How To Make An Adjustable Waistband In Jeans

How To Make An Adjustable Waistband in Jeans

Tutorial can also be used to make adjustable waistbands in any type of pants or skirts.

I decided to finally fix the waistband in a couple pair of jeans today. I have two pair that are my favorite.  Of course, the waistband is too large.  It seems that any pair of pants that I buy has a waistband that never fits.  And, I do not like to wear a belt, especially with jeans.  Not trying to add any extras to the waistline.  Well, to solve my problem, I tried making the waistband adjustable by adding buttonhole elastic.

Items Needed:

  • knit elastic or buttonhole elastic (amount needed depends upon size of pants)
  • thread
  • needle
  • sewing machine (optional)

Directions:

How To Make An Adjustable Waistband In Jeans

Measure elastic around inside of waistband to get an idea of how much elastic you will need.  Cut to length needed. Remove.  I bought the prepackaged elastic that came in 1 yard.  It was plenty for the jeans that I’m fixing.

If you purchase buttonhole elastic (buttonholes pre-made into elastic), you may skip this part. I made my own buttonholes into the elastic I bought from JoAnn Fabric.  It was $2.49.  The pre-made buttonhole elastic is more expensive and not sold in the store.  It was priced $22.00 online from JoAnn.  Of course, I was looking for a cheaper way. However, I did find some later online from Etsy that is inexpensive.  I’ve ordered it for future use.  It was priced under$10.

How To Make An Adjustable Waistband in Jeans

Making the holes are easier if you start with punching a hole using a seam ripper.  Then, insert sharp scissors in hole and cut small slit. If you have really sharp pointy scissors, then you may be able to make the holes without using a seam ripper.

How To Make An Adjustable Waistband In Jeans

How To Make An Adjustable Waistband In Jeans

I didn’t make buttonholes. I just cut small slits about 1/8 inch.  It doesn’t seem to ravel. You want to make small slits because you will be stretching the holes over a larger button.  I will be testing it out over the months.  Unlike children clothes, I won’t be making too many adjustments on this elastic.  Usually with children, you keep moving the elastic to adjust to weight gain or weight loss.  One thing to keep in mind is to make sure to cut holes on the same line to keep it neat.  I spaced the holes a little over 1/4 between each other.  FYI: I did not make buttonholes over entire elastic strip.  I took a short cut and made just enough holes for adjusting waistband to my liking.

How To Make An Adjustable Waistband in Jeans

Roll the edge of the elastic as above.

How To Make An Adjustable Waistband in Jeans

Then, sew down on machine or by hand to keep the elastic from raveling.

How To Make An Adjustable Waistband in Jeans

Now, cut a straight slit on each side of jeans according to the size of the elastic being used in pants.  My slits were cut about middle way above each pocket. I’m using 3/4 inch elastic.  So, I cut slit a little bit larger, around 1 inch.

How To Make An Adjustable Waistband in Jeans

I finished the slit with a buttonhole or blanket stitch. It’s a good idea to do a buttonhole or blanket stitch on the cut slit.  That will keep it from fraying or raveling. This is a pretty easy stitch.  There are some pretty easy and simple instructions that are online for making a buttonhole or blanket stitch. Such as the one here.

How To Make An Adjustable Waistband in JeansSew-Blanket-Stitch

Add a button beside each cut slit, going toward the zipper area of the jeans.  The button is about 1/2 inch away from the cut slit.  The button has to be sewn on without going completely through the material.  You don’t want the stitches showing on the outside of waistband when you wear them.  It’s a little tricky, but just think about sewing buttonhole only through one part of the waistband.

How To Make An Adjustable Waistband in Jeans

Notice how you can not see on outside of waistband where I have sewn the button in place.

How To Make An Adjustable Waistband in Jeans

Attach a safety pin to one end of the elastic strip.  Push through to other cut slit by pushing and pulling on the safety pin when inserted through the waistband.

 

How To Make An Adjustable Waistband in Jeans

Make sure to button down the elastic on opposite end of elastic when nearing the end.  That way it will not slide all the way through. (That would make more work for you!)

 

How To Make An Adjustable Waistband in Jeans

This is how it looks when done.  Adjust as needed by pulling more elastic through and then button.

How To Make An Adjustable Waistband in Jeans How To Make An Adjustable Waistband in Jeans

One of the great benefits of adjusting the waist in this particular pair of jeans is that I don’t have puckering in the front of the jeans, anymore.  The second picture shows how much neater the jeans are in the front.  Love this!  Can’t wait to wear these today!

How To Make An Adjustable Waistband In Jeans

One other thing that I want to point out is that if you’re making an adjustable waistband with Levi jeans, the label is sewn through the waistband.  Using a seam ripper, remove the stitches around the label.  Then, you will be able to push the pin and elastic all the way through waistband.  I ran into that problem.  Easily fixable!

Don’t forget to check out How to Quickly Repair a Broken Zipper if you need help in this area. You can tell I’m a jeans-wearing girl.

 

Comments

  1. Debbie McCann says

    Thank you so much. Can’t believe I found your tutorial. My jeans make me miserable by afternoon. They stretch so that I have to constantly pull at them. Thanks again.

  2. I just tried this with a pair of jeans from dynamite that were to big for me. Thanks so much for posting such a great tutorial. I found a video on youtube where a woman attempted this on levi’s jeans, and she kept the patch on by undoing the vertical seam only and keep the patch attached with the horizontal seams. It’s worth trying. Thanks

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  4. I love adjustable waistbands. I work in the construction field. In the summer time I pull the waistband in and in the winter let it out. This allows for the amount of clothing I need to wear. Saves a lot of money on jeans purchases.

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  8. Thank you so much! This was very helpful! My son is very slim and most of his pants have adjustable waists, however I recently bought a pair that did not – and of course they were huge! I dont have a sewing machine and this took me a little over an hour to do. I was able to use some elastic from a waistband that my daughter ripped out of a pair of her shorts to fix my sons pants and make them fit perfect. The photos were very helpful and your guide was fantastic! Thank you!!

  9. Great job! I have been sewing for many years and never knew that button hole elastic even existed, so thanks for that tip. Re making your own; I just use fabric glue around the cutting line slit to prevent it from fraying since it does dry clear and is flexible. -Brenda-

  10. Being in the construction business and always working outside. I love the adjustable waist band. Depending on the season. I can adjust the waist to fit my body. No matter how much clothes I need to wear for the weather.

  11. Could this elongate a waistband that fits in the morning and is uncomfortably tight in the evening?

  12. What a great idea! I just bought some jean shorts to wear this summer since my prebaby jeans don’t fit yet at 9 weeks postpartum. I love this idea, because once I’m back in my old size (hopefully!) I can resize the jean shorts I’m wearing now.
    I also sometimes find a pair of jeans at the store that fits wonderfully everywhere but in the waist. They tend to gape in the back. I’m going to pin this so that I don’t forget about it when I’ve ready to try this.

  13. What a great idea! I never would have thought of that.

  14. OMG so smart!! my little boys’ pants has this and I have the absolute worst time with jeans myself, can’t believe i didn’t put 2 and 2 together!! Thank you!!

    • I know Sarah! When I think of adjustable waistbands, I think of kids’ clothes. But, this works great for adults. Jeans seem to always have a large waist. So, this definitely solves that problem.

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