My husband bought me jeans from goodwill for christmas, sadly he has no idea how to pick jeans for women. They did have a lot of potential, were super cheap and in excellent condition. I just wigned it as I went, so you might want to try a few things different.
Before
After
**To save the original waistband you will need extra fabric to extend it, to fit your hips.
I used a blue jean scrap but I think any fabric would look ok, just be sure to add interface.
Step 1: Try your jeans on inside-out, buttoned and zippered. Mark where you want them to sit on you, the line is where I wanted the finished top to be. Better to make it long than short.
Step 2: Seam rip off back pockets and the bottom of the belt loops. Cut the waistband off right under the seam. seam rip the waistband open and rip out the fabric sandwiched in there.
Step 3. Try on your waistline you cut off to see how much to add to get it to set where you want it, I added 2 inches to the back, you can split it up and do it on the sides if you want to hide it better.
Step 4. Cut jeans a little above the line you marked. ***make sure to cut the back higher*** I almost forgot
Also make sure to cut off those little copper buttons, dont want your sewing machine to find it for you. I was lucky with the front pockets, i just folded the front of the pocket in and sewed to make the pockets lower.
Now pin on your waistline (I used safety pins, I hate getting poked with all those pins), sandwiching the top in between the waistband. Leave front pockets out, trim them down if needed. Try it on, adjust if needed.
Step 5. Using a heavy duty needle and thread in your machine, stitch down the waistband, I hand cranked the machine over all the seams since they were so thick. Try them on again. At this point I sewed the front pockets (I ripped out that little 3rd front pocket) and the belt loops back down.
They were still baggy in the front, but they fit my thighs/butt well, so I took in the front only. They are inside out in the pictures but I ended up doing it on the front then pining inside to line it up properly. Pinch the front only and pin to the *INSIDE SEAM* not the back of the jeans. This way you are tightening the front panel but not the back. This took a few tries to adjust, so keep trying. I whip stitched this by hand on the front and it looked fine.
Add the back pockets back on. I haven't added them yet because I'm doing some embroidery on them, I'll add pics when I finish.
This was my first tutorial so any critics/comments/questions are welcome. Thank you.
