Do diy pants not fit you correctly? This mean you need to adjust the rise on the pants pattern to solve the fitting issue.
Most pants sewing patterns offer a standard rise length. However if your pants are too tall and need adjustment, you can easily change the rise on your pants pattern to adjust the fit issue.
How do you shorten the rise on a pants pattern? Start by checking the rise measurements on the pants pattern and comparing them with your rise body measurement. Your rise measurement is from your belly button, following the tape measure downwards beneath your crotch to your natural waistline at the back.
Calculate the difference between the rising pattern and your rise, then adjust the Front and Back leg pattern. Trace and redraw your side seam, pocket opening, and notches.
If your side seam doesn’t match, rectify it by placing the top pocket bag on the altered front pants panel. Match the upper part of the pocket opening to the bottom beginning of the side seam and the waist.
Whether you have denim jeans or summer shorts, shortening the rise on pants is much easier when working on a sewing pattern compared to the actual finished garment.
In this article, we are going to share with you how to adjust front and back rise on pants properly. In addition, answered below are frequently asked questions including the best way and tips to shorten rise on pants to achieve a perfect fit.
Can You Shorten the Rise On Pants
Yes, with any type of pants silhouette and fabrication, it is easy to shorten the rise on pants.
Getting perfect jeans can be challenging; you may end up spending a lot on pants to get the right fit. However, unless they are adjusted to fit your body, they will most likely not be perfect for you.
Knowing how to make alterations will help preserve your favorite pants. Additionally, save money and time in the future since you will have an idea of your measurements to alter and save your clothes.
The seam that goes to the center of the crotch from the middle back of the waistband is called the rise. Altering the rise is personal, it translates into a unique style and body type.
Sometimes the rise can be high or medium, which ultimately requires a recut.
In order to shorten the rise of pants, you need to take body measurements for clothing correctly. Remember, for any existing pants, you can’t increase the rise, but only move the rise upwards to shorten it.
However, with a sewing pattern, you can easily add tracing paper to increase the rise or shortening the rise before cutting any fabric.
When shortening the rise on an existing garment, put on the pants and pin in a comfortable place, separate the seams and measure the size of rising you want to trim and recut. Then, sew along with the area, to completely shorten the rise on pants.
How Do You Adjust A Rise Pattern
To start, prepare both front and back pattern pieces of your pants. If you are adding the size of your rise, you will also need to fix the back pocket pattern piece if you want to adjust the size of the pocket too.
This process require a ruler, pen, paper, scissors and scotch tape.
In this step, you will need to modify the rise on both front and back pants pattern. To understand the process, here are brief steps for each pattern piece:
Back leg
Put a piece of paper beneath pants pattern pieces. After taping the top part in a good position, make a straight line down from the rise.
Overlap the piece’s pattern by the size you want to minimize. Then, tape in place while blending your side and rise seam.
Front leg
Use the same steps as shortening the back leg, but be keen to cut off the same size from the front length as you removed from the back leg to ensure your side pattern seams match.
To adjust the difference between your actual measurements and the pattern, calculate the difference by dividing it by two. You will get the total height to be removed or added to the pattern piece, then divide this number by two again and record on a piece of paper.
After dividing, adjust both the rise and pant leg by that number. If you add or remove the entire amount from the rise as initially calculated, you may end up with an extremely long or short rise.
Make sure the length is applied on the front and back piece equally.
Next, draw a horizontal line starting from the center of the rise to the side. From the rise, drop a slash through the pattern, be keen to leave part of the pattern connected, this will be used as a hinge.
Lastly, overlap the design following the measurements that you recorded earlier and close it with tape. Retrace the pattern on another pattern paper with accurate all the lines and curves.
Tips to Shorten Rise On Pants Pattern
Adjusting fit on a piece of paper may look complicated. However, altering sewing patterns to correct fitting is quite easy and best way to fix any problematic fit issues.
If you are a beginner, use these tips to shorten the rise on pants pattern to accomplish the fit you desire:
- When making the adjustments, make sure to keep the grain line lined up.
- Ensure the shorten and lengthen lines are always perpendicular to the grain line.
- If shortening rise on pants, remember to reduce length of zipper, fly, and pocket pattern pieces as well.
- When trimming the front rise pattern piece, remember to adjust the back rise on the pattern piece too.
Lowering the waistline or reducing the inseam around the crotch won’t fix the rise fit problem.
When adjusting the pattern, trace the original pattern to shorten the rise instead of applying these changes on the original sewing pattern. This will help you later to compare and make additional changes when needed.
Best Way to Shorten Rise On Pants Pattern
From actual garment to sewing pattern method, there are various ways to shorten the rise on pants.
The best way to adjust the rise on pants is by using a pattern compared to trying to work on a pair of pants. Once you cut the extra rise, you won’t be able to increase the rise if it is too short.
Measure Your Pant Pattern
Start by measuring the rise on your pattern using a measuring tape and record the actual measurements on paper. Next, measure the pants pattern from the alteration line and make a line across the design.
Finally, take measurements of your body and compare them with that of the rise on your pant pattern. Note the difference if there is a difference, then adjust the design to acquire a fitting rise.
Cut The Pattern
Draw a z-shaped line on the front pant pattern piece, the line should start at the center of the vertical part of the crotch seam while it ends below the pocket. The easiest way to ensure your line is genuinely horizontal is by making flat sections of the line perpendicular to the grain line.
Now, cut the pattern along the line. Overlapping the needed distance with the use of grain line will assist you in aligning the pattern piece, then tape all the pieces down.
To ensure the new line is accurate, smooth up the front seam and side seams. Considering the distance, subtracted from the rise, there might be a corner hanging at the pocket opening, so cut off that piece.
To shorten the rise at the back leg, draw a horizontal line across the middle of the straight part of the back seat.
First, ensure the horizontal line is perpendicular to the grain line. Then, cut off the pattern piece along the new line.
Use the grain line to align the pieces and overlap the back leg pieces according to the required distance. Next, true up the middle back seam and the side seams to smooth out the lines.
Stretch the pocket placement line upwards on both the bottom and top pieces. To shorten your pocket, cut the exact length you removed from the rise on the lower part of the back pocket.
Shortening Rise on Pants Sewing Pattern: Conclusion
The rise of pants can be hanging low, medium, or high depending on the style and design on the pants. Most likely when altering the pants rise, it requires recutting and does take time to get the measurement correct.
It is possible to shorten the rise on pants. The general rule of modifying rise is that you can take a rise from high to low, but you cannot increase or go back.
Double check the measurement of rise on pants pattern and compare with your body measurements. The correct way to measure rise on your body is from belly button underneath the crotch to the true waistline of the back.
Start the process by transferring the original pattern onto the new dotted tracing paper to make any adjustments. Avoid cutting and drawing on the original sewing pattern.
With theses measurements, you can start adjusting the sewing pattern. Make sure to evenly divide the numbers and apply on both Front and Back pants pattern to shorten.
If there is a pocket, zipper, or fly, ensure to adjust the length and relocate the position if needed to balance out the look of the garment. After altering the rise, redraw the side seam, pocket opening, and notches to completely shorten the rise on pants.