Converting Dress Pants to Maternity Pants

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I have been having a difficult time finding maternity dress pants.  I would like to not pay a fortune for them.  Additionally, I was already an in between size before pregnancy.  Plus size close are usually too big, but some of the misses clothes were too tight and ill fitting.  I am also short, so finding dress pants that fit well and that do not requeire hemming is also a challenge. 
 
I bought these pants from New York and Company about two years ago.  I wore them three times before the zipper broke.  I was pretty disappointed because I loved the way these pants fit.  I considered bringing them to a tailor, and put them off to the side to do so.  However, as with a few other pieces I have in need of altering, I forgot about them.  Now, I am glad I never brought them to the tailor because I decided to turn them into maternity pants.
 

The key to turning regular pants into maternity pants is to make sure they fit you through the hips and legs.  The first step is to remove the original waistband.


Use a seam ripper to remove the waistband.


If the pants have belt loops that extend beyond the waistband, you will want to remove the belt loops as well.

 
For the replacement waistband, use a stretchy fabric.  You want something with a knit with an element of spandex and/or nylon.  I purchased about a yard of fabric.  The fabric was 60 inches wide.  So, first fold the fabric in half so it is a 30 inch width (just the way it is folded on the bolt at the fabric store).  Then fold the yard of fabric in half the other way.  The fabric should be folded so there are four even quarters showing. 
 
Then, lay the fabric flat.  Measure 5 inches from the top where the folds occur.  You will cut all the way across 5 inches from the fold. 
 
 
Unfold the fabric from the side, so only one fold remains at the top.  This will be the new waistband you will attach to the pants.  Cut a piece of elastic the length of the waistband.  Then, slip the elastic in between the fabric, at the fold.  
 
 
Then fold the fabric over the elastic.  It will look like this.  Don't mind this uneven cut, all of my cuts are kind of shady, so I ended up having to come back and even it off before sewing it onto the pants.
 

Fold the waistband in half, like it was in the beginning when the fabric was first cut.  Sew just below the elastic at the top of the waistband so the waistband becomes one continuous circle.  Hand stitch the part wth the elastic, if it cannot fit in your sewing machine.
 

This is how it should look on the finished side, once sewn.
 
 
Now, pin the waistband to the top of the pants, make sure the finished side of the waistband is aligned with the finished side of the pants.
 

Simply sew the waistband to the top of the pants all the way around, removing the pins as you go.
 
 

This is how the finished product looks!  So comfy and ready to accomodate a growing belly.
 
 

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