Hello again! I hope everyone is having fun fitting their pants! In my last post, I went through my process of fitting my Lander Pants. In this post, I’ll be showing how to change a flat/straight waistband (like the Lander’s have) into a curved waistband. This adjustment would generally be for those who are more curvy, like an hourglass or pear shape. Let’s get started!
How do You Know if You Need This Adjustment?
After I did the changes I showed in my last post, my waistband in the back was still needing some help. You know you need this adjustment if just the top of your waistband is gaping. The bottom part of my waistband was flush against my back, but then at the top of the waistband there was still some gaping. The goal is to remove length from the top of the waistband only, tapering to nothing at the bottom on the waistband. We will be making darts, thus creating a curved waistband, that is smaller at the top than at the bottom.
Step 1:
For the Lander Pants, the waistband is straight. This allows it to be cut as one piece and then folded over to create a double layer waistband. For a curved waistband, it needs to be two separate pieces. So the first thing we need to do, is figure out how wide our finished waistband for this pattern is, so that we know how wide our new curved waistband should be.
Step 1: Determining width of waistband
First, you need to mark out the seam allowances. In the picture above I have done this – 3/8 in. off the top and 1/2 in. off the bottom (these are the seam allowances the patterns says to use). What is left in between the seam allowances is 3 7/16 in. I rounded up 1/16 in. to 3 1/2 in. to make it easier to divide in half. Next we want to take the 3 1/2 in. and divide it in half. That equals 1 3/4 in. So we know that 1 3/4 in. is the final width of the waistband.
Step 2:
Next we need to cut the waistband in half at the center back. We will keep the longer bottom portion and get rid of the other half on top. The new cut edge will be cut on the fold.
Step 2: Cut waistband in half at center back. Keep the longer portion
Step 3:
Back in Step 1, we determined our final waistband needed to be 1 3/4 in. wide. Now we need to add the seam allowance back on so we know how big our new waistband should be. I’m going to add 3/8 in. back on to one side and 1/2 in. back on to the other side. 3/8 in. + 1/2 in. = 7/8 in. Now we need to add the 7/8 in. to the 1 3/4 in. That equals 2 5/8 in. That is our final waistband measurement. Measure out your 2 5/8 in, and cut off the rest, like in the picture below. You will keep the bottom portion, and throw away the top portion.
Step 3: Cutting off the excess width on the waistband
Step 4:
Now we are finally ready to make our curve. First you need to determine how much width you want to take out. I am taking out 1 1/4 in. total. Being as we are working on the fold, I need to divide that number in half. 1 1/4 in. divided by 2 = 5/8 in. You want to take your width out in two or three different areas, depending on how much you need to remove. I decided to take out a 1/4 in. on the fold (1/2 in total) and then in one other spot I will remove 3/8 in. (3/4 in. total). So 1/4 in. + 3/8 in. = 5/8 in.
Step 4: Determining how much to remove
Final Waistband:
Cut off the diagonal on the fold, and slash and pivot the 3/8 in. dart. Then you will need to true up the curve; it shouldn’t be a lot. The picture below is the final waistband. You will cut two on the fold and assemble the waistband like you would for a pair of jeans. Here is a great tutorial for that. There will be a little extra on the ends at the front fly, so you can just trim it off when you get to that stage.
Final Curved Waistband
I hope this made sense! I feel like I made it more complicated than it actually is! I’ll be back at the end of February with my final pair of Lander Pants in Navy Corduroy. Now that I have made my final pair, I’ve realized that the butt and back leg area needs more help, but…such is the life of sewing 🙂 Let us know if you have any questions!
~ Evelyn
