Despite eating ALL. THE.  TIME, Finn is a skinny thing.  He is nice and tall, but all of his pants are either too big in the waist or beg the question…. “Where, my little man, is the flood?”

It was a stroke of genius when clothing manufacturers started making hidden, adjustable waistbands.  Not every pair of pants comes that way, though.  Last winter, when all the summer clothes were marked down to next to nothing, I picked up these shorts for Finn for a song.  Once we pulled them out of the drawer, they slid right off his tush.  Next year, they are bound to be too short.  I did what every overly frugal mom with a sewing machine would do; I got busy.

Instead of taking them in on the sides or the front (which makes wonky little pleats; I learned my lesson last year), I made my own adjustable waistband.  This one is permanently adjusted to fit the little dude.

First, I cut a strip out of an old t-shirt a quarter-inch wider than my elastic.  I sewed the strip around the back and sides of the inside of the waistband.

Once I had a nice little tube for my elastic to slide through, I hooked up a safety-pin to one end of the elastic and fed it through.

Once it was out of the little t-shirt/waistband tunnel, I took off the safety-pin and sewed it in place, doubling back a few times.

Then came the custom fit.  I wrangled Finny into putting on the shorts, pulled the elastic so it scrunched in the waistband until it was the right size and used my trusty little safety-pin to hold it in place.

Once I took them back off, I sewed up the other side of the elastic and doubled back again…

And then clipped off what was left of the elastic.

Presto!

Sure, they are a little wibbly around the waistband, but it isn’t like he is wearing crop tops or anything… Except here.  This is a jammy top.  It is the most comfortable for constructing Lego masterpieces I’ll have you know.