How to Cut Jeans to Make Wider Leg

Tips

• Practice on an old pair of pants first.
• Whenever possible, unravel the seam rather than cutting the material, then sew the open seams flat on each side of the leg opening. Unraveling the seam will make it much easier to sew the insert in.
• Try to keep your insert fabric close to the weight of the pants fabric. Denim with denim, twill with twill, etc. If you use a lighter fabric, you will need to trim away some of the original so the weight doesn't squish your insert too much.
• Pinning- place the pins horizontally along the edges, not vertically. This will make the fabric lie flat and not cause puckers to be sewn in.
• Choose a patterned fabric, and alternating color, or paint or embroider on your insert for contrast. Or try to match the color and weight closely for a more a subtle version.

Warnings

• You may end up ruining your pants...make shorts!
• This is much easier with a sewing machine as the seam edges you are joining are 6 layers of fabric. Fingers will get sore if hand sewing.

Things You'll Need

• Scissors, thread to match the weight and color of the heaviest fabric, needle or sewing machine, fabric for insert, iron, straight pins.