My pants are falling off! But do I really have to get rid o

chrissym78

I'm in the same boat, same sizes even, except I'm still mostly wearing 12, some 10. I can't afford new ones right now either b/c I am a stay-at-home mom and 3 kids leave you with NO money, LOL. I have been taking mine to a local consignment shop to sell then I buy pants from the same shop. An earlier post suggested Goodwill, I do too. There is one not too far from my house and I have found some great deals there on very nice clothes. Personally, I don't want to keep any of my "fat" clothes, not even the tag that says size 16! I am halfway to my goal. I can't wait to treat myslef to new clothes when I get there!

Kath15

First of all, congrats on losing the weight! As others have mentioned doing, I've donated a ton of clothes that have gotten way too big. There comes a point when you can't really do anything to make it look good and it just looks ridiculous and ill-fitting. As far as tailoring, you may find that it requires way too much adjustments to look right and it can become very expensive. Hence, you may be better off just going to the local resale shops or hitting the clearance/sale racks at stores like Target, Old Navy, etc. You would be surprised at how cheap you can find clothing if you do a little bit of searching. If you plan on losing more weight, just buy a few staples and be conscientious about it. So, go ahead and see what kind of an estimate a tailor would give you first, and then decide whether or not it's worth it to hold onto that clothing or to just head out to the stores. Great job and good luck!!

squishyfishy

I sold all my size 18/20 clothes on ebay and I'm glad I did, I was able to use the money to pay for my wedding dress and it felt so much better to have nice new stuff that fitted properly. Sell them then use the money to treat yourself to new stuff , you have done really well and deserve it.

Audrey

kelsully

I usually have to get my pants hemmed...learning to do it myself...to properly tailor pants that much it could cost as much as $10-25 a pair. Go to a tailor see what they can do and decide...for $10 a pair it might be worth it...for $25 a pair I say get rid of them and go to Target or Kohl's with great Kohl's coupons and get 3-4 pairs of new pants....I m out of clothes too...but also cannot afford a new wardrobe...

1fitmama

I agree with checking with local thrift stores, consignment shops, Plato's closet, etc. I found a pair of Faded Glory jeans at Walmart a couple of days go for $12 a pair. I went down a size, yay!, so I'm going back and getting a pair. I found a consignement shop that sells name brand clothes at a fraction of the price. I'll be going there and getting some pants/jeans for my transition wardrobe until I'm at the weight/size I want to be. Great job on the weight loss!

Meag83

I can use a sewing machine pretty good and my mother-in-law does alterations for people to raise money for relay for life. Pants are a lot harder to alter then people think! You basicly have to take them completely apart re-cut and put back together and if they have a zipper, pockets, and pleads It will be costly. I vote for reselling your pants at a consignment store or online and looking for those great deals. I just bought a great pair of black dress slacks from JCPenny's for $9 on sale. You can't alter one pair of pants for that.

Just my thoughts.

jahnlaw

Congratulations on your weight loss so far.

As soon as I drop to a new size, I give them to charity right away. If I don't, then part of me is holding onto my fat self which I never want to return. Tayloring can be expensive too, so consider going consignment shopping or clearance shopping for basic necessities.

Maybe put a little money aside every month to reward yourself with new clothes when you reach your goal. I have no doubt that keeping fat clothes is very dangerous to your new and future body. We need that snug reminder to get back on track or to kick it up a bit. Again, congratulations on having such a great problem to have.

AllisonMO

I have dropped two pants sizes and have been taking mine in to be altered at a cost of about $18 a pair if the cut is still good on me. Aterations on my jackets are either $25 or $35 depending on how much work needs to be done. I have passed most of my skirts on to a resale chain called Clothes Mentor and come away with cash. And I have been buying new, which is a thrill.

Congrats on your weight loss.

bjhaun

If you are good with a sewing machine, it can be done if you have the time and your budget is that tight, and that's the case for some of us. I've actually found it easier if the pants are ridiculously large because I can just cut them apart carefully close to the seams and then recut using a pattern. I sometimes buy large clothes in thrift stores planning to do that very thing because quality fabric at a good price is hard to come by now. Cutting pants apart at the seams means I don't have to use a seam ripper which is what will take you the most time.

If the size change isn't too great, you can sometimes save time by leaving in the original zipper and pockets and just recut the major seam lines--crotch, inseams, and side seams. If you always wear your shirts on the outside, you can sometimes get by with putting an elastic waist on pants that had a band waist originally as it won't be seen. Of course, the easiest type of pant to reconstruct are the basic pull on ones with elasticized waist all around. If I were planning to lose a lot of weight, I'd stick with this style, at least temporarily, due to the ease in altering it. Sorry, all of this may only make sense to those who have done quite a bit of sewing from patterns beforehand.

I find shirts harder to reconstruct because necklines and sleeve caps change more frequently as you lose weight, and sometimes those details can't just be left in. I'll tackle that only if I just love the style and quality of the piece, and I do fewer of those than pants. I also agree about shopping at thrift stores for new with tag (nwt) clothing in your new size, and do also buy a bit snug or in a stretch fabric while I'm still dieting so I can wear them longer before altering. I also try to buy in a smaller size in advance of the need when I can as shopping to replace a wardrobe in thrift stores also takes quite a bit of time. One just has to decide where to burn the time, and whether you have the skill (or want to develop it) for altering clothes. Personally, altering ready made clothes is an inexpensive way for me to build a wardrobe I couldn't afford otherwise.