How to make jeans smaller in the waist: choose your way to do it

Unfortunately, it is quite widespread and common when people have bought new clothes, for instance, when they have bought jeans, but the jeans just do not match their waist. Jeans waist that does not fit your own waist is a sad problem and disappointment, but, happily, people found ways to fix this problem long ago.

And these easy and challenging methods can definitely help you with the problem. Fixing the jeans will be a good job, the results of which you will definitely appreciate. So, if you are here to find a way to make jeans smaller in the waist, then in this article, you definitely can find the answers to your questions and keep living your happy life.

Making jeans waist smaller without sewing

There are a lot of methods to make jeans’ waist smaller and create the form that you need and that is appropriate for your body.

You may use one or several of the methods that you consider rational and possible to help in your own situation.

We have to start with easy methods without sewing, which will take less effort and time. They will not fix your problem forever, but they will be a temporary solution that may satisfy you.

A steam iron

Steam iron is an effective way to make the jeans’ waist smaller. It works the way to make the denim fibers shorter by using the highest heat of the iron. And with the appropriate type of iron, you are able to make jeans’ waist smaller. Follow the instructions and be careful with the iron.

What you have to do is put the jeans on the ironing board or other flat surfaces without defects. Then you have to set the steam iron on high settings so that the iron can be very hot. Then apply the iron on the jeans. Move slowly and carefully, and do not stop in one spot for a long period to prevent burning the jeans. 

Binder clip

Binder clips are easy to use and to wear with clothes that do not fit your waist or other parts of the body. It is very simple to put on the clothes.

Get the jeans inside out.

You only have to apply them on the two sides of the waist. This will easily make jeans’ waist smaller and more comfortable for you.

Boiling water

One of the most universal and well-known ways to make clothes smaller is to put them in boiling water. Fortunately, you only got to wash the jeans in hot water once or twice, for sure, to shorten them and make them the size of your waist.

For longer jeans: the bottom can be rolled up

For those who have jeans with long and loose waists, there is an even easier variant to apply. You may just roll up the bottom and this way may definitely make the waist of the jeans fit your waist without any problem at all. You have to try this method out, and you definitely may see the result.

Making pants waist smaller with sewing

Now we can approach another kind of method that you may consider more complicated, but actually, they are not really too hard to perform. What you get to do beforehand is to prepare everything you will apply in sewing the waist of the jeans and read the instructions for this one way or another carefully.

So, what do you require preparing before stitching your jeans’ waist? You require getting the sewing machine, or course, then the sewing sturdy denim needle, the pins, the elastic band, the safety pin, the sewing tape, the sewing thread, and the seam ripper.

Only with all of these things, you can start performing the sewing project with the jeans.

Without it, for instance, with no seam ripper, it will be harder. 

After getting all the things that are listed above, you have to get your measurements of your waist. Without such measurements, you may not start sewing the jeans and making the pants’ waist smaller. It is strictly required. Otherwise, you get to make a mistake and make jeans’ waist smaller too much, or not enough.

Take all of it into consideration for the question of making the waist smaller. 

Making measurements of your waist

To get measurements of your waist, you get to prepare a measuring tape. So, now you have to get a measuring tape, get a straight stand, and then apply the tape right around your waist. It is required for you to become relaxed and breathe normally. So that you will get the right numbers for the waist.

You must do it right and correctly around the waist. The tape must touch your skin, only performing it in this way you may get the correct measurements of that part of the body.  

Now, when you have done it, you need to note it down and then compare it with the brand’s size chart. Then you may get your jeans size, and you may grasp how exactly you need to change the jeans. And after these steps, you can undertake sewing using one of the following ways. You get to select the one that suits you best.

The jeans sides: take it in

Working on side seams is a relatively easy way to adjust the jeans under your measurements and the waist. You have to read the instructions carefully to perform the task with this method. Prepare thread, needle, seam ripper, and other things.

You have to switch your pants the way that they will be inside out. Now prepare them and put them in a flat place without surface defects. Now you have to obtain the correct fit and to do that, you have to pinch the jeans on the waistband.

You get to do that on both sides.

When you have done this, pin them using the special sewing pins and do not get them off until required. You have to do that on both sides of the inner waistband. Pinning the jeans must assist you in defining the size of the waist of your jeans that you desire to get.

It means that you can apply sewing pins in this way and be careful while doing that. Further, you can begin sewing and waistband stitching. You get to begin it with backstitching from the start to the end. The length of the stitches must be equal to two and the tension of the thread must be equal to four. You get to ensure that it is correct for you and continue stitching. 

When you have done it, you get to put on the jeans to ensure that you have performed the tasks correctly and that the jeans’ waist fits your waist. If it fits perfectly, then you can cut the excess fabric that you do not need and finish the sewing work. Be careful while performing it and do not cut anything that you shouldn’t.

Fix the back of the jeans and belt loop to adjust the waist

This method is one of the most common and one of those that works perfectly in most cases. And this way requires just much effort and much accuracy. So, you have to read the instructions carefully and perform the task slowly.  

As it was with the first method and what is required for sewing any clothes, you have to switch the jeans inside out. Do not forget the measurements of your waist so that you may make the jeans’ waist fit your waist perfectly.

Further, you have to remove the excess fabric from the middle of the jeans’ back. You can easily fix it there by using the clips or the sewing pins – depending on what is the most comfortable for you. If after these steps, the waist of the jeans fits you, stop pinching. If it doesn’t, you have to keep the back seaming. The back seam will assist you in making jeans smaller.

Now, you have to put the jeans on a flat surface like it was done in the previous method. You get to make the front waistband pulled out. You have to take a tailor’s chalk or other instrument and mark the pinned seam. You have to mark the pinned seam so that you will be able to see it. 

Select the appropriate color of the chalk or another painting instrument, like a highlighter, or fabric chalk. When the line is painted, you can take the pins off the jeans. Now you have to get the bottom row of a few stitches and the top row of stitches on the waistband pulled. You are better to work from the left side to the right side with the top and bottom row.

Remove the stitches. And now you have to get off the other belt loops between both marked lines of the jeans. But not too many belt loops. Take the waistband, find the top edge of it, and remove a few stitches there, but below the lines that you have marked. Soon enough, you will make new ones, so do not worry about that.

To do this task, you definitely can get help from the seam ripper, and it may save you a lot of time. It is much easier with a seam ripper. These stitches that you get to remove must be the same length as the rows of the stitches on the waistband. Now it is time to sew the waist of your jeans the way to fit your waist. You get to be especially careful when you perform it.

You need to fold the back of the jeans where the waistband is in the way to get it across the middle back line of it. Then you get to fold the sides of it, starting with the side from the right. The side that you are going to fold must face you. Then sew it with a single straight stitch at the end.

When you have done sewing with a single straight stitch, you may remove the excess fabric if you want to, if it makes the jeans’ waist comfortable for you. Now you get to take the outer waistband in. Then you have to fold the outer waistband right in the center and start sewing it.

Do not forget to press both edges at the end. The last steps come after those steps, also using a single straight stitch. You only get to pin the jeans’ seats along after you get the right side switched on the external side, and not the inner waistband.

Now you get to sew them together. Use the single straight stitch again to do that. 

That is almost all you got to do. Find out if the waist of the jeans fits you perfectly. If so, you can sew with the topstitching thread from the existing stitching lines right to the waistband. It is required to be sewn in two rows that do not cross one another. 

If you are doing it on the sewing machine, and you want it to look like it was done by a professional, you can do it with the longer stitch length, and you can overlap several stitches with the old stitch line which will make your jeans look even better. Longer stitch length can make it look better.

Do not forget to sew the belt loop back on the jeans. Jeans without belt loops don’t look good. So every last belt loop must be sewn back. It will make the pants tighter, and you will be able to enjoy them as they fit you perfectly right after you finish the sewing project.

Use the elastic band to make the jeans fit

Another way that is easier to perform is attaching the elastic band to the waistband of the jeans. This method definitely may help you feel in the jeans better. To do this, you get to prepare the elastic band and the jeans. Put the jeans on and define the extra fabric to make the jeans fit better.

Now you need to mark the fabric with a fabric chalk with a line that is inside the jeans on every side of the fabric. Now get the jeans off. You have to put them on a flat surface and then get the front side of it opened. So that you could see the waistband at the back side of it.

Select the stitches on this side of the waistband and then cut them off, following the marked lines below them. After that, you get to make a cut on a slit in the place where you have cut the seams. You can do it with scissors since it is the most comfortable way to perform it. 

But it is worth mentioning that you get to cut only through the inner layer, not another layer of the waistband, and then do the same with another slit. Otherwise, the work you are doing you may have to remake by fixing what you have broken during the process. Now it is time to use the elastic band. The elastic band must match the size of the waistband.

So, you get to cut the band and then with a safety pin, you need to attach the ends of the elastic band with a safety pin inside the jeans. One safety pin to one end of the band to the waistband, but ensure that it is outside the slit you have made before. Then you get to attach the other one to another cut using a safety pin inside the jeans as well.

This will fix the elastic band, and this may make the pants smaller, just to fit your waist. After you have done the work, you get to try out the jeans and find out if the jeans’ waist fits you perfectly. If it still doesn’t fit you, you can just move the elastic band with the safety pins to set your waist size correctly. 

Frequently Asked Questions

In conclusion: you can make jeans waist smaller by yourself

Fixing the jeans’ waist smaller may sound like a hard task to perform with the sewing machine or without it, but if you are aware of all the ways to do it and if you are prepared, you definitely can do it. There are ways to improve jeans for every person: you can make them smaller with just an iron, boiling water, or only safety pins.

The sewing methods are more complicated, but they will fix your problems with jeans for a long period. Just be attentive and careful and use a method that you like the most, with or without sewing, to make pants tighter, and you will enjoy the jeans that you do not have to throw away soon enough.