Not every dress pants you are going to find at the store is going to fit you right. Sometimes, even if you buy the right size, the dress pants seem loose or tight after wearing. It is possible to take in dress pants and alter the pants as well. You should know how to take in women’s dress pants.
If you are planning to alter your pants by taking these to the tailor, it will cost you a few extra bucks that you can save easily by doing the work by yourself. If you know a few tips and tricks, you can easily take in dress pants easily. I’ve provided a few steps below that will help you to take in your dress pants in; they are too tight or loose.
How to Take in Women’s Dress Pants – Easy 7 Step Guide
Step 1: Try on the dress pants to measure how much loose it is
The first thing you will need to do is to wear dress pants. If the pant is too loose for you, try to measure how much loose it is. After wearing the pant, hold the waist of the pant in the way it perfectly fits you. If the pant is loose, there will be some extra part. Measure the extra part with a tape measure. You might need to adjust around 1-2 inches.
Step 2: Get rid of the belt loops if there are any
The next step is to get rid of the belt loops. You will need to remove the belt loops; otherwise, it will create a block while sewing the waist. Take a seam ripper and gradually remove the belt loops. You will not need to remove all the belt loops. Remove the ones that have the possibility to come in your way while sewing. Keep the loops in a secure place so that you can sew them back.
Step 3: Remove stitches from the waist of the dress pants
You will need to remove the stitches from the waist of your trousers as well. Locate the center of the waist and start removing the stitches with the seam ripper. You will need to make sure that you remove the same length of stitches from both sides from the center. The purpose of removing the stitches is to be able to unfold the waist of the dress pants. Now, turn the pant inside out.
Step 4: Attach a safety pin on the excess part of the dress pants that you measured earlier
You will need to use a safety pin for this step. Take a safety pin and attach it to the excess part of the waist. It will help you while you sew to pant to make it tighter. Now, start to stitch the waist. Keep on going while you reach the safety pin.
After reaching the pin, you will need to remove it to go further. You can always use a good quality sewing machine to stitch the dress pants. If you are not comfortable in using sewing machines, you can sew the dress pant with your hand.
Step 5: Stitch the waist of the pant and sew back the belt loops
After you are done sewing, try on the pants again. If the dress pant fits you well, you can go into the next step. You will need to fold the part of the dress pant that you have unfolded before. Sew the parts that you have unfolded. At last, you will need to sew the belt loops of the pants.
If the pant fits you well, you can wear it without a belt. The extra part will be on your pants, but it should not bother you that much because it is just an inch or two inches of extra cloth inside the pant.
Step 6: Use chalk to mark the pant in order to taper the legs of the pant
After you are done adjusting the waist of the pant, it is time to get to the legs of the dress pant. It is not a difficult task to taper pants. The first thing you will need to do is to measure how much slimmer your pants should be than earlier.
Wear the dress pant and measure how much sewing it will need. Turn the pants inside out once again. Take chalk and mark the area by drawing a straight line from the top of the bottom. If the pant fits you well around the thighs, start from underneath.
Step 7: Remove the stitches from the bottom part of the dress pant
You will need to remove the stitches from the bottom part of your dress pants. Don’t remove the whole part. You will only need to remove the excess part that you will sew later on. It should be okay if you remove around 3 inches of the stitch. With a sewing machine, start to sew from the middle of the pants and go all the way through the end.
Do this for both of the legs of the pants. Now, you can cut the extra part from the pant so that it doesn’t bother you while you wear the dress pants. Keep around half an inch of space so that you don’t cut the seamline. Now, stitch back the bottom part of the leg that you have unstitched before. Wear the pant and see if it fits you well.
These are the steps required to take in women’s dress pants. You should not feel hesitate to buy a pair of pant which you like but are afraid it will not fit you. There are a few particular fabrics that shrink once you wash them. You should always buy a larger size for these fabrics.
You can apply these steps for dress pants as well as any type of jeans. It is always better to purchase larger sizes because it gives you the chance to alter if needed. But if you purchase a pant that you can’t get into, it will be quite hard to make it fit.
