All about stretching jeans: how to lengthen, widen at the waist and hips, increase at the waist

Everyone at least once in their life has encountered shrinkage of clothing, namely jeans. This happens during the first wash if the fabric has not been pre-prepared at the sewing factory. There are several methods for expanding them, but it all depends on the characteristics of the jeans. It can be thick (denim), thin (chambray), elastic (stretch). The stretch limit depends on the density and amount of synthetic fibers in the composition. For example, bi-stretch stretches in any direction, but mono-stretch stretches only in one direction. How to stretch jeans at home?

Features of jeans expansion

High-quality trousers shrink slightly, but cheap ones can shrink several sizes. They fit both at the waist, hips or calves, and along the length. To avoid damage to the product when stretching at home, it is recommended to learn about all the features of the process.

In the belt and waist

Belt items rarely fit at the waist; they often become small due to weight gain. It will be possible to stretch the denim by 2-3 centimeters, but if the jeans barely fit on the hips, then it is better to buy new ones. You can expand them a little by putting them on yourself and doing exercises. The fabric stretches well when bending over, swinging legs and squats.

Another clever way to increase the waistband of jeans is to wear them over tights or a towel. You need to soak a terry towel in hot water, wring it out and wrap it around your waist. Put the thing on top (but you will have to try to do this), walk like this for a couple of hours until the fabric dries.

Attention! It is better to take an old towel, as denim material tends to fade. You should not use the latter method in the fall or spring, since the apartment must be warm, otherwise you may get sick.

In the thighs and calves

Stretching the material in the area of the buttocks, calves or thighs is the easiest, since you don’t have to put in much effort. Most often, jeggings or skinnies fit, that is, narrow models that should fit tightly to the figure. Three ways to widen jeans in the waist and hips:

spray the fabric with a spray bottle and iron it with a hot iron (preferably with steam), moving in a transverse direction;
wet the jeans and intensively pull the legs wide with your hands;
soften the material with hot water, and then pull the trouser legs over any wide object and leave to dry for 5-6 hours.

If your jeans are too small in the hips, it is recommended to wet them and put them on. After which you should do several physical exercises: bending over, squats, swinging your legs. You don’t have to put on your pants, but put them on the floor, step on one side with your foot, and pull the item up with your hands. It is advisable to wear clothes before drying so that they do not shrink again after drying.

In length

Stretching in length will take a lot of time, but it is not a fact that it will be successful the first time.

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One method is to hang a weight, for example, 3 kg dumbbells, on the trouser legs after washing your trousers. The length will increase by a maximum of one centimeter. How to lengthen jeans if they become short:

Give jeans originality. It is lengthened by a couple of centimeters by lace or fringe, which is sewn along the bottom of the trouser leg. Of course, this method is not suitable for men's pants.
Pull up. You need to soak the product in warm water for half an hour, squeeze it out and lay it on the floor. Next, you will have to make an effort - step on the belt and strongly pull both trouser legs up.
Wrap it around the jar. After soaking in hot water, you should immediately wrap the item tightly around a jar or other similar-shaped object. In this position, it dries away from heating appliances.

When expanding, you should act carefully. Some types of fabric do not stretch at all and can only be torn, while others can be deformed.

How to widen a skirt without sewing

Your skirt has elastic, but is it too tight? You can cope with this trouble in the following ways.

Lay the skirt out on the ironing board. Stretch the elastic band. By the way, you can put it directly on the board itself.
Iron the elastic using a steam iron. You can also do this with a damp cloth.
Steam the elastic for a while; you can stretch it further with your free hand.

Alternatively, you can flog the tight part and wear the item without it.

Preparing for work

Before you begin restoration, it is important to evaluate all the pros and cons. To do this, you first need to carefully examine the thing. The most common way to add inches to the width of a garment is to use seam allowances.

Important ! If the product will be placed along the side seams, compare their shade with the color of the main fabric. The color of the allowances must match the front side.

The seam allowance should be wide enough to accommodate the new side stitches.

It is also necessary to determine the degree of wear and type of product. There are fabrics that are very sensitive to sewing needles. They leave noticeable holes. Unfortunately, it is impossible to get rid of them, so it will not be possible to widen such a skirt while maintaining an attractive appearance.

The material of the skirt can be convex, voluminous, for example, corduroy, velor, ribbed. This should definitely be taken into account. Additional inserts should under no circumstances violate the integrity of the pattern .

If the condition of the item satisfies the above conditions, feel free to proceed with the alteration.

How to stretch denim?

Physical exercises

Put the trousers on yourself and fasten them with a button. Place your feet shoulder-width apart and begin squatting as if you were sitting on a chair. Return to the starting position on your own, pushing off the floor with your heels. Perform the exercise intensively for 1 minute, do several approaches.

After a while, sit down on the sofa and check whether the trousers are tight to your body. If you bought clothes a size smaller, they may still be tight.

Heating with an iron or hair dryer

Physical exercises are aimed at stretching the entire product. If you need to increase the size of a certain area, use heat treatment.

Using iron and steam

Set the iron to steam mode.
Steam a narrow area for 5-10 minutes. The problem area will become moist and stretchable.
Immediately put on your pants and walk around in them for 1-2 hours. This will prevent the drying fibers from shrinking.

If necessary, repeat the manipulations until the pants no longer fit the body.

Heating with a hairdryer

The principle is similar to the previous one, but there are several features:

Lay your pants out on a smooth surface, right side up.
Set the hair dryer to medium power.
Hold the heating device at a distance of 15 cm from the surface of the material, move it evenly to warm up all the clothes.
Using the same principle, process the back of the pants.
Take a narrow piece of fabric by opposite edges and stretch it in different directions under great force. For a better effect, you can stick your hands inside and move them in different directions.

If the jeans get cold during the stretching process, reheat them with a hairdryer. Upon completion of the procedure, put the item on yourself and fasten it with a button. Squat for 1-2 minutes for better stretching.

Wet method

Spraying

Straighten your trousers on a clean and flat surface, preferably with a towel or bag.
Moisten the tight area of material using a spray bottle. The water should be at room temperature. At the same time, do not allow the fabric to become waterlogged. The product should be slightly damp, but not wet as when washing.
For better stretch, add 1 teaspoon of conditioner to the machine, which will make the fabric softer.
Spray water evenly downwards, starting from the waist.
Stand on the area of the material that needs enlargement.
Take the opposite edge of the product and pull the jeans up with all your might. To increase width, start stretching from the waist area, moving to the buttocks and hips. To lengthen jeans, start from the middle of the product. The main thing is not to pull on pockets and belt loops, as these are vulnerable areas.
Lay your pants out on a flat surface and let them dry completely.

Soak

The best way to stretch jeans to fit your figure is to put them on yourself and lie in the bath. But to get the desired effect, follow the instructions:

Fill a bathtub with warm water and sit in it with your jeans buttoned up for 15 minutes.
Without getting up from the bath, manually stretch narrow sections of fabric for 10 minutes.
Drain the water and let the jeans dry a little on your body so that when you leave the bathroom, water does not flow from your clothes.
Stand up and do physical exercises to stretch the tissue.
Wait half an hour for your pants to dry on you. This way the clothes will take the shape of your body. While drying, you can lie down or do household chores.
Remove the pants and fill them with some objects or hang them on the back of a chair so that the material does not shrink during final drying.

Note: There should be enough water in the bath to completely immerse the item of clothing.

Using the Extender

An expander is a device used by tailors to increase the width of a garment at the waist. Sold in specialized sewing stores. When using the device, you must adhere to the following algorithm of actions:

Take measurements and fasten all buttons or zippers on your pants;
Moisten the waist area with water, best done with a spray bottle;
Place the extender along the waistline inside the trousers;
Set the desired width of the jeans on the device.
Stretch the fabric evenly to the desired size.
Leave the product to dry with the expander installed inside.

Drying should occur naturally without the use of special devices.

Increase due to embroidery

If you still haven’t achieved what you want by resorting to the above methods, then there are only 2 options left. A decisive and radical option is to embroider jeans with a sewing machine. Let's look at each one separately, since the choice of method depends on which area of the trousers needs to be increased:

The jeans became narrow in the legs and hips. In this case, we will sew the trousers using stripes. We carefully select stripe inserts based on color and shade, as well as the structure and density of the fabric. Width 30 cm (depending on the width of the insert), length equal to height plus a few centimeters for margin: Measure the waist and hips with a centimeter;
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Calculate the width of the stripe + 2 cm;
Cut out 2 inserts according to the height of the trousers;
We rip the seams on the sides;
We sew the inserts with large stitches using a needle and then with a sewing machine;
Remove the basting and iron it well.

If it is necessary to sew jeans in the legs at the bottom, then the embroidery process will proceed as follows:

Turn the jeans inside out;

We rip the seams on the sides at the bottom;

We draw grooves in new places with chalk or dry soap;

We baste with large stitches and then sew with a sewing machine;

Remove the basting and iron it well with an iron.

Adding width to the hips

To add width at the hips, an insert along the entire length of the skirt is needed. In this case, use a detachable zipper sewn into the back.

Take measurements of your waist and hips. Divide the difference in volumes by four. The resulting figure will be equal to the required allowance.
Open the side seams . You will make your task easier if you use a special steamer.
Strip the seams of old threads.
Iron them using the steam setting. This will help get rid of machine stitch marks.
Match the side seams . Use a bar of soap to mark the new measurements on the fabric.
Sweep them with a simple stitch.
Machine stitch the details.
Press the new side stitches.

Don't touch the grooves, leave them the same. Open the belt along the longitudinal seam, cut off the button fastener. Baste the waistband again, taking into account the spaced side width. Sew on a machine.

latest comments

An easy way to increase your jeans waist size!

It is enough to gain an extra kilogram, and your jeans immediately become too tight. This is where the question arises: should you try to lose weight or is it better to think about how to stretch your jeans?

There are several ways to conveniently, simply and guaranteed increase the volume of a denim product.

Do not forget that denim is a fairly elastic, dense and tear-resistant material.

This is its undeniable advantage.

How to prevent shrinkage

Before washing any denim item, jacket, skirt, trousers, be sure to read the manufacturer's recommendations, which are indicated on the label. The first wash should be carried out only in cold water, making sure to turn the item inside out. Before turning on the machine (if it has a front loading), you must wait until the jeans are completely wet and sink to the bottom, only then turn it on.

Important! Do not wash any jeans in hot water or soak them for a long time.

There are no restrictions on the use of air conditioning. It allows you to make the fabric softer, especially if it is too rough.

Bottom extension

And if the skirt widens downward, for example, a flare? This can be expanded by cutting off the top, narrowest part.

Naturally, the skirt will lose a little length, but you will be able to wear it .

Pre-punch the zipper to avoid cutting it. And then save and transfer to the modified model.

Advice. If you need to remake a godet style made from wedge inserts, you can make the skirt wider by adding the same detail.

Tips and tricks

To wear denim trousers comfortably, follow certain recommendations:

After purchasing the jeans, it is advisable to wash them to refresh and make the fabric more soft.
Before washing the item , it is recommended to soak it for half an hour.
Denim trousers are usually washed separately , with washing powder or washing gel previously diluted in water.
When washing by hand, it is not advisable to rub dirty areas too hard - lighter stains may remain.
Squeeze the jeans on a “delicate spin” , up to 800 rpm.
It is advisable to iron the item slightly damp, from the wrong side. Then wearing it will become more comfortable, and the fabric will be soft.
If the product is prone to shrinkage, it is advisable not to wring it out , but to let the water drain naturally and hang it to dry.
The correct way to dry trousers is in a horizontal position or by hanging them upside down by the ends of the legs.
It is not recommended to dry clean jeans - aggressive chemicals will quickly turn them into a piece of rag.
If you wash the product by hand , first rinse it with warm water in the shower, and finally with cold water.
To prevent the leather patch on the jeans belt from becoming deformed , it is lubricated with glycerin.
It is not recommended to iron the front side of the pants - there is a high probability that shine will appear.
If you need the item to shrink , wash it at 60 degrees and hang it to dry in a warm place.

If your jeans have shrunk after washing, try simple and effective ways to get them back to their original shape. However, do not overdo it with stretching them - even a well-stretched fabric has a limit and can tear. Follow simple rules and the result will not be long in coming.

Washing recommendations

Washing denim should be done in warm , not hot water. It is advisable to wash them by hand so that the jeans wrinkle less. The remedy should be simple soap . There is no need to soak the pants, but if you really need to, then soak them for a maximum of 1 hour in warm water. Rinse only in cool water. Jeans should be buttoned and turned inside out before washing. It is advisable to air dry, securing the trouser waistband with clothespins. This will allow the jeans to retain their original appearance longer.