how to alter flare/bootcut jeans to skinny legs?
 

Hi,

My 12-yr DD loves skinny-leg jeans..she has 3 pairs of flair/bootcut jeans
that we want to change to skinny leg...does boths seams need to be taken
out or just one..and how far up the leg....either way, it will save me some
money
as I won't have to go shopping with her for couple weeks! LOL

Thanks for any/all advise

Donna in S. Indiana

how to alter flare/bootcut jeans to skinny legs?
 

Gerald & Donna McIntosh wrote:

My 12-yr DD loves skinny-leg jeans..she has 3 pairs of
flair/bootcut jeans that we want to change to skinny
leg...does boths seams need to be taken out or just
one..

Yes, and equal amount should be removed from both the inside
and outside seam. Otherwise the pantslegs will twist when
worn.

and how far up the leg....

Determine how much you want to remove and divide by 2.
Start at the hem (which you have unpicked), and draw a
chalkline, using a yardstick, up to about the knee, or
wherever the line naturally intersects the original
stitching. You will need to clean finish (serge or zig-zag)
the raw edges of the new seam. Be sure you don't taper so
much that she cannot get her foot through the new hem.
Re-stitch the hem when you are happy with the alteration.

HTH,

Beverly

how to alter flare/bootcut jeans to skinny legs?
 

BEI Design wrote:

Yes, and equal amount should be removed from both the

S/B "...an equal amount..."

how to alter flare/bootcut jeans to skinny legs?
 

BEI Design wrote:
Gerald & Donna McIntosh wrote:

My 12-yr DD loves skinny-leg jeans..she has 3 pairs of
flair/bootcut jeans that we want to change to skinny
leg...does boths seams need to be taken out or just
one..

Yes, and equal amount should be removed from both the inside
and outside seam. Otherwise the pantslegs will twist when
worn.

and how far up the leg....

Determine how much you want to remove and divide by 2.
Start at the hem (which you have unpicked), and draw a
chalkline, using a yardstick, up to about the knee, or
wherever the line naturally intersects the original
stitching. You will need to clean finish (serge or zig-zag)
the raw edges of the new seam. Be sure you don't taper so
much that she cannot get her foot through the new hem.
Re-stitch the hem when you are happy with the alteration.

HTH,

Beverly



This brings to mind the craze in the early 1960s for very narrow (14
inch) bottom trousers. At that time I was in the RAF, in my late teens,
6 ft 4 ins tall and weighed less than 160 pounds. Narrow bottomed
trousers were that last thing that I really needed but they were
"fashionable"...
--
Bruce Fletcher
Stronsay, Orkney UK
"To every complex problem there is a solution which is simple, neat and
wrong"

how to alter flare/bootcut jeans to skinny legs?
 

On Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:55:43 -0400, Gerald & Donna McIntosh
wrote:
My 12-yr DD loves skinny-leg jeans..she has 3 pairs of flair/bootcut jeans
that we want to change to skinny leg...does boths seams need to be taken
out or just one..and how far up the leg....either way, it will save me some
money

To do this, you'll fold the jeans legs in half, matching side seam to inseam.
The front and back "crease" is the grain line. Mark it from hem to crotch
level, front and back.

Next, fold the hem up to crotch level... the new fold you've made is the
nominal knee line. Mark that, too, on both legs.

Rule #1: Grainlines need to be centered on the leg, both
front and back. (if they aren't, you wind up with the leg twisting while you
walk -- even if they're skin tight). The grainline should be perpendicular
to the floor.

Rule #2: Above the knee line, you can take out of the inseam or the outseam
as long as the grainline remains centered on the leg.

Rule #3: Below the knee line, you MUST take the same amount out of inseam
and outseam. This keeps one of the major balances of the pants.

Rule #4: You must take out the same amounts from front and back. This also
keeps the leg balanced, but this time it's a hemline balance... you've got
more muscle in the back of your leg than the front.

So the answer to your question is that you'll wind up opening the seams
as far up as you need to to start the taper. Above the knee, you're just
fitting the pants... just keep the grainline straight and take the same
amount of fabric from front and back. From the knee to the hem, you take the
same amount of fabric from the front and the back AND equal amounts from
inseam and outseam.

Exactly where this alteration starts will depend on the shaping of the
jeans legging.

Kay, who drafts a lot of pants patterns and would sooner make a new pair from
scratch than go through all that with commercial jeans.

how to alter flare/bootcut jeans to skinny legs?
 

Kay Lancaster wrote:
On Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:55:43 -0400, Gerald & Donna
McIntosh wrote:
snip good stuff

Kay, who drafts a lot of pants patterns and would sooner
make a new pair from scratch than go through all that
with commercial jeans.

Amen!!!

Beverly, who does occasionally *shorten* RTW jeans for my DD
but she better duck if she wants them pegged!

how to alter flare/bootcut jeans to skinny legs?
 

Bruce Fletcher (remove dentures to reply) wrote:
BEI Design wrote:
Gerald & Donna McIntosh wrote:

My 12-yr DD loves skinny-leg jeans..she has 3 pairs of
flair/bootcut jeans that we want to change to skinny
leg...does boths seams need to be taken out or just
one..

Yes, and equal amount should be removed from both the inside and
outside seam. Otherwise the pantslegs will twist when worn.

and how far up the leg....

Determine how much you want to remove and divide by 2. Start at the
hem (which you have unpicked), and draw a chalkline, using a
yardstick, up to about the knee, or wherever the line naturally
intersects the original stitching. You will need to clean finish
(serge or zig-zag) the raw edges of the new seam. Be sure you don't
taper so much that she cannot get her foot through the new hem.
Re-stitch the hem when you are happy with the alteration.

HTH,

Beverly


This brings to mind the craze in the early 1960s for very narrow (14
inch) bottom trousers. At that time I was in the RAF, in my late teens,
6 ft 4 ins tall and weighed less than 160 pounds. Narrow bottomed
trousers were that last thing that I really needed but they were
"fashionable"...

I has visions of airfoce blue daddy longlegs... ;)

--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

how to alter flare/bootcut jeans to skinny legs?
 

Kate XXXXXX wrote:
Bruce Fletcher (remove dentures to reply) wrote:
This brings to mind the craze in the early 1960s for very narrow (14
inch) bottom trousers. At that time I was in the RAF, in my late
teens, 6 ft 4 ins tall and weighed less than 160 pounds. Narrow
bottomed trousers were that last thing that I really needed but they
were "fashionable"...

I has visions of airfoce blue daddy longlegs... ;)


Maureen describes my legs as "matchsticks with the wood scraped off"...
--
Bruce Fletcher
Stronsay, Orkney UK
"To every complex problem there is a solution which is simple, neat and
wrong"

how to alter flare/bootcut jeans to skinny legs?
 

Thanks to every one for all their ideas! I'd probably would have just
bought
her couple more pairs of jeans but the flare ones she has have only been
worn a couple times and with DD being a short size 0 junior...this will be
easier on my wallet!

Donna in S. Indiana

"BEI Design" wrote in message
...
Kay Lancaster wrote:
On Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:55:43 -0400, Gerald & Donna
McIntosh wrote:
snip good stuff

Kay, who drafts a lot of pants patterns and would sooner
make a new pair from scratch than go through all that
with commercial jeans.

Amen!!!

Beverly, who does occasionally *shorten* RTW jeans for my DD but she
better duck if she wants them pegged!