How To Reduce Jeans By Size: Wash So That They Shrink, Return To Shape, If The Fabric Is Stretched, Sew At Home

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

How to shrink jeans and restore them to their former shape

It happens that old and favorite jeans stretch and become larger by size. Or we ourselves are losing weight, but we don't want to part with our beloved and proven model. Sometimes it even happens that the jeans we just bought in the store turn out to be much larger than we expected. If you have the time and desire, you can try to reduce them.

Content

• 1 Why jeans stretch

• 2 How to shrink jeans by washing

  • 2.1 Machine wash
  • 2.2 Digestion in boiling water
• 3 How to make jeans dry

• 4 Sew on the figure

  • 4.1 At the side seam

    4.1.1 Video: how to sew jeans along the side seam

  • 4.2 At the middle seam

    4.2.1 Video: how to sew jeans along the middle seam

• 5 How to care for jeans to keep fit

Why jeans stretch

The denim material is made from strong and thick cotton thread. It is strong to tear, but stretches well. Because of this, with constant stretching of the fabric, jeans lose their original shape. This is especially noticeable on the knees (those very unattractive bubbles) and the belt. The addition of synthetic threads improves the situation a little. They are rubberized and therefore easier to return to their original shape, while maintaining elasticity.

These details are of great practical importance. Stretch jeans, which are usually made with a lot of synthetics, hardly shrink after a hot wash. The best way to reduce them is to suture them. More natural denim (70% cotton or more), on the other hand, shrinks strongly from high temperatures. Therefore, jeans with little or no synthetic fibers can be washed to shrink.

Check the fabric composition on the tag

How to shrink jeans by washing

Surely your jeans have shrunk at least once after an unsuccessful wash. If you get down to business wisely, you can use this feature for good and return the shape of an old product. These methods, as mentioned above, are suitable mainly for denim with a low synthetic content (up to 10%). However, a cheap product with low-quality synthetic threads can also shrink from such procedures.

Machine wash

The easiest way to carry out the procedure is in a typewriter:

1. Empty the drum and put only jeans in it.
2. Set the maximum water temperature (usually 90 degrees) and the maximum spin speed.
3. Add fabric softener. It will prevent jeans from becoming overly stiff (oak) after shrinkage.
4. Wash your jeans as intensively as possible.
5. Take out the product and dry it in a horizontal position.

Boiling water

If you don't have a washing machine at hand, use boiling water. You will need a large pair of tweezers for styling your jeans and a pot that will fit the entire garment:

1. Boil water in a saucepan.
2. Place jeans in boiling water using tongs.
3. Boil them for 20-30 minutes. The process must be monitored at least once every five minutes. Jeans will not be able to burn to the pan, but gurgling water will periodically push them to the surface. Your task is to plunge them back using the tongs.
4. Drain the water and wait for the jeans to cool slightly to avoid scalding. Be especially careful with metal parts (buttons and fly).
5. Dry your jeans horizontally.

How to make jeans dry

Even more than hot water, jeans will shrink from aggressive and hot drying. Wash jeans in a washing machine (any mode), wring out at the maximum number of revolutions, and then use one of the methods:

• You can dry your jeans with a working central heating battery. If you have a regulator valve, set it to maximum heat. It is best to purchase a special dryer that is attached to a battery. This is the simplest but least efficient method. With its help, jeans will not shrink at all, so it is suitable for returning a tight-fitting silhouette to old skinny jeans, which were slightly worn;

  

  Such dryers cost about 50-100 rubles and are sold in hardware stores and departments with fixed prices.

• a hair dryer is also a good option. Please note that the device may shut down during drying due to overheating of the motor. This is normal, you need to wait a few minutes for it to cool down and turn it back on. Spread the jeans on a table or on the floor, and press the edges of the pants with books or other heavy objects. On the other hand, insert the hairdryer with the nozzle inside the product, wrap the belt tightly around the case and turn on the hairdryer at maximum power and temperature. If you did everything right, then jeans will puff. So they need to be kept until they are completely dry;

  

  Such drying will shrink jeans more or less evenly.

• it is best if you have a special tumble dryer or add this feature to your washing machine. Everything is simple here - after washing, you need to start the most intensive and aggressive drying mode.

  

  Dryers and washing machines are expensive, but their presence in the house is often justified - at least with their help, you can easily shrink jeans

Drying can also be used to locally reduce jeans, for example, only on the hips or on sagging knees. To do this, moisten the problem area with a spray bottle, and then dry using one of the above methods.

Sew on the figure

If you have thread, a sewing machine, and basic sewing skills, you can shrink jeans with simple suturing. This method is the most effective and gives the most aesthetic result if you follow all the steps carefully and slowly. You can adjust the width of the updated product at any point with millimeter precision.

Side seam

This method is suitable for shrinking jeans evenly over their entire length:

1. Slip on your jeans and baste the basting parallel to the side seams so that it fits perfectly on you. The basting should run from the very top of the jeans to the beginning of the thigh on both legs.
2. Remove jeans and measure from side seam to basting. As an example, let's take 2 centimeters - this allows jeans to be reduced by exactly one size.
3. From the right side, extend the side seam line on the waistband using a cutting chalk. Mark on both sides of the resulting line the distance from the previous step. Turn the jeans inside out. Extend the side seam line again with chalk.
4. On both sides of the side seam and its continuation on the belt, mark the fine distance that we got in step 2. In our example, this is 2 centimeters. Thus, we get an "extra" strip 4 centimeters wide, running parallel to the side seam.

5. Let's move on to ripping. Turn the jeans right out. You need to rip up a small section of the seam that connects the belt to the rest of the product. We will separate the parts according to the marked width, increasing it by a couple of centimeters for convenience. Do the same with the top of the belt, which connects the front to the inside.

   

   Mark this extension in advance with a crayon

6. The bottom hem of the leg (if your jeans has one) also need to be ripped open. The most convenient way is to rip it off entirely.

   

   The bottom hem can be unhooked completely for easy handling

7. Now you need to rip the side shock itself from top to bottom.

8. Turn the jeans inside out and iron thoroughly at maximum temperature.

   

   At this stage, you should have a straight line for suturing the legs.

9. Align the edges of the fabric and secure them with pins.

   

   At this stage, we protect ourselves from accidental tissue shifts.

10. Sew along our sketched line from the very top of the leg to the bottom without touching the belt. It is best to do this with a machine - manually, the seam will be uneven, and you will spend a lot of time on it.
11. You can trim the remaining allowances if necessary so that they are 1.0–1.5 cm. Then they need to be overlocked. If you don't have one, use a typewriter zigzag stitch.

12. Turn the jeans right out. Go back to our belt markings. It is necessary to cut the tissue along the center line, which, as we remember, is a continuation of the side seam.

    

    You will need the sharpest scissors - the belt is the thickest and strongest part of the jeans

13. Now you need to sew the belt. To do this, sew in pairs with the front sides inside the belt part. Such details are sewn together.

    

    You should have four separate pieces of fabric that need to be sewn in pairs.

14. Stitch the resulting two pieces from the top along the front side. Try to fit the sides of the seam into the existing seam for aesthetically pleasing jeans.

    

    Usually the distance between the top edge and the seam is about 1 mm, so be extremely careful in this step

15. Wrap the main piece of jeans inside the waistband through the hole that remains on the bottom side. Simply put, return the belt to the position it was in prior to unsewing. Sew along the lines of the split seam.

    

    Here, as in the previous step, you need to monitor the evenness of the seam so that the jeans turn out beautiful

16. Fold and stitch the bottom edge of each leg. Make the seam as straight as possible because it will be visible from the outside.

Video: how to sew jeans along the side seam

Middle seam

If the jeans are too big for you only at the waist and hips, you can sew them along the middle (back) seam:

1. Put on your jeans and have someone help you with a sketch. Gather excess fabric at the back seam. Take off your jeans and mark the basting line with chalk, not forgetting the belt.

   

   Do not try to make a perfectly straight line - we will not sew along this

2. Unfasten the belt loop if it gets caught in the resulting strip.

3. Peel off the belt from the jeans with a strip of "excess fabric".

   

   We will shrink and the belt

4. Now you need to rip the center seam all the way to the groin (joining the front of the jeans).
5. Pin the pins along the finely marked line.

6. Turn the jeans inside out. Make a chalk line following the pin marks. Then the pins can be pulled out.

   

   Now we have a line along which we need to sew the product

7. Iron the jeans to line up the seam, line up the edges, and secure with pins.

   

   Now the parts will not move relative to each other

8. Then sew the details along the drawn line. As with the previous method, it is best to do this with a typewriter.

9. Cut off some of the allowance. The rest should be no more than 1.5 cm.

   

   This will make the jeans fit more tightly and will save you from ugly bumps at the seams.

10. Overlock or zigzag the seam allowance on a typewriter.

    

    So the fabric will not unravel

11. We turn the jeans out onto the front side. Now we need to narrow the belt. To do this, we cut off the extra strip of fabric, marked with a crayon, leaving a seam allowance of 1 cm on each side.

    

    Allowance is required, otherwise the belt will turn out narrower than necessary

12. We open the finishing line on the top of the belt that connects the two halves. We now have four belt parts.

    

    Finishing seam connects the outer and inner belt pieces

13. We sew the belt parts in pairs along the marked line - outer from the outer, inner from the inner. You need to sew with the front sides inward.

    

    We're almost done rebuilding the belt

14. Push the main piece of jeans into the hole on the underside of the waistband (as it was before you pulled it off). Sew along the line left over from the ripped seam.

    

    Do not push too deep, otherwise it will wrinkle.

15. Tuck the upper side allowances inside the waistband and sew the finishing stitch. Again, try to make it exactly along the line where the factory seam used to be.

    

    Don't forget to match the threads to match so your work is invisible

Video: how to sew jeans along the middle seam

Jeans care rules to keep fit

To keep your shrunken jeans from losing their shape, follow these simple rules:

• wash the product less often. This does not mean that you need to turn into dirty and toss your jeans in a typewriter once a year. It is enough to wash them once a month, dry cleaning between washings and refreshing them on the balcony;
• the optimum temperature for washing is 40 degrees. It is suitable for both natural denim and fabrics with a mixture of synthetics;
• straighten jeans before drying;
• dry the product in a horizontal position;
• rarely wear them at home unnecessarily - from this and usually and unattractive blisters on the knees are formed. After returning from a walk or school, take off your jeans and fold them neatly. Do not crumple the product or leave it in a shapeless heap on the floor.

Using these little tricks, you can extend the life of your favorite jeans. Do not forget to look after them after shrinking so that the fabric does not continue to stretch.