Over time, gins lose their shape and stretch. Don't rush and buy new things.
Some simple rules and tips will help you save your favorite jeans and give them a new shape.
How to wash jeans so that they shrink and become a size smaller - at what water temperature? How to seat only in one specific place? You will find answers to questions in the article.
Is it possible to make it 1 or 2 sizes smaller?
If you set a goal to reduce your jeans by one or two sizes, it would be a good idea to carefully study the manufacturer’s label for the composition of the denim fabric.
Detailed information will help you decide on how to shrink your favorite jeans:
Denim fabric can be identified by its bright blue front side and white back. Denim trousers can be safely washed at high temperatures and actively dried in automatic dryers.- Soft cotton jean denim is dyed the same on both the back and front sides. Such material is difficult to shrink. Even when exposed to high temperatures, jeans shrink just a little in size.
- Elastic stretch denim contains special lycra fibers. Washing at high temperatures or boiling stretch jeans is not recommended. Such matter stretches even more after heat treatment.
- Light, very thin chambry jeans, unlike classic denim, very quickly lose their original appearance. After boiling and washing at high temperatures, chambry jeans items decrease not only in width, but also in length.
How many centimeters maximum can jeans fit?
Jeans is a natural cotton fabric, trousers made of which are so popular all over the world. Denim pants have many advantages: they fit well on the body, tighten it, keep it warm, and look stylish. However, jeans have one main drawback - they tend to wear out, increasing in size, and then the trousers fit loosely, slip down, and hang in bags.
Several household methods can help fix this, such as washing, for example, or even “cooking” jeans. However, you should know that such fraud can only happen with trousers made of natural cotton. You can only pull down your pants one size, so don’t expect to shrink them several times, maximum 1-1.5 cm in diameter.
Washing jeans and shrinking them: tips and tricks
Proper drying
Proper drying of denim trousers will help secure the shrinkage result.
There are three ways:
Jeans, after washing in hot water, are hung on the dryer bar without straightening or stretching.
It is important that the dryer is located near a heat source (radiator or heater). Then the water from the denim will evaporate faster, recording the result of shrinkage.- Wet jeans are laid out on a terry towel. The fabric will quickly absorb moisture, which will help the trousers dry without losing their shape.
- Iron drying is a good method if you need to reduce localized areas. The jeans are turned inside out and ironed in the necessary places with a hot iron. If you don't have an iron at hand, a hairdryer is a good alternative.
- The fastest and most effective way to dry jeans is to use a special drying machine. Such hot air drying will help reduce jeans not by one, but by two sizes.
This article will tell you about ways to dry jeans.
Do stretch jeans with polyester and elastane shrink after washing?
Jeans can also be made not from 100% cotton fabric, but from a mixture, for example, 70% cotton 30% elastin.
Clothes that are sewn with the addition of elastane (elastane threads) are always distinguished by the fact that they are not able to wrinkle much. It has good water and breathability. However, it does not shrink after washing (by hand or machine) like cotton does.
Elastane (another name for “stretch”) is a fabric that stretches well, and therefore jeans with elastane threads are always durable, fit well on the body and any figure, they are comfortable and comfortable. Stretch jeans can withstand even multiple washes. Like cotton jeans, pants with elastane stretch when worn (give stretch). After washing, the trousers return to their original size (especially good if they are new).
Cotton and stretch jeans: what's the difference?
How to seat in a certain place?
Fabric conditioner will help restore shape to jeans that have stretched knees, waistbands, or bulging pockets.
What should be done:
- dilute fabric softener with clean water in a ratio of 3:1;
- pour the resulting solution into a spray bottle and carefully treat the stretched areas of fabric on the jeans;
- We place wet jeans in the drum of an automatic dryer or quickly iron the dampened areas with an iron.
The shrinkage effect of denim can only be achieved by drying as quickly as possible. Using the traditional method of drying on a rope under the sun, it will not be possible to achieve the effect of fabric shrinkage.
Additional recommendations
Proper drying will help you achieve a smaller jeans size.
If all else fails and your pants are still hanging where they should be, try resorting to drastic measures using a needle, scissors and thread...
Drying rules
Proper drying will not only make jeans one size smaller, but will also ensure long-term preservation of their original shape.
When blast drying, a battery (during the heating season) or an iron comes to the rescue. But remember that ironing and drying with an iron are detrimental to stretch products. Elastane does not shrink, but, on the contrary, stretches.
Option #1. Iron:
- Preheat the iron to maximum temperature.
- Place the jeans on a fabric that absorbs moisture well, and lay an identical one on top. Iron until they are completely dry.
The disadvantages include the need for prolonged personal participation in the process - it will take at least half an hour for the pants to dry.
Option #2. Battery:
- Hang it next to the heating element.
- Wait.
To prevent jeans from shrinking when drying in a radiator or in the sun, just hang them on clothespins.
Option #3. Automatic dryer: when drying jeans that require size reduction, the machine is set to maximum speed.
Simply drying them outdoors in sunny weather will also help shrink the jeans.
If all else fails, you can stitch it in!
If after washing, boiling, and quick drying it was not possible to reduce the size of denim trousers, there is only one thing left to do - sew in the jeans. The masters of sewing salons will quickly and efficiently sew from denim fabric . But such services cost a lot of money.
Therefore, having carefully studied the features of altering stretched jeans, you can safely get to work.
Algorithm of actions:
We prepare the necessary tools: thread, sharp scissors, needles, sewing machine (preferably with an overlocker), chalk or pencil, iron.- We rip the seams on the jeans in problem areas, remove old threads and carefully smooth the fabric.
- Focusing on the new parameters, we make markings with chalk.
- We sew the jeans along the new lines and try on the product in order to evaluate the quality of the fit of the product.
- After all changes have been corrected, we sew new seams on a sewing machine.
- We cut off the excess fabric, process the edges using an overlocker or sew it by hand.
Waist
The easiest way to change the width of a belt is to sew an elastic band into it . To do this, an incision is made on the back of the belt through which a wide elastic band is threaded. Fixed at the edges of the belt, it gathers it, thereby reducing the volume of the jeans at the waist.
Along the hips
In order to adjust the upper part of the jeans along the hip line, you need to do the following:
- Carefully remove the belt and rip the jeans along the hips. The experts also recommend ripping off the back pockets (their location on updated jeans most often changes)
- Using fitting, we fix the new hip line with pins, trying to make the transition from the factory line to the new line less noticeable.
- After the fitting is completed, we sew new lines on a sewing machine. Excess fabric is cut off only after the alteration of denim trousers is completed.
- Sew on the waistband and back pockets.
In order for the alteration of jeans to look as neat as possible, you need to very carefully select the shade of the thread for the external decorative seam.
This video will show you how to sew jeans:
Reducing a specific area
The methods described above help reduce the size of jeans from all sides. But they are not suitable if overall the size suits you, but you need to remove stretchiness in certain areas.
In this case, there is another way to fit jeans to fit at the waist or hips - using a spray bottle:
- Fill the reservoir with warm water with conditioner, shake the composition thoroughly.
- Lay the jeans out on a table or ironing board.
- Spray the stretched area with a spray bottle and dry quickly. This can be done with a hairdryer or iron. In the latter case, you need to move the device from the edges to the center, and not move it along the fabric. Otherwise, the material will stretch even more.
In this way, the remaining problem areas are worked out one by one. If everything is done correctly, but you don’t like the result, you will have to repeat the procedure.
Why is the procedure needed?
Why make jeans smaller when clothing stores already have enough choice? Firstly, we are not all perfect, and often choosing pants that fit our figure becomes a big problem. Sometimes it’s wide at the waist, sometimes it’s narrow at the shins, and you also have to hem it and remove the length. Thanks to special washing conditions, you can adjust the model you like to suit you.
Secondly, not all types of denim are wear-resistant. You will have to reduce the size of your pants if they are stretched. The product itself looks good, emphasizes the figure, only the elongated knees spoil everything. Some people don’t want to splurge on new pants every time the problem of pulling out the old ones arises. The procedure will also help those who have suddenly lost weight.
At home, you can make clothes one size smaller with just washing. It is unlikely that it will be possible to reduce an item by 2 sizes; in such cases it is better to resort to a sewing machine.
Drying correctly
How quickly and in what shape jeans dry also affects their size. In standard care there is a rule prohibiting accelerated drying in a drum or on a radiator.
Let's go in reverse and use technology to make stretched pants smaller:
- Tumble drying is the best and fastest option for drying washed trousers. They decrease evenly.
- Iron. To quickly pull off your pants this way, place an absorbent fabric underneath them. Iron from the wrong side. At the same time, you can slightly stretch the legs along the length if you only need to compress the waistband and width.
- Hair dryer. Use equipment to dry local areas. Drying jeans completely with a hairdryer takes a very long time, the moisture evaporates unevenly.
- A battery, oven or sunlight will speed up drying.
Tip If you need to reduce jeans only in width, hang them wet on clothespins. This way they will stretch out in length.
For those who truly love raw denim
If the desire to buy trousers made from “real” denim cannot be suppressed by any “counterfeits”, then the shrinking procedure will need to be carried out on your own. To ensure that you have enough knowledge and the result is what is expected, you should use a few tips.
1. Required components:
– a large container in which jeans will fit “full-length” (you can use a bathtub, if you don’t mind);
– water heated to a temperature of at least 60 degrees Celsius;
- a weight that will prevent the jeans from floating to the surface (plastic bottles filled with water are perfect).
2. Jeans must be carefully placed at the bottom of the container so that there are no folds or creases on them, and pressed down with a weight. They should soak for at least 4 hours, and there is no need to panic if the water becomes colored. This is absolutely normal. Then the jeans are taken out and hung in such a way that water flows freely down them.
3. If after shrinking you cannot fit into your jeans (they have become tight in the waistband), then you can soak the waistband for another hour and then dry it using special spacers. They will give the width the required size.
Sewing options
What can you do to make your jeans fit if the washing options don’t help? This is where a home cutting and sewing kit comes in handy.
The beginning of the sewing process should consist of preparing (assembling) the necessary tools. You need to arm yourself with the following materials: sewing machine, scissors, pins, thread, overlocker, steamer, chalk, iron.
Note! If you do not have enough experience or materials, it will be better and safer to contact a studio.
Side stitching
Shrinkage methods did not help, which means that the whole set of seamstresses and attentiveness are used. The steps for sewing on the sides are performed in the following sequence:
- Turn the garment inside out and put it on.
- Pins mark the places that will lend themselves to suturing. The action is performed on the inside and outside of both legs.
- We take off our pants.
- A mark is made with chalk for later cutting.
- The trouser legs are basted by hand.
- Trying on, checking for ease of movement and how the clothes will stretch if you need to sit down.
- The excess is cut off. It is important to cut 1 cm further from the indicated seam.
- The stitching is done on a machine. The threads must match the color.
- A double stitch is made along the outer edge.
- We finish the work by ironing.
- The cut is processed with an overlocker.
Stitching in the hips
The method is available for beginners, provided that no more than 4 centimeters are sutured.
- Steam the side seams and the middle seam (where the buttocks are).
- We sew as much as needed.
The condition for correct stitching is to make the same style of seams when stitching as in the original form.
Back seam stitching
Working with the back seam involves using all the same tools and items as in sewing on the sides. Plus one assistant. Since working with this zone is not very convenient alone. Follow the same steps of work, starting with fitting and marking the sewing location.
Do not forget that you need to leave at least one centimeter of the basted material before you sew the seam on the machine. Don't forget to sew the belt back on at the end.
Jeans can also be sewn along the back seam.
Sewing at the waist or belt
During fitting, you need to determine how many centimeters the pants have become larger in the waistband. If no more than 3 cm, then buying an elastic band will save the situation. You need to sew it on from the inside. If more than 3 cm, then it needs to be sutured.
- Support at the rear.
- Definition of dart. This is convenient to do if you turn it inside out and put it on yourself. Outside help will be helpful. Let your assistant determine the location of the dart and mark it exactly.
- Remove and stitch along the marked line. The sewn area must be secured by ironing.
- The dart is secured from the outside with a thread.
- The belt is cut off and the belt loop is steamed. The excess parts that have formed must be removed with scissors.
- Next comes returning the belt to the jeans and hiding the resulting seam with a belt loop.
The sewing of trousers in the belt is carried out in several stages.
When sewing on an elastic band, you can take it in length not to cover the entire waistband, but only to the required area. Before starting, make slits in the belt on both sides where you will insert it. Put a pin on the elastic band and thread it through the slots, after which it (the pin) should be secured in the pants so that the ends do not run away. We make lines on 2 sides.
At the end you need to sew on an elastic band.
Cooking jeans
Instead of washing your pants, you can boil them, as women did in Soviet times. This procedure is guaranteed to reduce the size of the item, but will also affect its color. If you like blue-gray stains and a boiled-out tint, then feel free to proceed. If not, the method is not suitable for you.
- Take a large saucepan and fill it with water.
- What to weld jeans with? Add detergent: powder or regular soap. The solution should be saturated.
- Place the clothes in a saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer for about half an hour. Bonus: thanks to this washing, you can not only reduce the size of the product, but also get rid of old dirt.
We recommend: How to properly sew up a hole in jeans (on the knee, butt, between the legs)?
Tip To avoid severe stains, turn the item inside out.
