find one, it ends up being a misfit. How saddening that can be. You either keep it as a beautiful piece of fabric that can never be used well placed in your wardrobe and release deep sighs whenever you see it or you give it to someone (half heartedly). However, what if your pants can be made a perfect fit, with a little bit of alteration? You might be afraid of working on it on your own; however sewing is no rocket science. And if you have time, you can change those heavy sighs into hearty laughs. Why not try altering your pant yourself, as you know your body best. In case you need any help, check out the following tips & know how to alter pants.

Altering Your Pants

Things You Need

Seam Ripper
Scissors
Fabric
Marker or Pencil
Straight Pins
Needle
Sewing Machine
Thread

How To Alter

The first thing, which you would need to do, is to wear the pants and assess them. Stand in front of the mirror and check how lose they are and which parts would need alteration. You also will have to check whether your pants would need major or minor alteration. It is always better to go for professional help, if your pants need major alteration.
In case you just need minor alteration, do it on your own. If you need to adjust the waist part, mostly, check out the center back seam. This can be taken in or let out 1 inch or more without affecting the fit elsewhere. Wear it and see where the adjustments are necessary.
Remove the belt loop carefully with a seam ripper. Remove the stitching from the waistband facing for 2 or 3 inches on each side of the seam. Remove the stitching from the seam and open the seam almost down to the crotch.
On the inside of the pants, you can mark a line on each side of the pants, where you estimate the new seam should be. Use a pencil or a marker to do the same. Starting at the top of the seam, draw smooth, gradual curve on each piece of fabric, tapering slowly to mix into the old seam line at the bottom.
Pin the seams together along the new seam lines and then stitch them together. Remove the pins. Wear and see if it fits properly or not.
In order to avoid a baggy look in pants, open the inseams of the legs, from the crotch down to 10 or 12 inches. Make a new seam line along each inseam, to narrow the back of the leg slightly and taper the new into the old one. Pin, baste and wear it and see if it fits well or not.
For repairing the legs of the pants, stitch the new inseams, tapering the new seam line into the old one on each leg. Baste the new seam line at the back of each leg, to the old seam line at the front of the leg. You can trim away the excess fabric.
Stitch the crotch seam with a sewing machine. Try to stretch the seam a little, as you sew. You can make a second row of machine stitching, 1/8 inch closer to the cut edges of the seam, to reinforce it. Backstitch at the beginning and at the end of each line of stitching. You can trim if any excess fabric exists.
Adjust the waistband to match the new back seam. You can open the back seam on the waistband and either let out the fabric or take in the same amount you took in from the back pant seam. Stitch the new waistband seam closed. Turn the waistband down and slide it back over the back of the pants, stitching the waistband into place. Stitch back the removed back belt loop.

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