How to Make Jeans Smaller: Instructions With Tips and Methods

Be it with sewing or without sewing, learning how to make jeans smaller is an excellent hack you should know.

Jeans are a preferred bottom, and by just looking at your surroundings, you can find out that almost 80% of people wear jeans. 

With the introduction of new patterns and exciting colors every day, jeans have become the first choice for everyone, including women, kids, and even older people.

Jeans are made in massive volumes to meet the ever-growing demand. Many manufacturers use standard fits and sizes. 

There are few options for personalization on the jeans’ fit, and it often seems loose. A nice fitting pair of jeans can boost your confidence and uplift your look like no other thing, and that’s why it becomes essential to make jeans smaller.

If you are a person who doesn’t get the perfect fit in readymade jeans, then this tutorial is your savior. As we advance, we will uncover how to make your new jeans smaller and less baggy while maintaining the style statement of the cloth. 

First of all, let’s talk about why people love smaller and tighter jeans.

How to Make a Pair of Jeans Smaller: Top reason Why People Love Smaller & Tighter Jeans

Women like to adorn clothes that are attached to their bodies. Numerous reasons explain why women love such tighter and smaller jeans. Before you learn how to make a pair of jeans smaller, it is essential to know the top three facts. 

Image Source: Agunga Pandit Wiguna On Pexels

It’s Comfortable

While some people think that wearing tighter and smaller jeans means a congested look, the reality is quite different. 

Image Source: Darko Simancas On Pexels

Most women wear tight jeans because they feel comfortable in such snug fit clothes, which helps them boost their confidence. As you dress well and feel comfortable, everything in your path becomes easy, and you can tackle anything while being comfortable. 

It Highlights the Curves

Most women are proud of their curves, and everyone should be. That’s how God made us, so why not embrace it and be the best we can be. 

Following this ideology, you should learn how to make a pair of jeans smaller, tighter and body-hugging that fit you in a perfect way and highlight their curves. 

Image Source: Julia Kuzenkov On Pexels

If you’ve got a body to flaunt, why not flaunt it while feeling comfortable in a pair of jeans that fits like skin and embraces your curves. 

Reduces Risk of Tripping

Different types of jeans that don’t fit well introduce a new tripping and falling hazard. While you may consider it a small thing, many people undergo severe injuries by just falling or tripping on their jeans. 

This happens when the loose end of the jeans comes in the way of your natural stride and tangles with your foot or any other surrounding object. 

It can be scary and hard to explain how to make jeans that are too big can incur tripping and falling. Many women like to learn how to sew tighter jeans at home to save time and achieve their desired outcomes.

Moving forward, let’s understand the things you should consider for learning how to make your jeans tighter. 

How to Make Loose Jeans Fit: Things to Consider for Perfect Fitting

There’s nothing better than having perfect-fitting jeans. If you are looking for pointers for ideal fitting before you learn to sew, you are at the right place. 

In this section, we’ll explore what things you should consider when learning how to make loose jeans fit.

Image Source: Racool_studio On Freepik  

First, you should understand that having perfect-fitting jeans provides you with numerous benefits, and here is a look at them. 

• • You can wear perfect jeans more, and you don’t have to think about what to wear every day.
  • You look much better in fitted clothes, and your curves also get the highlights they deserve.
  • You have comprehensive options to choose from, enhancing your wardrobe and style statement.
  • Well-fitted jeans are much more durable, as there are no loose ends that can get stuck and torn apart.
  • Utmost comfort is experienced in well-fitted jeans. It’s the best to have when you wear jeans for prolonged periods.

Moving forward to things you should consider while finding the right jeans and different types of clothes.  

Waist and Thighs

A significant part of your jeans’ look is determined by their fit around the thighs and waist. If you want to know how to make loose-fitting jeans tighter, you’ll need to measure your waist to the exact centimeter and then search for such jeans. 

Image Source: Nourish Your Glow

If you want to make jeans’ waist smaller, then read our guide on how to make jeans waist smaller.

Coming to the thighs part, people never get the perfect fit around the thighs because of the generic sizes. Just ensure that the thigh fit is comfortable and you can manage to move around.

While you are learning how to make pants, make sure you consider the fitting around the waist, as there aren’t many options if you end up with the wrong waist size.

Length of Jeans

The next point to consider for how to make loose jeans fit is the length of the jeans. Smaller, tighter jeans demand less length than tapers just before or after your ankles. 

While you are on your journey of how to make loose jeans fit better, make sure that the length is not too long. If it is incorrect, you might have to get it cut short and remake the jeans. 

Want to convert your jeans to shorts? Read our comprehensive guide on how to make jeans into shorts.

When you learn how to make loose jeans fit, make sure you measure the ideal size. If your jeans have defining patterns and styles at the bottom, then you can readjust the length. It will increase the risk of getting the pattern removed and making the product dull. 

Image Source: Closet Core Patterns

If you cannot do it, you can go with the jeans with minimal bottom patterns to ensure you don’t miss out on the style after readjusting length. 

Methods of How to Make Jeans Smaller Using Sewing Machine

Making your jeans smaller is pretty straightforward. Learning how to make jeans smaller brings you the outcomes in the long term. 

We have covered the benefits earlier, so you know learning how to make loose jeans fit can boost your confidence and help you look attractive.

Image Source: Racool_studio On Freepik

Smaller jeans need to be cut down to the perfect length and then sewn for better looks and finish. You can pull off this with the help of a sewing machine or with your own hands too. 

Let’s explore how to make jeans fit using a sewing machine. 

Hemming

When your jeans are quite long, and it doesn’t appear as if it belongs to you, that’s the time you choose hemming. Hemming is the most common way of making jeans smaller using a sewing machine.

Image Source: TakeLessons

In this method of how to make jeans smaller, the extra length of the jeans is cut off. The bottom hem is recreated like the original hem to make the perfect length of smaller jeans for you.

The best way to hem your jeans is by wearing and folding them to the desired length. Start marking the point where you feel the length is comfortable.

While you learn how to make jeans tighter and hem them, make sure you get the right length. With the exact length, you can also visualize how the jeans will look every day after the hemming.   

Tapering

Tapering is another method of how to make mom jeans less baggy. This method of jeans alteration comes in handy when your jeans are pretty wide from the sides. It looks a bit too baggy even for baggy jeans.

Tapering can help you slim down the jeans to a suitable fit and finish so that you can rock them every day.

 While tapering the jeans, ensure that you polish your skills on learning how to make ripped jeans or how to make pants bigger. The bad tapering will reflect out with ease and make your precious jeans look bad.

If you know about upcycling clothes, you will know about inseams. Just go for inseam tapering rather than outer seam allowance.

The outer seams tapering will look ugly when the jeans are too tight, and it will also interfere with the style and comfortability of your jeans.   

Waist Stitch

A waist stitch is another method of how to make jeans tighter from the top. It includes stitching multiple belt loop areas together to create a tighter and smaller waist area. 

Many people think that going for a belt is better, but it is best to get the waist stitched as it is a one-time expense, and the results are far better. 

Image Source: Kara Metta

Want to try an elastic waistband with a rubber band? Read our guide on how to sew an elastic waistband.

Waist stitching is a tricky procedure, and don’t try it on your own if you are not an intermediate or advanced level sewer. Waist stitching involves opening up the stitched area at the center of the waistline and then cutting them short, creating a smaller waist area. 

Many sewers take the final stitch from the outside, which makes the jeans look ugly from the back. Try to get the last stitch from the inside for a better look and finish on the product. 

Methods of How To Make Your Big Jeans Fit With Sewing

The following are some steps that you can follow for how to make your big jeans fit using a sewing machine.

Image Source: Racool_studio On Freepik 

• • Try your jeans, clip the types of fabric that you wish to taper with sewing clips, or draw guidelines that are easy to follow.
  • Now remove your jeans, and make sure that the clips stay intact. After removing, take a fabric marker, and mark the lines with excess fabric where you need to taper.
  • At this point of how to make your big jeans fit, you need to grab a seam ripper and start partitioning the jeans.
  • After some ripoff, you’ll have some space between the waistband and seat of your jeans.
  • Now, cut the waistband into two different parts.
  • Now it’s time to sew together the three parts and complete your tutorial on how to make jeans fit tighter.
  • While sewing the seat on your marked lines and getting the waistband together, you might need to add some material to the inside of the jeans. In this way, you can trim with a scissor while ensuring that the thread stays intact.
  • After you’ve stitched the three parts, go for another stitching round between the waistband and the seating area to ensure that it is safe.
  • Finish off the process by removing the extra threads and reattaching any opened belt loops.

If you don’t like to sew and are not familiar with any sewing techniques, you might consider the other option of how to make jeans less baggy without sewing. 

Methods of How to Make Your Jeans Smaller Without Sewings

Many people fear that sewing and making any changes in the jeans makes them wrong. They oppose getting their clothes under the needle. 

Image Source: Lookstudio On Freepik

Worrying that the finishing will be bad after getting sewn at home? Here are some hacks that can solve your question on how to make your jeans smaller without sewing them. 

Wear A Belt

Image Source: A Fashion Blog

The most common method on how to make your jeans smaller is to get a belt. All jeans come with belt loops, and they are there for a reason. Use those belt loops and wrap a belt around your waist to get a perfect fit on your jeans. 

Cook Your Jeans

While this may sound odd and confusing, it is an excellent alternative to sewing your jeans. This option is only for those who possess 100% cotton jeans.

When you are short of time and looking for a temporary solution for how to make mom jeans tighter, you can cook your jeans in a pot on a stove. Make sure to keep the jeans submerged in the water so that all of them get cooked and shrunk. 

Cook your jeans for 20-30 minutes on high flame, and take them off the stove. You need to dry it in a dryer with high heat settings to get the best results. 

Heat in Dryer

If you are short of time and cannot risk washing/cooking your jeans but still want a quick fix, then heating the jeans in the dryer is good. 

Image Source: Stylecheer.com

Open up your dryer, and put the jeans inside it while setting the temperature to high for just 10-15 minutes. 

This process will slightly burn your jeans and shrink them, but there’s nothing to worry about if you are under the 10-15 minutes timer. The fibers in your jeans will tighten up while shrinking and providing a better fit on your clothes in a short time. 

Iron on High Temperature

Ironing often comes to the rescue. It is good as it not just tightens your jeans but also provides a much-needed shine to the cloth. 

Ironing can help you shrink specific areas, or you can iron the whole jeans for an even shrinkage. No matter which option you choose, ironing is efficient. 

The best thing is that you can see the results just after one iron round. 

Wash and Dry in Hot Water

When you plan to wash your jeans, do it with hot water and dry the jeans with high heat settings. Stick to this setting, and you’ll see the results from the first wash itself. 

Image Source: Good Housekeeping

Your jeans will shrink as you expect. If you don’t need to wear the jeans immediately and are just planning in advance, this is the best option. 

If you feel like you don’t need a complete shrink and just a bottom tapering would do the work, you can opt for bottom tapering without sewing. 

In our next section, we will talk about how to make loose jeans fit better without much hard work. 

How to Make Jeans Smaller at the Bottom Without Sewing

Many women like to wear jeans that are tight at the bottom and snug fit. The only issue with this is that it is hard to find perfect-fitting jeans, but that should not stop you from wearing one. Here is how to make jeans smaller at the bottom without sewing. 

Image Source: Arturas Kokorevas On Pexels

Use A Hair Tie

The first method of how to make jeans smaller at the bottom is to get the hair ties. Hair ties are a woman’s best friend, and you’ll always have some laying around in your drawer. 

Image Source: Brenda Kinsel

Why not put them to an exciting use? If you own pretty relaxed jeans from the bottom and want them to be a snug fit, you can use the hair tie and make the jeans stick to your ankle.

To get the best results, put a hair tie on the length where you want the jeans to be tighter, and then roll the jeans one time to hide the hair tie. This will give you the required finish while concealing the hair tie and making it look completely normal. 

Pin Roll

Tired of the cuffs getting unfolded after every few steps? Then pin rolling is your choice. Pin roll is a better temporary fix to ankle fit, and you can do it anytime, anywhere. 

You just need to pinch the extra fabric or denim fibers at your ankle to do a pin roll and fold it once or twice. After folding, just do some simple cuff rolls, and you are good to go. 

Cuff Rolls

Cuff rolls are the classic age-old combat to lose ankle fitting. In this method, you just need to start rolling the jeans to the desired length, and you’ll have a snug fit ankle area with a smaller measurement.

Image Source: Luis Quintero On Pexels

Single cuff rolls are not durable, and they tend to open up just as you walk a few steps. Always go for multiple cuff rolls for a better experience.

Now that you know how to make jeans smaller try your hands on different DIY projects and learn,

• • How to make dog clothes
  • How to make shorts

This will help you polish your sewing skills.

Do you have more questions regarding how to make loose-fitting jeans tighter? Let’s talk. 

Different Jeans Materials and their Shrinkage Rate (How to Shrink Them)

Jeans come in various materials, each with its unique characteristics and shrinkage rates. The most common jeans materials are:

100% Cotton:

Cotton jeans are the classic and most widely used material. They have a moderate shrinkage rate upto 20%. To shrink the new pair, wash in hot water and tumble the wet jeans dry on the highest heat.

Cotton-Polyester Blend:

Cotton-polyester jean blends have a shrinkage rate of around 5%, if your jeans are 60 cotton 40 polyester blend. A 50/50 cotton-polyester blend has a shrinkage rate of 1 to 2% after the first wash with same heat settings.

Stretch Denim:

Stretch denim jeans usually contain a combination of cotton, polyester, and elastane or spandex. They have a lower shrinkage rate. It is best to put them in the washing machine with cold water and air dry or use a low-heat setting in the dryer to maintain their stretch and shape.

Raw Denim:

These denims are untreated and unwashed with a stiff and raw edge, so its initial shrinkage rate can be significant, ranging from 5% to 10%. To control the shrinkage, soak raw denim in cold water for a few hours before wearing, then hang dry.

Pre-Shrunk Denim:

Pre-shrunk jeans have undergone a washing process to minimize further shrinkage so their shrinkage rate is negligible.

How to Make Loose Fitting Jeans Tighter: FAQs

The following are some of the most asked questions on how to make loose-fitting jeans tighter. 

Image Source: Anastasia Kazak On Freepik

Is It Easy To Tighten Jeans?

Tightening the jeans may be easy, or it may not be easy. It depends on the path you choose. 

If you believe that sewing can help, then it’s pretty easy. Just get the right measure and learn how to make loose-fitting jeans tighter at home. 

Don’t forget to use Superlabel Store’s woven labels, care labels, and hang tags to personalize your jeans. 

Is All The Hard Work In Cutting And Sewing The Jeans Smaller And Tighter Worth It?

All the hard work you put into making your jeans smaller and tighter is worth it. If you like to sew and have a crafty side, then you’ll enjoy making your jeans tighter, and the work will look utterly effortless. 

How To Determine The Perfect Length For Jeans?

The perfect length for a pair of jeans is when it doesn’t wrinkle and consolidate around your ankles. 

Small and tight leg jeans should have a straight form that hugs your curves and looks just like it’s a part of your body. But not like slim fit jeans. If you are buying jeans, just make sure that it does not consolidate at the bottom, and you are good to go. 

Are Skinny Jeans Still Best?

Smaller and tighter jeans will always be in fashion, and as skinny jeans are pretty similar, they are a pretty good choice. 

Skinny jeans will look fantastic if you have maintained a slim body type that narrows down from the waist or hips(if you are into 00’s style) to the ankles. Style skinny jeans with different types of bags and scarves to uplift your look. 

What’s Better, Using A Belt Every Time Or Getting The Jeans Resized?

If you compare the two things side by side, you’ll always find getting the jeans resized at home is the better option. It saves time, and it’s a one-time investment that will help you save time every time you wear them. 

Conclusion

Jeans are versatile clothing items. They are an important part of our everyday fashion. 

When you get the right fit, you get the confidence to conquer the world. Learning how to make jeans smaller or tighter will help you gain the confidence you need from the clothing item. 

The above-listed information will help you learn different techniques to make jeans smaller and tighter. Choose the method as per your sewing skill and the time you have, and give your jeans a new look.

Happy sewing!