First World Problem & Solution: Squat Butt & Waist Gaps
LorinaLynn
Posts: 13,247 Member
If you’ve read my other posts, you know I’m in LOVE with what doing barbell squats has done to my backside. I went from a flat, droopy, mushy bum to a round, high and firm booty. See?
However, when your bum is no longer flat, droopy or mushy, you do run into problems finding clothes that fit properly. If they fit in the *kitten*, hips and thighs, they gap at the waist. Oh, I know… what a hardship! I have a curvy body and small waist. I better stop lifting weights! NOT.
Here’s a pair of shorts I just bought for an upcoming costume event… I don’t typically wear shorts THIS short. Even though I’m normally a size 4 or 6, I had to buy these in a (juniors size) 13 to fit my backside and not cut off circulation to my legs. And they gap at the waist.
They gap so badly that I could carry a large jar candle back there.
Don’t despair. The solution is simple. It’ll take about 10 minutes and all you need are a needle, thread, and pair of scissors. And the scissors are only for cutting the thread. You don’t need that much thread, a small spool will do, and you’ll want something that better matches your fabric, but I wanted the stitches to show for the purpose of this demonstration.
All you need to do is make two small darts in the back of the waistband. A dart is a fold in the fabric used to give a garment dimension. Many fitted blouses will have darts and seaming to give you room for boobies and shape at your waist. The problem with many pants is that they’re cut at an angle to allow for the width of your hips, but they don’t have structure and shaping for the roundness of a shapely tushie. So you’ll have to create them.
First, decide where you want them. I’m putting mine in the back near the middle belt loop. Also have a rough idea of how much smaller you need the waist. I didn’t want these so tight that they’d give me a muffin top, so I figured about three inches should do. Each fold is about 3/4 of an inch deep, so each dart takes in about 1.5 inches. Times two is three inches.
If you’re working on regular clothes, not a pair of cheap costume shorts, you’ll want to plan it better, and maybe even use a washable marker to outline where you want your darts to be, and pins to hold it in place. All the stuff they taught you in Home Ec class. Do they even still teach sewing in school? They should. No one should need to pay someone to sew a button back on a shirt.
Next step, start sewing. You’ll want to sew at a diagonal line (which I show better in another photo) so that the top near your waistband is a larger fold of fabric, and it tapers down to nothing at the end by your bum.
You’ll repeat the same thing on the other side. At the waistband, your darts will look like little bunny ears.
Here’s a better photo of the shape of the dart. It starts wide at the waistband, then goes diagonally. I sewed from top to bottom, did a few more stitches to reinforce the bottom, then back up to the top.
This is how it will look from the back when it’s done. Yes, it’s visible, but chances are, if someone is this close to your backside, they’re more concerned about getting IN your pants than any alterations that might have been made TO the pants.
Once they’re on, it’s even less visible, and would be less visible still if these shorts were a uniform wash and didn’t have so much variation in color.
And from the side, no more gap! Yay!
So, instead of complaining about clothes not fitting right, realize that clothes are made to fit the widest variety of body shapes, but they can be easily changed to fit your individual shape. Ignore the size on the tag, and buy what fits the largest part of your body. If you don’t have the money to spend to get something professionally tailored, buy some needles and thread and try it yourself. An alteration like this requires no permanent change to the garment. If it doesn’t work, just snip your stitches and start over.
However, when your bum is no longer flat, droopy or mushy, you do run into problems finding clothes that fit properly. If they fit in the *kitten*, hips and thighs, they gap at the waist. Oh, I know… what a hardship! I have a curvy body and small waist. I better stop lifting weights! NOT.
Here’s a pair of shorts I just bought for an upcoming costume event… I don’t typically wear shorts THIS short. Even though I’m normally a size 4 or 6, I had to buy these in a (juniors size) 13 to fit my backside and not cut off circulation to my legs. And they gap at the waist.
They gap so badly that I could carry a large jar candle back there.
Don’t despair. The solution is simple. It’ll take about 10 minutes and all you need are a needle, thread, and pair of scissors. And the scissors are only for cutting the thread. You don’t need that much thread, a small spool will do, and you’ll want something that better matches your fabric, but I wanted the stitches to show for the purpose of this demonstration.
All you need to do is make two small darts in the back of the waistband. A dart is a fold in the fabric used to give a garment dimension. Many fitted blouses will have darts and seaming to give you room for boobies and shape at your waist. The problem with many pants is that they’re cut at an angle to allow for the width of your hips, but they don’t have structure and shaping for the roundness of a shapely tushie. So you’ll have to create them.
First, decide where you want them. I’m putting mine in the back near the middle belt loop. Also have a rough idea of how much smaller you need the waist. I didn’t want these so tight that they’d give me a muffin top, so I figured about three inches should do. Each fold is about 3/4 of an inch deep, so each dart takes in about 1.5 inches. Times two is three inches.
If you’re working on regular clothes, not a pair of cheap costume shorts, you’ll want to plan it better, and maybe even use a washable marker to outline where you want your darts to be, and pins to hold it in place. All the stuff they taught you in Home Ec class. Do they even still teach sewing in school? They should. No one should need to pay someone to sew a button back on a shirt.
Next step, start sewing. You’ll want to sew at a diagonal line (which I show better in another photo) so that the top near your waistband is a larger fold of fabric, and it tapers down to nothing at the end by your bum.
You’ll repeat the same thing on the other side. At the waistband, your darts will look like little bunny ears.
Here’s a better photo of the shape of the dart. It starts wide at the waistband, then goes diagonally. I sewed from top to bottom, did a few more stitches to reinforce the bottom, then back up to the top.
This is how it will look from the back when it’s done. Yes, it’s visible, but chances are, if someone is this close to your backside, they’re more concerned about getting IN your pants than any alterations that might have been made TO the pants.
Once they’re on, it’s even less visible, and would be less visible still if these shorts were a uniform wash and didn’t have so much variation in color.
And from the side, no more gap! Yay!
So, instead of complaining about clothes not fitting right, realize that clothes are made to fit the widest variety of body shapes, but they can be easily changed to fit your individual shape. Ignore the size on the tag, and buy what fits the largest part of your body. If you don’t have the money to spend to get something professionally tailored, buy some needles and thread and try it yourself. An alteration like this requires no permanent change to the garment. If it doesn’t work, just snip your stitches and start over.
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Replies
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Cute! Nice job.
Jeans are harder to alter. I've decided to try to wear more non-jeans and have them professionally altered. But it seems that non-jeans that fit my quads are harder to find.0 -
excellent post
I have this problem with jeans! I've always wondered how to alter them rather than just wearing a belt, as the belt just makes the material bunch up 0 -
Thanks for taking the time to make that informative and useful post.
You've made the internet a better place today, OP!0 -
bump0
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Wait, there was sewing? I didn't get past that magnificent bottom transformation
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I'm totally okay with "how to sew" threads when they have illustrative photos like this. :bigsmile:
What about macramed bikinis next?0 -
Bump!0
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Excellent, Lorina! I was going to be spending some time today at the sewing machine, taking in some of my favorite skirts, I'm going to add a couple of pair of jeans to my pile.0
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Bumpity Bump Bump!! I too have this "problem". What a great solution 0
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Ohhhh so it is my pants that are the problem.....not my *kitten*
Thank you for this how to0 -
I can't wait to have this 'problem'!
Great post!0 -
tagging0
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Nice... I really need to learn how to alter clothes.
I kind of have the opposite problem due to my natural shape, but hoping it's going to even out eventually with lifting.0 -
You can also put the darts in each side instead of the back. I did this while losing when I couldn't afford to restock my wardrobe when I would only be in a size for a month or two.0
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HA!
A friend and I did a 30 day squat challenge (no barbells, just body weight) and we both complained at about day 20 that all of our pants were suddenly tight in the *kitten*. Crazy how much of a difference it makes!0 -
Ohhhh so it is my pants that are the problem.....not my *kitten*
Thank you for this how to
A firm perky *kitten* is never the problem!
+1 for this amazing tutorial.0 -
Bump!! Great advice, Lorina!!0
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Good post! I've always had issues with waist gap.0
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Great post!! I have this problem with a few items. Never thought of darts in the waist. D'oh.
Thanks for the info and the pics and great work all around!0 -
Thanks for posting! Very useful,and I choked on my water a little laughing at the large jar candle.0
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Bump. I am reading this on my Kindle and I can't see the pictures. I have to go look at it on my computer to see them.0
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Bump for the bumz. I could use this.0
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A quicker solution to the problem is to stop wearing clothes. 0
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I too have this problem, but I just wear a belt.
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Great post and kudos for the tutorial! :flowerforyou:
I did some alterations myself this week. I bought a dress but it didn't fit me properly anywhere. Usually that's a no, obviously, but I looked at it and figured there were some easy alterations I could do myself. I'm very short 5' and the women in my country are an average 5'5"-5'6", so the dress was way too long. I had an elastic at the waist which hit me just below my belly and that wasn't very flattering. So I raised the elastic part to an empire waist, put a few stitches on the back to keep it at the right height, put a belt around it and it was perfect :-) The straps were also too long, so I took them in like you did on the inside below the armpits. I also had to adjust the waterfall neckline a little bit, because it drooped way too low. But all in all it looked really nice! I hadn't worn dresses in over a decade and to feel comfortable in one is a true NSV for me 0 -
I'm surprised nobody's mentioned this yet, but people with our "problem" don't buy juniors. Even numbered sizes are your friends. The odd-numbered sizes are for people with less curve. You'll probably still have a gap, but not nearly as much.0
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I've used this trick for years to alter my skinny son's pants and shorts, but hadn't thought about using it on my own clothes! Then again, I wear yoga pants almost every day. Lycra is my friend.0
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Thanks!0
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Thanks for posting this. I never in a million years thought I'd have an issue with this due to having no butt whatsoever and a thick waist. But these days I find myself having the gap at the back of my pants and my jeans actually fit instead of sag in the butt. I'm sure you can guess what has caused this. Lifting weights, of course. :bigsmile:0
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This is how it will look from the back when it’s done. Yes, it’s visible, but chances are, if someone is this close to your backside, they’re more concerned about getting IN your pants than any alterations that might have been made TO the pants.
Ha :laugh:0
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