DIY easy maternity jeans from regular jeans

It has come to that time again- I can no longer zip up my regular jeans. Everyone warned me about the inevitable massive bump that comes with a second baby, and it appears to be true. At 24 weeks, I'm on to wearing maternity jeans. 

I live in jeans, so they are definitely a staple part of my maternity wardrobe. However, I can't justify the cost of buying them new, for the relatively short time I will be wearing them. Therefore, I made my own from a pair of pre-pregnancy skinny jeans! Probably not the neatest job, but I'm proud of them- and they didn't cost me a penny. Here is my tutorial... enjoy! 

You will need a pair of jeans, a stretchy top, scissors, needle and thread, sewing machine.

Step 1: Choose a pair of your own jeans that you would like to transform. This works even better if the jeans were a little too small for you even pre-pregnancy, as long as they fit your legs. I used a pair of skinny jeans that I truthfully couldn't button up most days. 

Step 2: Cut off the waistband. Cut in a straight line across the back, and curve lower down at the front. You want to cut enough so the jeans now sit below your bump. It sometimes helps to put them on, and mark how low you want to go. 

Cut the waistband off your skinny jeans!

My skinny jeans minus the waistband

Step 3: Sew round the top of your jeans. This secures any loose flaps you have created by cutting off the waistband. Use your sewing machine for this, as it is really quick. 

Step 4: Choose a top to create the fabric panel. This also works well if the top was really (in all honesty!) too tight for you. It needs to be made of stretchy fabric, so it's comfortable round your bump. You can use a T-shirt or vest, as you only need the bottom half. 

Step 5: Cut your top in half (see picture below). The bottom half will become the fabric panel band for your jeans, and you can keep the top half for another crafty project at a later date. 

Snip your top in half

Step 6: Fold the bottom of your vest down on itself, and pin all the way round. You should end up with a double-layered tube, which will be the fabric band of your jeans. 

Tube of fabric

Step 7: Sew around the bottom, where you have pinned. Keep close to the edge as you sew, so the stitching isn't visable when it's attached to your jeans. 

Sew round where you have pinned

Step 8: Pin the jeans and fabric together. Line up the side seams of your top with the side seams of your jeans, and secure with pins. You will need to stretch the top fabric slightly, as it is smaller in circumference than the waist of your jeans. Pin the right side of your top to the inside of your jeans (see picture), so the fabric band sits inside the jeans. 

Fabric band pinned to inside of jeans

Step 9: Hand-sew the band to the jeans. I choose to hand-sew this part instead of using the machine for a couple of reasons. One: I don't think I have the right needles in my sewing machine to tackle the thick denim pockets. Two: I find that the finish is neater if I sew by hand- my jeans frayed round the top when I cut off the waistband, so this way I can tuck the frayed edges in as I go. 

Tucking in the frayed edges of the jeans

Halfway round the front- see the neater hand-sewn finish? 

View from the back so far

Sewn all the way round

Step 10: Sew down the fabric band on the inside of the jeans too. This just makes the stitching more secure, and makes the whole band lie flatter. 

Step 11: Work those maternity jeans! Love them even more because you made them!

My jeans from the front

Side view

From the back

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