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

Do you have a friend/family member who is good with a sewing machine ?

It is a pretty basic adjustment

I agree with mookiemoo. Honestly, tailoring pants that much, you'd just have to measure it, slice it down the seams on the sides, sew it and cut the excess inside... as for the crotch and bum, I'm not sure exactly, but if you know someone who knows their way around a sewing machine, I'd suggest that before going to a tailor. One tailor told me it'd be $7/pair just to HEM my jeans... sooo, there's just an idea for you how much to expect for something like that.

If you can take your clothes to a resale shop. Or you can buy yours from a resale shop. We have goodwill and a couple other places. Everytime I drop a size, I go there. I normally pay $3 - $8 for a pair of pants. I do have to look for good deals, but they can be found.

good luck.

Try to find a store called Clothes Mentor or Plato's closest, they will pay you for your old gently used clothes and they resell gently used items and are pretty inexpensive.

Hemming prices really depend on where you are, but I can get an un-lined pair of pants hemmed for $9. Pants with a lining usually run me about $14. I'm petite, so finding pants that don't need to be taken up is hard. So once my pants fit me lengthwise, I try and keep them in my closet and get most of them hemmed!

I dropped about 4 clothing sizes a few years ago and tried to get a seamstress to adjust my expensive stuff too. She said it wouldn't look good if it had to be taken in more then 1 size worth at the waist. I had her do it anyway, and she was was right - it didn't look good but it did buy me a bit of time until I had to get new.

The only other way is if they take the clothes completely apart, cut, and then restitch. That will work, but the problem I've found is that its more money to have that done then it would be to just buy a new pair of pants in the first place.

I agree with shopping at the thrift stores for some new ones. Pants can definitely be altered, but when there is such a big difference in size you are better off getting "new" ones at a secondhand store.

What a great problem! Good job for losing all those sizes!

I have been wondering the same thing about altering. I kept some things I thought could be altered but ended up giving away anything too complex like pants. I found it really validating to give away these clothes that were a size I never wanted to be.

You may want to check into a program like "Dress for Success" which helps women get back into the workforce by giving them clothes and training them for interviews, etc. Then you know your clothes are going to a good place.

To be honest, I dont think its worth the time, effort or money! :huh:

I remember a few years back I had all my suits adjusted to fit my new goal weight. And guess what? They dont fit now....:laugh: I'm not trying to discourage you by saying you'll put weight back on again, but what I am saying is that you might! And if you get them adjusted to your size now, then you lose more weight? It's hard to maintain one size for your life, that's all Im saying. I have a wardrobe full of clothes of about 3 sizes. But, on average, I float between 2 sizes which I'm comfortable with.

And even if you stick to the same weight for the rest of your life, clothes go out of fashion pretty darn quick. So will your fave pants of today, be your fave pants in 5 years? :bigsmile:

I agree with everyone else, buy from ebay etc and keep the cost down :flowerforyou:

If you are crafty, I would suggest to make something with the fabric from the pants and sell them on www.etsy.com. This will help you make a little extra money to buy new pants.

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!

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

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!

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.

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.