White Jeans Overhaul

One of my resolutions this year is to live out Proverbs 19:14 "Houses and riches are an inheritance from fathers, But a prudent wife is from the Lord.". I love that verse.. the industry of a wife is a husbands true riches. Ive printed it out and put it inside my wallet. A little goal of mine is to constantly ask myself in my spending this year "how does this fit with my overall goal to be Sams greatest financial asset". But I also want to look nice and dress well. For a while Ive been wanting to get some white jeans. But the only ones I can find that are a good fit, are around $80. Which would be justifiable if I were planning on wearing them daily. But white jeans and homeschooling don't mix. These are just for days in town, date nights with Sam, ie, not often :) The other day I dropped into the Sallys and saw these Espirit White Jeans for $6. Nice brand, excellent condition and likely passed on from their owner because of their wide leg/ bell bottom shape. I grabbed them happy for a chance to practice my newly found skills of making jeans fit. This technique works with any pair that are gaping at the waist, too wide in the legs. Suddenly any jeans above size 10 are open to adjustment and may become victim to my recycling. You can try this on any pair *as long* as the pockets on the back are not too big. If they are, they will look disproportionate once altered. First: Grab a bargain pair of jeans secondhand. Practice first on these, you can get your confidence to attack your own redundant and pricier jeans later. Take to them with a seam ripper alias quick unpick. You want to unpick about 2 inches either side of the waistband and down the leg seam almost to the bottom. The reason for this is because you want to pull the fabric in from the back, to match the front seam, keeping those dome and detail bits at the front including the fit of the pocket, in place.

When you have them ripped open, lay them out flat. Get a pair of your nicely fitting pants and lay them out flat over the top, estimating how much to take in. Mark with a fabric pen and pin ready to sew.

Using black thread/ or a contrasting colour thread, sew down this line on a wide stitch. I used 3.5. This is just a temporary and you want to be able to unpick it easily so dont sew it tight.

Now try the pants on and check the fit. I hadnt taken into account that my favourite jeans had a bit more stretch naturally than the white pair. So I unpicked it, and eased it out some more. Be fussy at this point. Even if you have to unpick and re-sew parts of that line a few times.. you want the fit just right! Once your happy with it, change the thread back to white and sew a normal straight stitch along your temporary black stitch line. Unpick your black stitching. Overlock close to the edge of your new seam.

Fold your jeans flat in half along the inside leg seam. You can now use your 'new' leg to measure on the next one to be adjusted. Mark and pin and repeat as above. Now for the waistband! This is the most fiddly part. I used this tutorial to help me. http://freshly-picked.com/taking-in-jeans-at-the-side-seam-tutorial/ Unpick the belt tab, you can hide your new seam under there and no one will ever know. Fold your jeans in half inside out. Open up the waistband on that side, inside out also. Draw a line from the seam on the leg, to the edge of the waistband. Sew along that line. Cut open the folded edge, open up and iron it flat. Tuck the seams back under and turn the pants the right way around. Pin the waistband back down onto the pants making sure the outside lines up exactly.. the inside wont be seen so doesnt matter so much. Sew along the waist then sew the belt tab back in place over the top of your new seam.

Repeat on other side of the waist.

I have a neat pair of George brand bright pink jeans for Amy that I got in the UK in a thrift shop there for 2 pound. The same technique can be used on any sized jeans to make them fit. At the start of summer, I also gathered up jeans of the boys that were torn through the knee area (from rough tumble boy play) and cut them off, sewed a new hem and turned them into jean shorts. Even jeans with holes, etc, are able to be mended/ altered/ recycled in so many clever ways! If you dont have access to a sewing machine, invest in a seam ripper, some pins and a block of chocolate. If you take the things, ready to go, I know nary a friend that would object to run a seam or two in place, overlock the edges, in exchange for some dark chocolate.. or a few aniseed wheels.. a bunch of home picked flowers.. a piece of burlap or a cute jar of some description... (spot my weak spots).