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Hello! I'm Suzannah, a serious DIYer and mom of two little ones. Follow along with my DIY fixer upper house renovations, sewing and crafty projects, real food recipes, and de-stressing goals.
I believe you can love your home just the way it is, AND have the power to design and make big changes to make it better.
I'm also the author of DIY Wardrobe Makeovers!

Made some matchstick skinny pants

I guess they're not skinny pants, exactly.  Straight leg.  Audrey Hepburn, right?

I've been needing some new pants for work, and I wear flats so I don't wear wide leg or flared pants; just skinnny or cropped ones.  With my budget, I was hoping to find something at Goodwill, but of course there aren't many options of a more contemporary khaki or pants style.  So I turned some flares into skinnies!

Like these from J.Crew:

I've done this before with jeans.  Same technique, except it's easier with pants that don't have the double row of top-stitching!  Here's the before (imagine them on--they were actually flared, though they may not look it here; I guess when you factor in the width of thighs compared to calves, they're filled out above the knee!)...

I tapered them very slightly from the knee down.  Now they're more matchstick/straight--not quite skinny, but definitely not flared!

And here's the "after"!  Much more 2012, less 2006! ;)

Have you ever done this to your pants?  If not, I highly recommend it for a quick and cheap wardrobe refresher!

19 comments

  1. You do an awesome job with your pant re-habs. They end up fitting SO well.

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    1. Thanks! I am pretty slow and methodical when I pin...

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  2. just curious, did you take in from the inside or outside seam or both?

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    1. Great question; I should have said that in the post... I took in from both the inseam and the outside seam.

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  3. I would've never thought to take regular jeans/pants and convert them to skinny jeans. Skinny jeans are so expensive! Do you know how responsive the fabric would be to fabric dyes?

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    1. You can definitely dye 100% cottons, and with a dye for poly or other fibers, sure, you could dye them. I've made flares into skinnies and straight pants several times! I may do a tutorial sometime, but... it's definitely a good trick!

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  4. This seems so easy. They turned out fantastically!

    Meg
    http://megshandmadelife.blogspot.com

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  5. I subscribe to/look at lots of sewing blogs. Most are one-visit wonders, lots get the Unsubscribe axe. Not yours! You're my sewing sensei! Thanks for all your posts and inspiration, Meg. : )

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  6. Sorry, I know your name is Suzannah...I just need more coffee. ; )

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    1. Haha, no worries! Glad you like my blog so much!! =)

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  7. Yes yes! Tutorial!

    You've inspired me to take in a pair of flares that I accidentally bought this winter (they were $7, and half price on top of that). Since I almost never wear heels (especially with casual jeans) I never wear the pants! My only pair of skinny jeans are grey, and two favourite pairs of boots (knee and ankle high) are also grey... so I really want a pair of narrow-legged blue jeans to wear with them.
    I was just going to wing it, but a photo tutorial would be super helpful!

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    1. Hmmm, yes... I will think about putting something more thorough together, but for now you can check out this super old post... http://www.adventuresindressmaking.com/2010/05/i-made-myself-some-skinny-jeans.html

      Go for it!

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  8. Gosh have I ever done this to my trousers? All the time :-) ! I don't think I owwn a pair of trousers or jeans that haven't been altered or tweaked in some way, love re-modelling them x

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    1. Very cool! It's a great skill to have, yep.

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  9. I definitely have a pair of jeans that I inherited from a friend of mine who's much shorter - I tightened them up in the waist and legs, and cut them off to be capris. Cigarette pants for the win!

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    1. Perfect!! Better when they're custom, anyway!

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  10. I know I'm a little late to the party but you inspired me. I had a cute pair of robin's egg blue pants that had great pockets but were too wide legged. I turned them inside out and used another pair of pants as a template just like you suggested. It took a couple of goes with the sewing machine and a seam ripper to get them right but now they are perfect! I wore them to work and my friends here complimented me on how much better they look.
    Now, I've got a pair of black corduroys that need the same treatment.
    Thanks so much for posting this.

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    1. Wow, that sounds awesome! Love colored pants. So glad it worked out for you! =)

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