What to Do If Your Pants Don't Fit (and You're Running Late!)

Quick Way to Make Pants Shorter

You’ve bought a great pair of jeans, but they’re too long and you don’t have time to hem them before you need to wear them. Simply fold them up and tape with duct tape. The hem will last the whole night—and maybe even through a couple of washings. This is also a great tip if you’re not sure exactly where you want to hem your pants. Have a “trial run” using the duct tape, and then they’re all ready to sew.

Easy Fix for Too-Tight Pants

Need to make your pants’ waistline bigger, right now? There’s a quick solution, even if it’s a tiny bit drastic: Cut them. Find the back seam of your pants (which often has a belt loop over it) and cut straight down from the waistline. This will give your pants enough stretch to wear them with a shirt covering your waist until you can buy new pants (and, probably, hit the gym).

What to Do If Your Jeans Are Too Tight

Jeans feeling a little too “fitted” lately? (Don’t worry, we won’t come right out and say you’ve gained weight.) To add about ½ inch more room in the waist of your jeans, try this rubber band quick fix: When your pants are on, slip a rubber band over the button, poke the other end through the buttonhole, and loop it around and over the button again to close. An elastic hair band will do the trick, too.

How to Make Your Pants Tighter

If your pants being too loose is the problem, it won’t surprise you that the solution is safety pins. But the trick is to not gather up too much fabric at once to safety-pin together. Instead, make the fabric gathers in the waistline above each back pocket, and safety pin each one. If you need additional gathers, try on the sides of the pants. This will make your makeshift hem look more natural, and if one safety pin pops out, the others will still keep your pants from falling down!

The Easy Way to Fix a Broken Pants Zipper

Got a zipper that won’t stay closed? Spray it lightly and carefully with hairspray after zipping up. If the problem is really bad, try this fantastic quick fix that works great for jeans: Wind the loop of a keyring through the notch in your zipper, then loop it over the button to close. 

How to Get a Drawstring Back in Your Pants

Having the drawstring completely come out sweat pants (or hoodie) doesn’t have to be a clothing calamity anymore! Just grab a straw, thread the string through it, then staple one end so they’ll stay together. Use the straw as a giant needle to guide the drawstring back where it belongs.

Quick Fix for a Loose Button

After rifling through your clothes for half an hour, you’ve finally decided on the perfect pants to wear—but a button is loose! If you’re about to lose a button and you’re already halfway out the door, use a twist tie instead. Just remove the paper covering, then twist it through the holes in the button and fasten on the other side of the cloth. Just make sure to replace with real thread later!

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