How to Narrow a Leg Opening by Alteration

Narrow your pant cuff and show off your shoes.

Finding the perfect fit in the waist and hips may mean settling for pants with a wider leg or cuff than you like. Changing fashions may put a strain on your budget. Getting exactly what you want out of your wardrobe will require you to make alterations. You don’t need to pay a tailor to fix pant legs. If you have access to a sewing machine, become your own tailor and spend the money you save on a new pair of shoes to peek out from under your narrowed pant legs.

Things You'll Need

• Pattern pants
• Tailor’s chalk
• Pins
• Sewing machine
• Scissors

Instructions

Matching Existing Pants

1. Turn the pants you want to alter inside out.

2. Lay the pants to be altered flat on the work surface and the pattern pants on top of them. Align the waist, crotch and cuffs.

3. Trace the outline of the pattern pant legs with tailor’s chalk from the knee to the cuff.

4. Pin the pants together using the chalk line as a guide.

5. Try the pants on to verify the legs are narrowed as desired and make adjustments as necessary.

6. Sew the pant legs along the pins, removing the pins as you sew. If the pants are stretchy, use a zigzag stitch. Otherwise, a straight stitch is fine.

7. Cut off the excess fabric.

Alterations Without a Pattern

1. Turn the pants inside out and put them on.

2. Pin the outer seam of the leg to the desired tightness. Leave at least one finger width of room between the cuff and the ankle or you will not be able to pull your foot through.

3. Take the pants off carefully to avoid pulling out any pins.

4. Sew the pant legs along the pins, removing the pins as you sew. If the pants are stretchy, use a zigzag stitch. Otherwise, a straight stitch is fine.

5. Cut off the excess fabric.

References

• Cut Out and Keep: Skinny Jeans
• The Greenists: How to Turn Wide-Legged Jeans into Skinny Jeans