Maternity Jeans Refashion

Nearly 6 years ago, a friend gave me a pair of Olian maternity jeans. She had worn them throughout 2 of her pregnancies and while they were in good condition, they had shown some slight signs of wear. Then I used them for 2 pregnancies. Now that I'm on my 3rd, the panel on these great fitting jeans is nearly falling apart.

The problem is that it is a demi-panel with belt loops. Since demi-panels don't stay up very well on their own anyway, I always used the beltloops to give them an extra hike up. Somewhere along the line, I lost a few beltloops that way. I guess I pulled to hard.

Well, the other day, I'm hiking them up yet again since my bump is getting big enough to push the demi-panel down, and the panel rips right at the seams. Oh no!!! My favorite maternity jeans are unwearable!

Enter the BeBand from Target. I suppose I could just wear this band as it was intended, over my jeans, to help keep them up. But honestly, those things have never worked for me. They always ride up in the back and I am always tugging and readjusting them. But I love the snugness and the soft fabric. So I concocted a plan to reuse the band since it's just been sitting in the drawer, collecting dust.

First things first, get a comfy spot on the couch, a chick flick and some dark chocolate. Once you are comfortable, grab your seam ripper and start taking the panel off your jeans. I only did the straight stitch and then cut off the panel at the serged seam. I didn't have the patience to rip that one out. I ran out of chocolate.

At some point you may need to take a break to let the "doctor" check you out and make sure you're healthy. Apparently, I was not, but was allowed to continue work so long as I didn't go out in the (as of yet nonexistent) snow.

Once the panel is off, there might be a slight crease in the denim. Just press it flat with a hot iron.


After you've done that, turn your BeBand inside out, and pin to the jeans, aligning the bottom of the band to the top of the cut off denim. This part isn't so easy, since you'll have to stretch the band to make it even all the way around. It will bunch up when you release the stretch, but that's fine. Just make sure it's even.

A tip on ensuring evenness:
Attach one pin to the front first, then find the middle of the panel on the back and attach that spot to the back of the jeans. Continue finding the middle of the panel between pins all the way around, so it will always be even.

Start sewing! I left a 1/4" allowance because I didn't cut the top of the jeans perfectly straight. You will need to stretch the panel as you sew to make sure that it is the same width as the top of your jeans to make sure none of your fabric is bunched as you sew. Everything should be straight and flat.

That's it, you're done. You could do a top stitch if you want, but I'm all for less work. The best part is that since I used a BeBand, it's tall enough to use as a full panel, as well as folded down. And my jeans stay up!!!