Jeans waist alteration - tutorial

These are the before pants.  See the bunchieness in the center back?

This is after the alteration.  I removed 2 1/4 inches from the center back seam.  Here's how I did it:

Unpick the seam and cut through the waistband.

I also removed the belt loop and the tag from the inside to be reattached later.

Pin the back seam where you want the new smaller size to be.  As I mentioned, I removed 2 1/4 inches.

These are the top-stitching threads that I ordered from Taylor Tailor.  This guy Taylor is incredible.  He just started sewing and makes great jeans.  Check out his supply shop for things like jean hardware, selvage denim and top-stitching thread.

I chose to use the topaz color.

As you can see it is almost an exact match to the existing thread color.  (Yes, that is my finger.  I smashed it in our heavy front door when I tried to leave too quickly with stuff in my arms.)

After I top-stitched the back seam, I did some trimming to create a flat felled seam.

Get the seam just the way you want it and pin.

All stitched up and ready to put the waistband back on.

I was very liberal when I unpicked.  I wanted the start of the new seam to be hidden in the crotch area.

It's hard to see here, but the waistband seam is about one inch left of center.  I put it there on purpose to be hidden under the belt loop.

Inside view of the waistband.

The waistband is all stitch up.

Reattached belt loop (with waistband seam hidden underneath).

Reattached tag.

Rachel says it's a perfect fit!