How to properly sew pants
Even when purchasing a new item in a store, some correction may be required later. Is it possible to sew trousers at home on my own? How to make the trousers with arrows one size smaller? Everything in order.
- Causes
- Materials and tools
- Sewing by hand
- There were flared trousers, but they became straight
- How to narrow your trousers to the bottom
- Sewing on the sides
- Sewing trousers in the belt
- How to shorten pants
- How to sew sweatpants
- How to sew full-length wide leg pants
- How to make skinny jeans
- Video: how to sew pants on the sides yourself
Causes
There can be several reasons why you have to change the size of the item:
- First, even new pants may not fit as perfectly as you would like. The problem in this case is complicated by non-standard parameters and proportions.
- Secondly, if you wash it incorrectly, the fabric may deform, and you already get a model, as they say, “for growth”. Most often this happens when the temperature or spin mode is not observed. Usually the width and length of the model are corrected.
- Thirdly, you can simply lose weight, and your favorite thing becomes baggy and uncomfortable. As a rule, in this situation, you have to change the width of the legs, as well as reduce the size of the thing in the hips and waist.
- Fourthly, the thing was acquired obviously not of your size, simply due to the absence of another. And now, in order to wear the thing you like, you need to change the size yourself.
- Fifth, the reason for the "reconstruction" is changing fashion: today wide trousers are in trend, and tomorrow - narrow ones. In order not to buy a new thing for each season, it makes sense to correct the existing models.
- Sixth, and this is perhaps one of the most common options, the thing fits well, but not in all places. For example, the waist suits, but it is wide at the hips.
- Seventh, the reason for the alterations is a detected defect in the fabric or abrasions. In this case, having minimal seamstress skills, you can easily "hide" the flaw.
Materials and tools
You will need a gentleman's set of tailor's tools: needles, pins, a tailor's meter, strong thread, scissors, and soap or crayon.
A sewing machine is not always required. But the minimum sewing skills will not be superfluous. It is noticed that a professional spends 30-40 minutes on correcting products, and a beginner needs at least 2-3 hours.
And remember, trousers are considered a complex tailor's product, which means that it will take a lot of effort and patience to sew them.
Sewing by hand
First of all, you should decide in which direction the product will be corrected. They are sutured either in length (shortened), or in the width of the legs, or in the hips or waist.
In some cases, it is possible to suture without a pattern. These are small adjustments, for example, changing the length, creating small darts, narrowing the legs to the bottom. And in other situations, you cannot do without a pattern, usually it concerns changes in the waist area.
Product preparation
Do not rush to grab a needle and thread. To make the process as convenient as possible, and the result is worthy, the thing needs to be prepared.
- The thing needs to be washed. Natural fabrics such as cotton, wool, linen shrink and may well shrink at the size you need.
- We iron the thing. This is to avoid mistakes and irregularities.
- Trousers are tried on and the “excess” of fabric is marked with pins.
When preparing, always have chalk or soap ready, as well as a ruler, pins and scissors.
Do not mark the fabric with a pen or pencil. There will be traces that are difficult to get rid of.
There were flared trousers, but they became straight
A flare is an extension on a pants that can start from the waist, from the hip, or from the knee.
How do I remove this extension?
- Try on the thing and take a close look at yourself in the mirror. Evaluate the fit from different angles.
- Surplus to be removed are marked with sewing pins. We stick the pins with the point down so as not to get hurt.
- You can mark on two legs at once, but you can only on one, and then use the ruler to transfer the measurements to the other. Ultimately, both legs should be the same.
- We remove the trousers carefully so that the needles do not fall out.
- We lay out the product on a large table, align the edges.
- All actions are performed first on one leg, and then on the other.
- Draw a line marked with pins with chalk, then remove the pins and gently straighten the pant leg.
- Mark the second line for the side seam (about 1-2 cm).
- We outline and try on the thing along the first line. We evaluate the convenience, we make sure that the seam is straight, we check if there are any errors in measurements.
- If necessary, we make adjustments and try again.
- We remove excess fabric, iron it, process the edge, sew on a sewing machine.
How to narrow your trousers to the bottom
First, we unpick the hem of the trousers and iron the product. Try on and mark how much you need to narrow the leg. If the adjustment is small, then we suture it on one side, and if it is necessary to significantly remove the width, then on both sides. With a small adjustment, it is recommended to evaluate which side - internal or external - it is better to suture. The peculiarity of the seam, the presence of decor is taken into account.
Mark the excess fabric on the fabric. You should be especially careful with stretching canvases. If sutured by pulling on the fabric, the result will be crooked. If the fabric does not stretch, then it can be sutured as much as possible to such a width that the leg fits comfortably into the leg.
Algorithm of actions
- We carefully spread the pants on the table. At the same time, the table must be large enough to fit the thing completely.
- Align, draw a line along the pierced pins, then draw another one for the seam.
- We sketch along the first line.
- Trying on, evaluating how nice and comfortable the trousers "fit".
- If something does not suit you, we correct and try again.
- Cut off excess fabric and trim the edge.
- Then we lay a line on a sewing machine.
If you need to narrow it a lot, then all the above actions are carried out, both from the outside and from the inside of the leg.
Sewing on the sides
If the thing is large for you in the area of the thighs, then it should be sutured along the outer seam:
- We turn the product inside out, try it on, as actively as possible - squat, walk.
- We mark with pins the places where you need to reduce the volume. We distribute everything equally so that there is no curvature as a result.
- We draw a straight line with chalk, and sweep it by hand.
- We turn the product inside out and try it on (again, actively).
- We unpick the factory line, sew along the entire length of the leg along the planned new seam so that there are no distortions.
- Cut off excess fabric, process the edges.
- Sew on the belt, bend the edges of the leg.
- We do the same with the second leg.
In some cases, for example, if decor is present, it is undesirable to touch the outer seams. Then the thing is sutured along the inner seam. They also work if you need to correct the waistline on the trousers.
- We turn the trousers inside out, try on and mark the excess.
- We remove the thing, lay it out on the table.
- We rip off the belt and cut it in half at the back.
- We apply a new seam with a thread and a needle on both parts of the thing.
- Cut off the excess, process the edges, sew.
- The last step is to sew on the belt.
If you need to significantly reduce the size of your trousers, for example, by two sizes or more, then you will have to suture both the outer and inner seams. The procedure is the same as in the case of decreasing one seam at a time, just the indicators are divided by two.
Sewing trousers in the belt
There are several ways to make the pants smaller in the waist area.
By darts
First you need to estimate how much the thing will be sutured. Excess volume will be removed due to darts. In this case, you can either increase the existing ones, or make new ones.
Pants need to be ironed thoroughly, tried on. Then it should be noted the "surplus" of fabric, which will be removed using darts. The edges of the darts may touch the side seams, but this is not the best option. Skew or ugly folds may appear.
Then the harness and belt are unpicked, a basting is made and excess fabric is removed. The darts are sewn on a typewriter. And the belt itself is cut on the sides, the excess length is removed. After that, the product and the belt are grinded. The belt is carefully sewn along the lines to the product, and then the harness is attached.
Volume reduction due to back seam
This is one of the most common ways to reduce your waist by several sizes. Trousers are tried on, it is determined how much you need to make a decrease.
After that, the belt loops (belt holders) and the belt are stripped. The belt is cut in two.
The line on the middle seam is ripped open, and the seam is sutured to the marked values. The belt is reduced and processed. Then a line is sewn along the waist on the sewing machine. The belt is sewn to the trousers, and the final stage is the restoration of the belt loop.
Complete alteration of trousers
This is the most time-consuming option, but, as a rule, it is thanks to it that the best "fit" of the product is achieved. To implement this project, the belt is stripped about 10 cm to each side of the seam, belt loops are removed.
Then the step seam of 9-10 centimeters is unpicked. The middle seam is also unstitched. To prevent the product from warping, the ripped seams are fixed with pins. At the waist, 2 centimeters recede in both directions and draw a line for the future seam. The result should be a triangle.
The stitches are laid in the following order: first the back seam, then the step seam, at the very end the belt and belt loops are sewn.
How to shorten pants
To avoid disappointing results, it is very important to take the fitting seriously before cutting off any excess length. Walk around, sit down. And it is better to do this in front of a mirror so that you understand how cropped trousers will look from the side. Ideally, if it will be another person, not yourself.
If the trousers are female, and their owner wears shoes with heels, this must also be taken into account.In addition, the length directly depends on the model of the trousers: the wide ones should cover the heel, and the narrow ones should be slightly higher than the heel.
We turn out the trousers, put them on the table. Draw a straight line along the marked marks. And one more line - taking into account the hem. On women's trousers 1-2 cm are left for the hem, and on men's trousers - 4-5 cm.
We fold the trousers and outline. Trying it on again, and again do not forget to sit down, walk, put on high-heeled shoes. If the result does not suit you in some way, we correct it. If everything is in order, then we lay out the product on the table, cut off the excess fabric, process the edges and sew on a typewriter. By the way, if the excess fabric is small, then perhaps you decide to put it in the fold without using scissors.
Some people prefer to use double-sided sewing tape for the hem. This option is less time consuming, but after washing, you may need to glue a new tape.
In order to prevent abrasion of the edges of the trousers, it is recommended to sew a tape to the inner side. It is chosen to match the product and thanks to its use, the trousers retain their dignified look longer.
How to sew sweatpants
Before starting work, take into account the following points:
- The fabric from which the sweatpants are made (most often this is jersey, working with it requires adherence to certain rules);
- Edge processing (elastic, drawstring, free edge);
- Sports trousers model: oriental version, tight or straight. If the model is tight-fitting, then, as a rule, it is necessary to alter it completely. If the trousers are made in the oriental style, then you need to work with side and crotch seams.
Trousers can be wide with elastic at the waist, the width of the legs, and the length. If you need to adjust the landing height, then you will have to work with the middle seam. If the model is large at the hips, then the "extra" width is removed, dividing it evenly between the inner and outer seams.
The procedure is as follows: first, we try on the product, mark the excess and remove. We turn it inside out. We lay out the trousers on the table in such a way that there are no folds and folds of the fabric. Draw a line along the marks and leave an allowance for processing the edge. We outline and try on. Then we unpick the belt and the bottom edge of the trousers. After that, we unpick the edges of the side seams, as well as the step and ischial seam.
All seams are unpicked only if your pants are a form-fitting model. To correct loose-fitting sweatpants, it is enough to rip only the side seams. After that, we lay a machine line and process the edges. The excess material on the belt is cut off, then the edge is processed and the elastic is sewn on.
How to sew full-length wide leg pants
Usually, this correction is carried out on the sides and along the waist line. This method can be used if you need to shrink your pants by 2 sizes. The lateral step and ischial sutures are sutured, and the belt is also affected.
If you need to enlarge the thing by a couple of sizes, you will have to redraw everything, make a sketch of the model, transfer it to the fabric, cut, grind and then stitch.
How to make skinny jeans
Skinny jeans have gained universal popularity relatively recently. But today, in the wardrobe of any self-respecting fashionista, this model of trousers is necessarily present. Skinny fit tightly slender female legs. But we note right away that this model cannot be called universal, because they will not make every figure more attractive. If you are a happy owner of curvaceous forms, then skinny, alas, is not your story at all.
It turns out that you don't have to buy new skinny jeans to be trendy.If you have denim trousers made of stretch fabric, then you can easily make a fashionable wardrobe item yourself.
To do this, the bottom of the denim trousers is stripped off, it should be hemmed last, after the final fitting and often after additional shortening. Jeans are laid out on the table in such a way that there are no irregularities and folds. A common mistake is that they are sutured only where there is no finishing line.
Professionals recommend making 2 control points along the entire length of the leg. In particular, the ankle and mid-leg between the ankle and the knee should never be missed. In these places, it is better to add 2-3 centimeters for more comfortable wear.
After that, it is recommended to determine the highest point from which the narrowing will begin and connect all three points in a straight line. As an increase, no more than 1.5 cm is left, and the rest of the excess tissue is cut off. After that, grind along the marked lines, and process the allowances by folding them together and ironing them towards the rear halves.
The factory seam for jeans is a seam. It is almost impossible to repeat it at home, especially if there is no special professional equipment. Therefore, in order for the thing to look decent, you need to rip the vertical and finishing lines completely. The contrasting thread, which is common for all jeans without exception, can be omitted.
And so that the stitching resembles the factory one as much as possible, a thick needle is chosen for the design of the outer seams and a thread folded in half is used. Of course, choosing the right thread color is important.
When detaching several layers of fabric (for example, side seams with hem), take your time, turn the wheel of the sewing machine by hand, and gently pull the fabric away from you.
Now you know how to narrow your denim pants to get the trendy skinny pants today.
Experts say that absolutely any thing can be stitched, however, not every model can be handled by a beginner. Usually, so that there are no disappointments as a result, the correction is made complex, and then the risk of spoiling the thing is very high. Therefore, if you doubt your own abilities, seek help from professionals.
Video: how to sew pants on the sides yourself