Take In a Waistband at Centre Back

What you will learn

• Opening a waistband
• Matching a new seam to the old one
• Sewing through thick layers

Materials and tools

• Trousers or jeans
• Seam ripper
• Pins
• Chalk
• Machine needle: 90/14 for trousers or 100/16 to 110/18 for jeans
• Matching thread and topstitching thread
• Iron and board
• Hand-sewing needle for basting

Before you start

• Put the trousers on. Pinch out the extra fabric at the centre back until the waist fits and the garment sits correctly. Measure the total amount pinched out, which is twice the depth of the fold. Divide the total by two. This is the amount to remove from each side of the centre back seam.

1. Measure how much to take in. For example, if the waist is 2 in (5 cm) too big, the total change at the waistband is 2 in (5 cm), so each side takes 1 in (2.5 cm) away. Remember that every 1/4 in (6 mm) you remove from the centre back seam reduces the waist by 1/2 in (12 mm) in total, since there are two sides.
2. Turn the trousers inside out. Use a seam ripper to open the stitching of the waistband along the back, about 3 in (7.5 cm) on each side of the centre back seam. Remove any belt loops at the centre back.
3. Open the centre back seam below the waistband for about 4 in (10 cm). Press the seam flat at the heat on the care label.
4. Mark a new, deeper seam line inside the old one. Taper the new line from the old seam at the point where the opening ends, to the amount you need at the top of the waistband.

5. Pin the new seam and baste it with long hand stitches in contrasting thread. Do not cut anything. Try on the trousers and sit, bend and walk. Move the line if needed.
6. When it fits, stitch the new seam with a 2.5 mm stitch length. For jeans, sew slowly and turn the hand wheel over bulky parts. Backstitch at both ends.
7. Check again, then trim the old seam to 1/2 in (12 mm). Press the seam open. On jeans, snip the bulk and flatten it with a hammer before pressing.
8. Match the waistband to the new size. If the waistband has its own centre back seam, take the same amount out of that seam. If it is one continuous strip, as on most jeans, it has to be cut at the centre back and joined with a new seam that removes the same amount. That cut cannot be undone, so make it only now, after the fit is confirmed. Fold the waistband over the seam and pin. Stitch the waistband closed again, either on the original stitch lines or by hand, with small backstitches.
9. Re-attach the belt loop at the centre back, then try the garment on again.

Tips for a neat result

• Check where the back pockets sit. Taking in the centre back pulls them slightly closer together.
• Do the work in two small steps instead of one large one, trying on between.

Common mistakes and fixes

Check your result

• The waist fits comfortably and the trousers sit at the right height.
• The seat and pockets still look balanced.
• The centre back seam is smooth.

Projects that use this