Brilliant!
I LOVE these pants for kids. They look like normal jeans or cords or slacks or what-have-you, and the length is the length that you'd expect for the size, but hidden inside the waistband is a length of buttonhole elastic, and on either side of the casing--a button!
No more Husky or Slim, no worries with hand-me-downs, no baggy waists for the kid who just had a growth spurt, and the kid who actually cares about such things doesn't have to wear "baby" pants that are obviously elastic-waisted (I told her she could also call them old lady pants, but still...).
These pants can be tricky, though, because if that button works its way out of the elastic, or (more likely) that kid who cares about such things tries to adjust the elastic herself and leaves the elastic off of the button, AND it goes through the wash, then the elastic will get lost inside the waistband, rendering it useless.
Here's how to fix it!
(Apologies for the terrible quality of the photos. It turns out that the gloomiest, stormiest, darkest days also happen to be the best mending days!)
Take hold of the other end of the buttonhole elastic and pull it all the way out of the waistband:
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Use the safety pin to help you feed the elastic into one of the openings in the waistband casing--
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--and then all the way through:
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Now keep that elastic buttoned on BOTH ends this time, will you?
Take hold of the other end of the buttonhole elastic and pull it all the way out of the waistband:
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Pin a safety pin through the elastic, about 1/2" from one end:
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--and then all the way through:
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Now keep that elastic buttoned on BOTH ends this time, will you?
P.S. You can also add a waistband to any existing garment, sew a couple of buttonholes and buttons, and DIY a pair of adjustable elastic-waist pants.
12 comments:
If you don't have a safety pin a large paperclip works well too.
The problem I'm having with the current pants is that the elastic is stitched in at some point, so I can't just pull it out. Grr.
Darn! If you find the point where it's stitched to the casing, you can pick out the stitches.
Thank-you!!!! This was exactly what I needed. 2 pairs of (high quality re-sale) pants are now in commission! So glad it wasn't a waste of $$ :) You crafty people are amazing. Keep blogging ;)
I also had this problem with the elastic being stitched in at some point around the waist. I used a crochet hook and went in to retrieve it. Simply push hook inside till you find spot where elastic is. Use circular motion with hook till you think it has wrapped around elastic or better yet slipped through one of the holes. Then pull back out. This worked for me in under one minute
Thanks for sharing that! I used a paperclip and it worked great!
I had to use a bobby pin. Works! Just a little difficult to get a grip on while in the jeans
I had to use a bobby pin. Works! Just a little difficult to get a grip on while in the jeans
@Goo Goo Doll, thank you for the crochet hook idea. It worked amazing and was super fast!!
Crochet hook was genius! Thanks
Our adjustable waisteband is all torn & I need to replace it. Can I purchase a strip of this somewhere?
I hope you already found your answer, but for anyone else wondering, it's called "button hole elastic." You can find it on Amazon or pretty much any fabric store.
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