How to Alter Scrub Pants

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When it comes to a uniform or work attire, a proper fit is much more than fashionable, it's essential to ensuring job success. High performance and accurate execution of whatever task you're doing depends on your ability to concentrate and not worry about ill fitting pants or anything else. Those in the medical field have the duty of wearing scrubs to work each day. If your scrubs don't fit, you can alter them at home instead of paying a professional for alterations.

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Things You'll Need

  • Scrub pants

  • Mirror

  • Basic sewing kit

  • Iron

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Step 1

Determine where your scrub pants need to be altered. The common issue with pants that don't fit properly is either the waist is too large or the pant legs are too long.

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Step 2

Pin excess material. Stand in front of a mirror with your scrub pants on. If the waist of the pants is too large, do not stretch the elastic simply pinch both the left and right sides on the inside of the waistline so that you've pinched equal amounts of excess material on either side to make the pants fit snugly around your waist. Insert a sewing pin, safety pin, or needle through each of the pinched sides in a vertical direction, placing it as close to your fingers as possible. Make sure the pin has gone completely through the material on both sides, so that when your fingers are no longer pinching the sections of excess material, the pants still fit snugly.

Step 3

If the pant legs are too long, cuff the excess material of your scrub pants under until you have reached your desired pant leg length. Place pins at the top of the cuff in a horizontal manner. Make sure the pins completely penetrate all of the layers of material.

Step 4

Turn the pants inside out. Make a small knot at the end of an approximately 10-inch piece of thread and thread a sewing needle with thread that is either an exact or neutral color match for the pants.

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Step 5

Stitch the pinched material around the waist line and cuffed material around the pant legs by pushing the need through the material and up through the underside until you have sewn horizontally around the entire cuffed pant leg and vertically along the pinched material inside the waist line.

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Step 6

Try the pants on to make certain your alterations and sewing have been done correctly. Iron the cuffed and pinched areas so that they lie flat.

Tip

Re-measure your pant legs to make sure they are the same length prior to sewing.

Adjust the cuffed and/or pinched material if needed, always erring on the side of too long as opposed to too short when making alterations.

Warning

Be aware that when you are working with sewing needles and pins, you may pierce your skin if you are not cautious. Please sew very carefully.

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