The Tale of the Gigantic Waistband

Amongst some work trousers Mr H brought home from the op shop was pair of mid-brown RM Williams (an iconic sort of brand here in Australia). Back when he bought them, he didn’t bother to try things on in the shop – this has since changed – and the trousers were too big and too short.

He was getting rid of this careless purchase and I decided to try them on and see if they were any good for me. They were. They were too short but looked good worn with boots, and the waist was too big so I’ve been wearing them with a belt.

Normally I wouldn’t put up with trousers that didn’t fit just right, but the fabric was really comfortable – a caramel-coloured soft buttery twill.

Every time I wore them, which has been quite a bit, I thought about how much better they would be with back elastic, so I wouldn’t need to arrange the spare fabric around my waist every time I did the belt up. The trousers are too big to take in, as I would lose the front and back pockets, and anyway I like the roomy-ness.

So I’ve finally done something about it, instead of just thinking!

At this point I could have gone the adjustable elastic path, to assist with my fluctuating waistline, and made a buttonhole in the inside waistband for threading buttonhole elastic through:

Or if I wanted to use sturdy non-roll elastic instead, I could have added a buttonholed tab at each end:

But I didn’t, not because I’m some sort of buttonhole phobic, but I’ll probably keep wearing a belt with these anyway and just need the help of the elastic (rather like these zero waste Jones trousers).

Much quicker to do than I thought – just imagine all that time thinking about it when I could have been doing.

Then I gave them a super-dooper good press, which they’re never had in their life as they’re only part of my “around the house” gear, and tried them out.

Now when I put them on, the trousers have a flat front:

And an elastic back:

Cheers!

PS – For the opposite issue, where a waistband is too small, take a look at my jeans waist expansion project post.