My husband got me a sewing machine for Christmas so I can finally tailor my own clothes. Added to that, I had FOUR pairs of pants hanging in my closet that I never wore because the legs were too wide. As you can guess, one of my first projects was to learn how to taper the legs of my pants so I could finally wear them to work. This DIY is so easy and gave me four new pairs of dress pants! And it’s so simple I can guarantee you can do it too.
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How To Tailor Your Own Pants
WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
- A sewing machine (This is the exact brand I use and I am by no means an expert.)
- Scissors
- White chalk (or pencil for white pants)
- Pins
- Thread the color of your pants
- Seam ripper
Step 1: Find a pair of pants that fit you really well, and are generally of the same material as the pair you are trying to tailor.
Step 2: Turn both pairs inside out and line them up at the waist, making sure the pants lie flat at the outside seams.
Step 3. Trace the outside of the smaller pair with chalk. Pin them if you like, but I don’t find that necessary. Don’t worry about tracing the inside of the pants, even if there is extra material. You’ll find just doing one side is enough to make your pants fit great.
Step 4: Hopefully by now you have threaded your bobbin and needle. If not, there are plenty of tutorials out there to help.
Step 5: Start sewing along the top line, reverse, then continue all the way down the pant leg, reverse again at the end, then forward to finish off.
Step 6: Flip inside out and try on the one leg before continuing to the next. Sometimes I found I had done it too tight, and had to rip out the seam. Although it was a pain, it prevented me from making the same mistake on the other leg.
Step 7: Try on again and make sure the fit is just right. You might find you want to taper even more at the bottom, or even start higher up your leg so the pants fit more snug around your hips.
Step 8: Choose a “fancy stitch” (can’t you tell I’m a professional?) with lots of cris-crosses or zig-zags and stitch on the outside of the first line you sewed to ensure your pants do not come undone! Make sure to reverse at both ends.
Step 9: Cut the excess fabric so pants lay flat against your leg.
Step 10: Now enjoy your new pants and congratulate yourself on being your own tailor.
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Wow. Why haven’t I thought of this before?
Nicely done!
Thanks, Lux! Super easy.
OMGosh I have several things I wish I could tailor – especially turning some favorite pants into capri’s. You’ve given me a little incentive to try – I’ve nothing to lose! Love this post, thanks for sharing! Thanks for sharing! (Stopping by from the Little R&R Wednesdays Blog Hop)
~Taylor-Made Homestead~
Texas
Go for it!! You can always attempt it on the pair you like the least.
As a person with extremely long legs I’ve never had this problem, but that being said I loved this step by step how-to. My kids have inherited my husband’s shorter legs so I’m sure I’m going to run across this in the future and now I know exactly how to fix it! Thanks so much for posting this at the #Alittlebitofeverything link party. I’m going to pin this to my pinterest account too!
Good luck Patty! Hopefully this is a pants-saver. :)
Holy smokes! Sometimes the best way is the easiest way. Brilliant!
What a great tutorial. And the pants look really so much better. I too have some pairs which are way to baggy but have hesitated to pull them in. Now you have given me motivation after seeing how good yours look.
Awesome! If I can do it, anyone can do it.
Fabulous idea! You make it look so easy that I might have to try it.
#alittlebitofeverything
Great idea! I use my sewing machine a lot, but I never thought of doing this with my pants! So cool to use a pair that you like as a pattern. DUH! I never thought of this and have taken pants in to be tailored. I could have saved a lot of money!
Yah it’s a great trick!
Thank you.
I have to admit, I’m not very good at using the sewing machine, let alone tailoring my own pants, but this made me a believer! Definitely trying this; I can’t believe I didn’t even think about it before! Thanks so much for sharing your clever tutorial with us on #shinebloghop this week :)
Foolproof!
Oh my gosh.
I wish I had all the bits needed for this!!!
#WeekendBlogShare
Ahh go get a sewing machine!
When you wrote that this was a simple tutorial, I didn’t quite believe you but as you explained it, I could actually imagine myself being able to do this. Well done and thanks for joining the #weekendblogshare
Thanks for stopping by!
You did a great job! My mother was a wonderful seamstress, but I never learned to sew! Pants look really nice!
thanks, Cathy!
I used to make all of my clothes when I was younger. And I did a lot of tailoring for my friends. This is a great money saving idea.
Celeste – that’s impressive. It saves a ton of money.
I really needed this. I have the weirdest body and really struggle to find pants that fit nicely. Thank you so much Sarah, I’m going to give this a try
Michelle – I hope it works out well!
Your pants look great! You did a nice job tailoring them. Thanks for sharing your tutorial! I will have to try and tailor some of mine sometime. But first I want to lose 10-20 lbs.
It really is as easy as it looks!
What an awesome tip. I never thought of doing this with my slacks. Have you tried it on dresses or skirts?
That is my next project! I have a maxi skirt that is a little too big. I believe it will work the same!
Great read I loveeee to sew and this is a great way to taper pants!
Do you have one for tailoring a skirt? I have a skirt that I LOVE but it’s way too long, and I don’t want to just simply go at it with a pair of scissors.
Kaley – I don’t right now but I also have a skirt that is way too long and that’s one of my next projects!
Thanks for featuring this!