Taking in the Waist of Jeans

I take my jeans to the tailor. It's kind of a v-shaped wedge he takes in when there's a gap in the back. I'm short, so I get the waist and length done at the same time, and I do it for a couple of key pairs of pants so that even if I only have 3 pairs of "good jeans" they all fit well.

drive to your local tailor.
tell them what you want.
:)
sorry, i'm a terrible seamstress, and jeans are the worst.
khairete
S.

I have a wonderful alterations lady that takes care of all things like that for me.

My daughter (20) and I both are hard to fit , small waist, petite and typically have to have clothing downsized by alterations. She does not charge much for small jobs $5-$10 and its done just right!'

Good luck!

If it is just a little loose just use a belt. Because of the thickness they are very hard to alter with a home sewing machine. If you must you may want to consider having it professionally done.

When I was a kid my mom always bought me baggy jeans, I hated it. So I took the back belt loop off, sewed them up the back, and put the belt loop back on so no one could see the seam on the band. Oh yeah, and you taper where you sew or it would look stupid.

When we were young we use to take them in a pinch (two, one on each side and try not to do it over pockets) like Patty K describes.
Jeans were pretty high waisted back in the 70's.
They were perfectly comfortable and the jeans followed my curves exactly.
Since no cutting was involved we could let the darts out again if we needed to.

There's are lots of methods if you Google it but a lot of them involve ripping a lot of seams and reconstructing sections of the pants - which is way over my sewing skill level.

Here's a good blog post about creating your own adjustable waist:
http://tinyurl.com/mnovaeq

There are also brands that have a smaller waist in slim fit, like the gap.

Good luck!

Two small triangle sized "tucks" O. to each side of the center of the back.

Denim is usually so thick that just taking them by pinching the fabric will make some pretty thick tucks. Look at the regular seams to see how thick these are already. Probably you will have to take off the waistband, gather the fabric in a few places, cut a length off the waistband and put it back on. Is this worth your time? I'd get an estimate from a local tailor to see what these would run you, and weigh that against the length of time she'll be in those jeans before she grows more or the fashion changes. But jeans alterations are very common.

I take 2 pinches (small folds, tapered) on either side of the waist in the back. The child I do this for wears her tops down over her pants so you can't see where I've taken them in - alternatively, you could wear a belt.

Good luck :)

Jeans are hard to take up, especially in the waist, due to the massive layers you'd be trying to sew through. My sister tried and tried. What she finally did was to take heavy black elastic and stitch it to the inside of the waist band and she cut it an inch or so shorter. Then she pinned it to the other end of the waist band, in the middle, then increments of a couple of inches.

Stretched out so when sewn it would draw the fabric in.

She'd sew a single seam down the middle using a big zig zag stitch with heavier thread and usually a clear thread so it wouldn't show. Then she'd go back to the same end she started on and do one edge then go back and do the other edge.

So she made her own elastic waist for her daughter's jeans.

When he daughter wore her jeans with a shirt tucked in she'd wear a belt with them and no one could see the gathered looking waist band. Tops out they didn't show at all.

I would just just gather in back and stitch with very heavy thread if I absolutely had to do that. However, I would have her find jeans that fit. Even if you do take them in chances are they won't be comfortable or fit properly.