Tighten up a waistband with elastic
Many of us who are long time home sewers repair or fix our own family's items a little differently than a sewing book would instruct us to, or even differently than someone who does sewing for pay. They have to do everything so it looks nicely finished inside and out. This tip is for new sewers so they know there are no rules for mending and repairs. Just do what works for you.
This is how I tighten up a waistband. My weight has always fluctuated a couple pounds up or down throughout my life. Even these couple pounds can affect the fit of the waistband on my pants. I hate when my pants seem to fall because the waistband is too lose. Well, I solved the problem by adding elastic. I don't tuck in my tops so having a gathered look on the outside of my waistband doesn't bother me. My pants stay put no matter what my weight.
So what I do is simply sew elastic to the inside of my waistbands. I use whatever elastic I have on hand. On the jeans above the elastic is 3/4 inches wide. I don't premeasure the elastic--I just use a long piece of it and trim away what I didn't need after I'm done sewing it on. I start at one end of the elastic placing it as close to the button as I can place my presser foot. I stitch the first end of the elastic down with a short straight stitch. I stitch that back and forth a couple times and then stop at the upper corner of the elastic. With my needle down I raise the presser foot, pivot, lower presser foot, set my straight stitch to a 3.5 or 4 and sew along top edge of the elastic while stretching it as I sew around the waistband. I try to get as close as I can to the buttonhole on the other end. I stop with the needle down at the corner, raise presser foot, pivot, lower presser foot and lower the stitch length, and sew back and forth on the end of the elastic ending at the bottom corner with the needle down. Raise presser foot, pivot, lower presser foot, lengthen stitch length to a 3.5-4 and sew back to the beginning where I originally started. And again, stretch the elastic as you sew. Backstitch a little to secure the stitches. Trim off the elastic that was left hanging. You're done and your pants will fit. No measuring. It just works. Pants, especially jeans will only gather up a little because of all the bulk at the waistband so measuring exactly is not necessary. Because the waistband is thick and bulky it will not gather real tight so do stretch the elastic as much as you can while stitching it on.
I do not wear belts so I sew right through the beltloops--you can see this on the next photo to the right. Adding elastic like this would work on kids clothes too. Heaven knows, some of their skinny little bodies can't seem to hold up pants. It even works to sew elastic to elastic which you can see by scrolling a couple photos to the right.
Tighten up a waistband with elastic
Many of us who are long time home sewers repair or fix our own family's items a little differently than a sewing book would instruct us to, or even differently than someone who does sewing for pay. They have to do everything so it looks nicely finished inside and out. This tip is for new sewers so they know there are no rules for mending and repairs. Just do what works for you.
This is how I tighten up a waistband. My weight has always fluctuated a couple pounds up or down throughout my life. Even these couple pounds can affect the fit of the waistband on my pants. I hate when my pants seem to fall because the waistband is too lose. Well, I solved the problem by adding elastic. I don't tuck in my tops so having a gathered look on the outside of my waistband doesn't bother me. My pants stay put no matter what my weight.
So what I do is simply sew elastic to the inside of my waistbands. I use whatever elastic I have on hand. On the jeans above the elastic is 3/4 inches wide. I don't premeasure the elastic--I just use a long piece of it and trim away what I didn't need after I'm done sewing it on. I start at one end of the elastic placing it as close to the button as I can place my presser foot. I stitch the first end of the elastic down with a short straight stitch. I stitch that back and forth a couple times and then stop at the upper corner of the elastic. With my needle down I raise the presser foot, pivot, lower presser foot, set my straight stitch to a 3.5 or 4 and sew along top edge of the elastic while stretching it as I sew around the waistband. I try to get as close as I can to the buttonhole on the other end. I stop with the needle down at the corner, raise presser foot, pivot, lower presser foot and lower the stitch length, and sew back and forth on the end of the elastic ending at the bottom corner with the needle down. Raise presser foot, pivot, lower presser foot, lengthen stitch length to a 3.5-4 and sew back to the beginning where I originally started. And again, stretch the elastic as you sew. Backstitch a little to secure the stitches. Trim off the elastic that was left hanging. You're done and your pants will fit. No measuring. It just works. Pants, especially jeans will only gather up a little because of all the bulk at the waistband so measuring exactly is not necessary. Because the waistband is thick and bulky it will not gather real tight so do stretch the elastic as much as you can while stitching it on.
I do not wear belts so I sew right through the beltloops--you can see this on the next photo to the right. Adding elastic like this would work on kids clothes too. Heaven knows, some of their skinny little bodies can't seem to hold up pants. It even works to sew elastic to elastic which you can see by scrolling a couple photos to the right.