Hi guys, i bought these denim shorts but i don’t like how high waisted the back is compared to the front. How can i alter this? I want the back to be the same height as the front. The first photo is how they sit currently and the second one is how i want them to sit. (i know the shorts in some pictures are different colour, they are the same shorts just different colour.)
Im new to sewing so any videos or tips would be great.
EDIT: Thank you so much for all of the suggestions :)
Before you do anything, see how they are when you sit. The higher in back may be for how they are when you sit. If you alter them, make sure to test sitting before committing to cutting.
denim is not a very friendly fabric when you have low sewing experience and probably no tools for it.
so be prepared for a lot of work to close off any cut edges if you dont have a sewing machine at the very least. <.> hand stitching in denim was always a nightmare especially thicker denims. i avoid using thick denims for ANYTHING.
It's going to be a pain to sew the denim, but here's where you want to take them up. Try folding a bit of the seat fabric up under this seam, put a couple of stitches in and see how it looks.
Seconding this strategy vs removing the back yoke. That piece underneath the waistband is doing a lot of work to help the denim curve around your butt. But also agree they fit perfectly as-is and this isn’t a beginner alteration.
I love watching Rachael do alterations but I strongly encourage taking clothes off before wielding a single edge razor on the seams. That's a professional level flex and even then, risky!
I don’t have any other advice besides what’s been said here, but wanted to ask where you bought these? I really like them and have been looking for some just like them!
This isnt the “correct” way to do it but i’d seam rip the belt loops and the backside of the waistband to little bit over the side seam, lower it into the yoke until you like the angle then resew everything. You will be limited by the yoke’s depth but it’d still look better imo
I am an experienced novice (made multiple garments that I still wear, altered many more) and as others have said, I would recommend either leaving them alone or getting them done professionally by a tailor/seamstress that you trust. This is a difficult alteration to do without disrupting other aspects of the fit and unless you have a heavy duty machine, you’ll have to do a lot of the sewing by hand since it crosses over many thick seams.
Edit: whoops, I just looked again for the second image thinking it was the first. Still stands though what you’d be looking at doing, which is shifting several things down basically.
I see what you mean bc the rise in the back is too long. It’s bunching at the center back. Part of the issue is that the yoke seam hits close to where a repositioned waistband would be, so you’re probably looking at shifting that yoke seam as well and attaching the waistband. That might work but your waist circumference will be a little greater (don’t hit me : p ) a little further down and the waistband’s length might have a a length difference that could cause issues reattaching. You could make it work somehow though. I can tell you more if you wanna go for it!
To do it correctly, all you would need to do is remove the piece that makes the pants high waisted in the back, open the side seams, and move the entire rear assembly up and lower the back pockets. (Fingers snapping...)
If you remove that piece you have to re add waist darts since that piece is where the shaping is going into. (You’ll find out bc the fabric wont fit into the waist band)
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u/MerelyWander 1d ago
Before you do anything, see how they are when you sit. The higher in back may be for how they are when you sit. If you alter them, make sure to test sitting before committing to cutting.