McCalls M5633 Cargo Pant-Entry 2-The Waist Alteration

I’m just going to get right into the alterations.

I used THIS FORM from the New Mexico University Extension Office and then measured the pattern.

Upon review I fortunately only have to do 2 adjustments. The length is within my measurements but the waist and hips need to be larger. I need to add a total of 5 inches in the waist (ouch…I can’t believe it either!) and 3-1/2″ in the hips (girl got booty! hee hee :-)).

If I needed to add or subtract length I would do that first and then go into the width dimension but since all appears well with the length I’m going to start first with the waist circumference. As I said earlier, I need to add a total of 5 inches.

I divide by 4 to get 1-1/4″. I mark this in the upper corner of the pattern like in the photo above and below.

The next thing I do is pin the pocket extension piece to the front, being careful to match the squares and dots exactly. This is important because I’ll need it later to draw the new side and waist seam.

Then, using a marking pencil or pen (I’m using a sharpie) I extend the lengthwise grainline all the way up to the waist. On this pattern I’m using the grainline and the lengthen/shorten line as my references points. I cut down through the grainline and over to the side along the lengthen/shorten line and separate it from the pants.

Next, on a piece of tissue, I draw two lines perpendicular to each other (90 degree angle) and then another line parallel exactly 1-1/4″ away. These two lines represent those same reference lines, the grainline and the lengthen/shorten line. The width of the parallel line represents the amount of room I’m adding to the waist.

I then re-position the pieces back together, aligning the front to the parallel line and the cut out piece along the other line. Once in place I tape these down.

The waist alteration is now finished for now. I still need to true up the side seams but I’ll wait to do that after I finish the next alteration, which is the hips.