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The fit of your waistband is one of the most important fits on your jeans. After all, if it’s too small then you’ll struggle to get into them and your wearing experience will be acutely uncomfortable.
These jean tutorials are best used for jeans that are just slightly too small at the waist, not more than 2-3 inches. Anything big than that will require a sewing alteration and can’t be remedied with denim stretching techniques.
How to stretch jeans waist with a spray bottle
Warm and hot water are really effective for altering the threads of denim. Depending on how water is used, it can either loosen or tighten the fit denim. In this case, warm will be used in a spray bottle to stretch the waistband of your jeans. A spray bottle is best because it will help target the localized area of the waist and leave the rest of your jeans intact.
Just fill a spray bottle with warm water and apply it to the waistband of your jeans. You want them to be very damp but not sopping wet. Then, just use your hands to physically stretch the jeans. Keep the button and fly closed as you do this and don’t be afraid to stretch as hard as you can.
After 10-15 minutes or so, you can lay them flat to dry.
How to stretch jeans waist with heat
Once again, heat is great for stretching denim and you can apply steam or a hairdryer to stretch the waistband of your jeans.
If you’d like to use heat from an iron, set your iron to its highest temperature. Stretch your jeans over the iron board or on the back of a chair. Just find a flat enough surface that pulls at the side of your jeans that you can still maneuver an iron around.
If your iron doesn’t have a steam setting, you can spray the waistband before ironing. Use your hands as your iron to further stretch the jeans and keep the pressure of iron on the waistband. Be careful not to burn your pants.
You can continue this process for 10-20 minutes and then try them on to see if you’re happy with the stretch before repeating. The process is similar with a hairdryer except you can lay the jeans on any flat surface.
Read: How to Hem Jeans With Original Hem
How to stretch jeans waist with a hanger
Clothes hangers and jeans very rarely go together; you’ve probably been warned that hanging jeans will stretch them which fortunately is what you want this time. All you need to stretch your jeans with this method is a spray bottle filled with warm water and a hanger slightly longer than your jean waistband.
Spray the waistband of jeans very well, making it damp but not drenched. Then with the button and fly front closed, stretch the waistband of your jeans over the hanger. If they’re struggling to stay up, you can keep them in place with binder clips. Let this hang overnight or you can try on your new stretch jeans once they’re dry.