Monday, October 7, 2013

Quick fix: DIY Maternity Jeans.

I LOVE wearing jeans. I have way too many, which are all packed up at the moment because they don't fit my pregnant body. I have found that Belly Bands and hair elastics work for awhile, but... eventually the hair elastics feel like they are cutting across my belly and the Belly Bands just don't keep the pants up, leading to lots of yanking and adjusting, not the most flattering look.


I lived in my single pair of maternity jeans during my last pregnancy and pretty much wore them out. There are a few different types of maternity jeans...

The stretchy tummy kind...comfy, but they don't stay up.



The elastic at the top kind...stay up but not as comfortable, and they leave an elastic bump visible under your clothes.

The side elastic...these look really pretty promising, but I wonder how they will feel in the later stages of pregnancy.

And the underbelly wide elastic...AHHHHH. These are comfy AND they stay up! 

It would be easy to just go buy some, but, maternity jeans are always pricy, we are saving money to attend my sister's wedding (next week!) and possibly move to a new home, so I could not justify the expense without looking for sewing instructions online first.

I found some super easy looking tutorials on Pinterest and thought, "I can do that." I sorted through my pile of jeans looking for a likely candidate. I settled on this old ratty pair because 
a) old jeans=comfy jeans, and 
b) if I screwed up, they were bound for the donate box anyhow.

Here is the before:



And the After:


No gap in the back!


No weird belly lumps!

Few notes: 
After reviewing a number of tutorials, I decided to modify the tutorial I followed in a few key ways. I removed the zipper entirely and sewed the fly shut. I dipped the front of the jeans below my belly so they would not squish my bump. I carry low, so this was key for a comfy fit.

I have a few more tutorials and jeans to play with, but this was so easy, I might not bother trying out alternate methods. It only took me about half an hour, but if I hadn't been distracted by demands, it would have taken under 15 minutes. The jeans have that familiar 'broken in' feeling, and they stay put! I bought some dark indigo dye and plan to dye these and two other pair of jeans, along with a white shirt that needs a revival. I think the dark dye will help to hide the paint splatters a bit, but these will still be kickin' around jeans. 

Cost:
Jeans $0
Dritz Knit Elastic 3 in x 2 yds (I needed 1 yd per pair) about $5
Indigo Dye about $3

Total: About $8 for two pair of super comfy maternity jeans. I *might* get brave and modify a pair of my nicer jeans next. Maybe.

-Jen

PS: You can see more DIY maternity ideas on my Pinterest board.

1 comment:

  1. Nice post all the information are really valuable. Thanks for sharing such a nice post.

    ReplyDelete