Getting jeans tapered?

[psyence]

I have a pair of jeans that have a leg opening of 18.5". I was wonder if it is possible to get them tapered down to a leg opening of 16.5". Has anyone tried this? How much should I expect to pay at the tailor shop?

[thomas_highstreet]

wher bouts ar u?

i taper all my jeans.. all get alot of interest and people always comment on how nice the cuts are..

if you got a decent machine do it youself.. if you want to know some little tips on how to make it super neet, give me a shout and ill tell you hot to do it best...

[horriblyjollyjinx]

Yes, I've had it done. You could do it yourself too, it's not hard at all, just a straigth seam down the leg. I don't think it will cost you much more than $10.

tally-hoo

[eastcoastrider27]

Can you have the leg opening reduced on bootcut jeans?

I have a pair of bootcut jeans, and the opening is 21" which is wayyyyyyyyy too big. If I ask a tailor to make them 18", will that make them look weird because they are bootcut and not straight leg?

NyM...

[horriblyjollyjinx]

Yes, you can have them altered that way and no they wont look weird at all.

tally-hoo

[thedonger]

interesting...I've always wondered about this but never asked...What if the jeans are selvedge, can you have the opening reduced and still show the selvedge? Will it look messed up?

[XX]

yeah they would just bust the hem, tear open the inseam, resew it to the length, close it up, and rehem it - your selvage wouldnt be touched

[coolhunter]

the problem with that XX is that if you make the leg opening much smaller and only open the inseam it messes up the line of the jeans.But it all depends on how much you want it altered.

...If it wasnt for bad luck I wouldn´t have any luck at all..

[XX]

well yea if you want to go from baggy to skin tight tapered thats not really possible without a whole new pair

you cant really alter the thigh or hip or waist too much without affecting the look of the jean so if youre goin from like 20 inch bottoms to 13 then your thighs and hips are gonna loook like oompa loompas

but simple alterations like taking the bottoms in (say you have a 16.5" knee, 20" hem and you want them completely straight leg.. then changing the 20" hem to 16.5" is entirely possible without affecting the overall look of the jeans too much at all assuming theyre a somewhat slim fit to begin with )

[thomas_highstreet]

hmm..

well, i have probably re-tailored about 20-30 pairs of jeans/trousers... so could give pretty decent advice.

if you want to convert say some 501' style (any medium, relaxed fitting jeans) to drainpipe/nutthuggers.. skinny all the way, then you really want to start taking them in from the thigh-point.. BUT you need to make sure the outseam isnt sewn flat (like this pic http://www.webbhill.com/images/pants%20waist%20seam%20brand%20patch%207f99-8-2(10-9).jpg ) or it will be alot of hastle to take in right up to the thigh..

if you just want below the knee taken in (ie. to change some nasty bootcuts to straight or tapered), then you can sew on either in or out seam.. - whichever one is a standard fold seam.. http://www.uncommongatherings.com/images/costume/beautiful%20seam.JPG like that .

worddd..

[eastcoastrider27]

Quote: if you just want below the knee taken in (ie. to change some nasty bootcuts to straight or tapered), then you can sew on either in or out seam.. - whichever one is a standard fold seam..

That's good to know. I hate bootcut jeans, and I was afraid altering bootcut to straight leg would make the jeans look weird.

Thanks.

NyM...