I've lost weight - can I get trousers taken in?

kah22

Around Christmas I bought several new pairs of size 38 trousers. At that time my waist was heading towards 40 😱 So they were set in the wardrobe until they would fit me on my New Year diet. Needless to say they never did !

Some months back the situation got out of hand 40 was beginning to feel tight around the waist so I seriously took to loosing weight and it has been very successful.

Now I find that I have four new, never worn 38 waist band trousers sitting there and I now find that a 36 trouser will fit me comfortably and I'm wondering can these be effectively taken in i.e. Reduced from 38 to 36. I might add that I'm aiming to loose another 7/8 lbs and that may take me down to size 34 so I'll probably wait for another month or so until the scale stops moving down ways 🙂

So is it effective to take them in or will they look like mutton dressed as lamb

Kevin

ps For those interested I've been following a LCHF diet

flea72

They can be taken in, but depending on the cost of the trousers, it might not be worth the effort as going down 2 sizes, will involve alot of needlework. Are you planning on doing this yourself, or paying a seamstress to do this?

You will need to unpick and remove the waistband, take in side and rear seams. Then shorten waistband and reattach. Not a simple task, especially if the trousers have pockets that are attached to the side seams

FairyPrincessk

I was going to say essentially the same thing as flea. It can certainly be done and if done well they should look good as new (letting them back out is a different story as the fabric fades) but the cost of having it done may not make sense as it is a relatively labour intensive alteration. I would also not advise doing it for more than two sizes as they will start to look more 'off' the more drastic the size change. You can probably get an estimate if you ring any local alterations services. There are chains in larger cities, and dry cleaners also often offer this service if you aren't sure where to start looking.

jackyann

I'd begin by getting an estimate, then set against the cost of the trousers (and also consider what you might sell them for)

If they are smart trousers, it really does need doing by a professional, but I would suggest handing over one pair first, in case the result is not what you want.

Casual trousers - that you might wear with a T/polo shirt over the top - you might consider yourself as flea suggested. Maybe worth trying if you are otherwise going to give them away.

I have completely re-done waistbands, using the petersham waistbands that you can buy at haberdashery shops - but I wear them with long shirts over the top (unlikely to show if stretching!)

suki1964

Will the legs not also be too wide going down that much?

Pollycat

I've been making my own clothes for almost 50 years.
Doing alterations is - imho - a nightmare for the reasons stated above.
I can't see it being cheap at all done by a proper seamstress/tailor so I think it would depend on how expensive the trousers were.

If you bought them in Primark, I'd just charity shop them.
If you paid a reasonable amount, get an estimate for the job.

MallyGirl

or sell them on ebay as BNWT

Living_proof

There are some good videos on YouTube on this subject, certainly for women's jeans so I am sure you will find something for men's trousers too. I think you will always compromise the comfort of the waistband unless you thoroughly re-tailor them, but I have one or two pairs of trousers which started off that way and they are not too bad. I too am on LCHF and need to get a little stricter with myself!

SailorSam

I've lost weight recently and got a couple of new pairs from charities shops for about £2. Is it worth all the messing around. I'd never been in a Charity shop until i started reading about them on here.

kah22

I've got some very good clothes from charity shops. In my locality there is not much menswear available but when it does appear it's pretty good.

Accept what you all say about taking in. I'll wait and see what I level out at and if it proves unrealistic to have them repaired then I'll pass them onto my local charity. Give something back, so to speak

ERICS_MUM

Well done on the weight loss !