Charlton Family Circle: Finishing a project

I’m sure I’m not the only one who does this: I get excited for a new craft project, but it takes me forever to actually finish it because I start a new project or get distracted…

Case in point

I started sewing a pair of shorts for Timmy way back in August (see here). They were completely constructed, lacking only the bottom hem when I got distracted by some other project. ( I wonder if I finished that one?) By the time I got back to them, it was too cold outside for shorts. So, the shorts were shelved yet again.

About a week ago, I pulled out the shorts. Would they still fit? I sure hoped they would, but I wasn’t optimistic. The bottom hem, still unfinished at this point, wouldn’t need to be as wide as when Timmy last tried them on, but the waist was still too big. Much too big. How did this happen? I’m not sure about the waist. I know he’s grown taller, but I’m not sure why there would be so much extra room in the waist.

I’m not great at alterations. The pattern includes a belt, but Timmy doesn’t really like the belt, so he wouldn’t wear the shorts, even with the belt. What to do? If I wait for him to grow in to the waist, then I’m sure they will be too short.

The Solution

Many of the shorts and pants that my kids wear have adjustable waistbands. I wondered how difficult it would be to put an adjustable waistband in these shorts. As it turns out, it’s really easy!

Required materials:

shorts too big in the waist
two buttons
buttonhole elastic (found here)
sewing machine
safety pin or bodkin

First, I made a buttonhole on each side of the shorts just behind the first belt loop. Then I stitched a button next to the buttonhole on each side. Since these shorts didn’t have a closed waistband, I stitched around the waist of the shorts to create a casing that would hold my buttonhole elastic. Cut a length of buttonhole elastic long enough to go from one button all the way around to the other button, without stretching. Button one end and attach a safety pin or bodkin to the other end. Feed it through the buttonhole, around the waistband, out the other buttonhole. Have the kid try on the shorts and adjust evenly on each side.

That’s it! The adjustable waistband took less than 20 minutes from start to finish, and now Timmy will actually wear the shorts that I made. Don’t they look great?