ince maintaining your clothes is the most sustainable thing you can do in fashion, I enjoy testing the limits on feasible alterations.

Trouser Alterations

The waistband is obviously the first thing to correct when trousers don’t fit. Ordinarily only the center back of the trousers would be altered, but in extreme cases this will pull the pockets onto your bum. Here the side seams were also reduced, and the leg tapered

I picked these trousers up at a thrift store years ago…not entirely sure why as they’re DEFINITELY not my size and aren’t super fabulous in any way…but whatever they came in useful after all!

A low crotch in the pants makes for an unsightly fit, and oversized trousers often have this problem (it’s to do with the trouser pattern itself, which you can read more about here)

It is a difficult part of the trouser to fit correctly in the first place, and altering from an existing pair is no joke. Unless of course you have mad skillz!

Because this wasn’t a regular alteration job, we took our time altering in stages, basting first and experimenting along the way. It helps me to know where the limits are when dealing with my clients.

Just for fun I also left the creases where they were originally ironed, just to see where they’d land up. Generally you’d flatten the creases and re-iron them down the new center leg.

I could also have lowered the waist had I not gotten bored of this project too soon ;)

So there you have it Gents and Ladies, proof positive that the J seam can indeed be manipulated to a degree; and your very over-sized hand-me-downs can become high fashion!