So I have these pair of white pants that I loved the fit of when I first bought them, they were nice and long and made the butt look good ;-) However once I washed them it was shrinks-ville. I am about 5'7" and have run into this problem quite a few times after a few washes. For bell bottoms or bootleg pants it especially becomes an awkward length. However, for skinny pants right at the ankle is a perfect length to show off your cute shoes. Here is a tutorial for converting those old pants into some cute upcycled skinny pants. Hope you enjoy :-)
- Sewing Machine
- Shears
- Washable Fabric Pencil/Pen
- Matching Thread
- Old/Used Pants
- Pair of Skinny Jeans/Pants that you like the fit of
- First iron the Pants that you will be altering and the Skinny Jeans that you already like.
- With both pants inside out fold the pants in half like so, the back of the pants facing eachother.
3. Place the Skinny Jeans on top of the pants you want to alter, making sure to align the crotch and seam that goes down. You can already see where you will be sewing off.
4. With a washable pencil/pen begin to draw a strait line down the pants you are altering. Now it was a little difficult to keep the pants underneath flat, but try your best it doesn't have to be perfect, so long as the width is correct. While you are drawing the line press the Jeans down flat so your sure to get the whole width, it tends to bubble with a little air.
5. Now get to your sewing machine and sew up the line you just drew for your new seam. If you would feel more comfortable you may pin right outside the line you just drew to make sure the pants stay put and don't move, but I don't think it's necessary. I just tried to make sure there were no folds where I was sewing the new seam. I recommend using a zig zag or overlock stitch since they are skinny style they will most likely be under some stretching pressure. I started at the top so I could start with the old seam and then worked my way down. By starting where the old seam is your preventing any air bubbles from forming and making your pants look amature. This will make your seam look clean. Since you are starting at top and going down, the hem may end up uneven but we can fix this at step 11.
6. After sewing up the seam, I went ahead and turned them right side out and tried it on to make sure I liked the new fit.
7. Now that I know I like the new width I took them off and went back to inside out and folded them back to the way we started and lined up the crotch seam to the other leg. This way both of the legs are the same width. Rather than if I used the Skinny Jeans again I could end up drawing a new width for the other leg. Draw up new line, I did trim the leg that I already sewed so it would be easier and then lifted up access fabric to align the seam and not the extra fabric too.
8. Go ahead and sew up the other leg using the zig zag/overlock stitch again.
9. Try on the pants again to make sure both legs look even, before we cut off the excess fabric. Then there's no going back...
10. Now trim off your excess fabric about 1/4" away from the new seam. Add a finishing seam to the edge, I just went ahead and did another zig zag stitch along the edge. This is important because it will take care of fraying fabric and like I said earlier since they are Skinny we will be putting some pressure on the seam a lot so just in case anything rips or tears you got a back up...there will be no bare leg flashing :)
11. Now this last step is optional, but I think it gave off a better finished look. And since your aligning the crotch seam you may end up making the bottom hem uneven. So fold over the hem halfway up, press, repeat. Sew up new hem, I used just a strait stitch for bottom, an overlock double needle stitch would be prime though just seemed like too much work..hah.
Now your all finished and have a cute and stylish new pair of pants :-)
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