Thoughtful Keepsakes: Tutorial: From High Rise to Low Rise (roll no more)

Okay girls, you know the scene. You're at a store, in a hurry, kids are complaining, and you see the cutest pj/jogging pants/lounge pants ever. Without bother of trying them on you buy them. Because they only come in small/med/large anyway, surely they'll fit. But when you get home you realize that:
A - These pants were made for someone who is 6'2"
or
B - These pants were desinged in 1983
becasue the "waist" is not at all around your waist, but instead somewhere near your armpits.

And like any good Southern girl, we know how to solve this: Roll em down.

No more. If the "waist" is elastic then you're about to have a pair of pants that fit. If you just need one flip of the waistband (designed in 1994) then this probably won't work. But if you've got room for a full roll or (eek!) more, then read on.

Step 1: Take your scissors and cut just under the existing waistband. Continue all the way around.

Step 2 - Take the raw (cut) edge and fold down about 1/2 inch toward the inside of the pants. Then take that and fold down AGAIN another 1-2 inches and pin. You are creating a space for the elastic to go. If your elastic was skinny, go smaller. If your elastic was wide, go bigger. (Notice we are not ironing here but pinning instead. Flannel and jogging suit fabrics don't get very crisp under the iron so using pins will be a better way to keep things where you want them.)

Step 3 - Sew near the fold. Backstitch (go in reverse) at the beginning and the end. You're going to leave an opening of about 2 inches unsewn.

Slow down when you come to a pin and remove them as you go. Most people like to pin perpendicular. For me, I think it's easier if the pin is parallel to the fold.

Here's the opening!

Step 4 - Take the elastic that you cut off earlier. Cut it so that it's one long piece and stick a safety pin (bigger the better) in one end.

Step 5 - Take the pin and run it into your opening. Now shove the pin into the opening as far as you can, scruntching the fabric as you go. Hold tight to the pin and pull the fabric across the elastic, advancing it into your new waistband. Scruntch - Pull - Repeat.

Scruntch.

Pull

Step 6 - Once you've gotten the elastic all the way to the other end, make sure it is not twisted inside the casing. Now pull out the ends and stitch the two edges together. You can zig zag or straight stitch. Just go back and forth a million times. No matter if it's ugly, this will be completely hidden.