Tip Tuesday: Turning Flare Into Skinny

Do you have any perfectly good, great-fitting jeans packed away in the back of your closet... hiding there just because they're a little too flare-ey?  We do.  Lots of them!

Never fear!  With only a few simple steps and just a little bit of sewing know how, you'll be back up to fashion par in no time!

 All you really need for this easy project is a pen, pins, thread, scissors and your old faithful sewing machine.

And just so you know how really easy this was...This post took me longer than the sewing job!


The easiest way to do this is to use a pair of skinny jeans that you already wear to mark the jeans that you want to modify.  I'll show you how to do that later, but for now I'll show you how we fixed an old pair of cords into a spiffy new look.  It's easier to show you the stitching in a weird color combo (and I didn't have any matching thread).

Ruthie didn't have any skinnies that fit her, so we just made the markings while she was wearing the pants...

These pants are kindof wide-leg the whole way, so there's a little more sewing involved than if they were just tight-fitting flare style.

Make sure the butt and waist fit good though, since that's complicated to fix.

The first step is to try them on inside out.

Next, use pins to carefully mark how far you want to take in the sides.  On wide leg pants, you'll want to take a little from both sides... but on most jeans, you'll just take in the outside seam.

After you've marked the seams with pins, go over the line with a marker or chalk.


I just did one leg to see if we liked the fit.

Here, I'm marking the sewing line with a pen.



Take all the pins out before you try to take them off!













OK, now it's time to sew...

Re-pin the seam, with the pins perpendicular to your seam.

Set your machine on the longest stitch... just in case they fit too tight, the stitches will be easier to remove.

Turn them right side out and try them on. (Don't cut yet!)

*Be sure to fade your new seam into the existing pants seam so that the transition looks smooth.








If you want to take more in, turn them inside out again and go back to the pinning step.


It may take a few tries to get a fit you like.  Be patient.  : )

Keep in mind that they'll be a little looser once you cut off that extra fabric.









If you like the fit, turn them inside out again and stitch the seam again with a smaller stitch right on top of the first seam.  Cut the extra fabric close to the seam.  Then finish the edge with a zig-zag stitch. (or serger)

You could repeat that whole process on the other leg or do what I did and use the cut off pieces to mark the cutting lines on the other leg.

Just to be on the safe side, use the long stitch and check fit before you cut!



That's all there is to it!

It was so easy....Patience got a new pair, too!

Have fun experimenting with what works for you.  The best thing about this project is that you really have nothing to lose... since those jeans were just gonna waste away in the back of your closet anyways.  And if you mess 'em up, you can always just cut them off for next summer!  : )

Now that's some serious "up cycling!"