Have you lost weight and want to alter your clothing?

Question

Having experience in alterations, I can show you a single technique can be used for many items.

Answer 1

If pants or skirts are too large in the waist or hips, you can use a sewing machine to alter / pinch in extra fabric. This quick alteration can reduce the waist size of your favorite garments up to approximately 2 inches. (If you need to remove more, it's best to start with a smaller size garment.)

You will need:

1. Sewing machine
2. Durable sewing machine needle ("universal" type, size 80 or 90)
3. Thread (standard duty)
4. Ink pen or disappearing sewing marker (for marking)
5. Scissors (for trimming threads)
6. Pad of sticky notes (optional)

Prepare to sew: Thread the sewing machine with normal duty (weight) thread. Now look at the waistband of the pants. Imagine pinching in some of the fabric to reduce the size of the "circle" around your waist to bring the waistband closer to your body when you are wearing the garment. Try on the garment and use your fingers to determine roughly how much fabric to remove.

Determine amount to alter: Remove the garment and turn it inside out. In the back of the pants, select the first location to alter. Often the best place is left-middle of the waistband. Avoid belt loops. Pinch two layers of fabric between your fingers to equal half of the quantity of fabric you want to reduce the waistband. That amount will be doubled when you sew. For example, 1/4 inch will result in a pleat of 1/2 inch.

Mark seam line: Use an ink pen or disappearing fabric marker to mark a faint line at the top inside of the waistband. Now imagine a narrow triangle from the waistband top edge to the inside of the pants about 2 inches down. You will stitch over this triangle, ending at the very edge of the inside of the pants, forming a narrow triangle.

Sew seam: Grip the waistline layers tightly. Move them to the machine and place the waistband under the needle. It's OK to adjust as needed, since the layers will be thick and it will be a challenge to slide it all under the needle. Simply take care that the top layers align. Optional: Insert a pad of sticky notes under the sewing machine foot behind the sewing machine needle. The pad will drop away, leaving a more even stitch than without the pad. Use 3 stitches per inch (average stitch length or 3.0 on a digital setting). Stitch 5-6 stitches a bit along your line, then press the reverse button to return to the top of the waistband. Stitch the rest of your seam, ensuring you arrive at the edge of the fabric at the end of your line. Reverse-stitch for 5-6 stitches, then forward-stitch until the end your drawn line. Slowly pull the fabric and threads away from the machine and clip threads to the seam line.

Enjoy your better-fitting garment!