$2.50 Maternity Jeans- that fit!

Have you shopped for maternity clothes lately? Well it's been about 18 years for me, and back then affordable choices were few and far between. I remember paying something like $40.00 for a pair of jeans when I was near the end of my pregnancy with Casey, even knowing I'd wear them only a month or two. I was so sick of wearing the same stretchy knit pants, when I saw that denim... jeans... they actually looked like jeans! I was blinded to any reason. I splurged- it really was a splurge, and bought them. Well in the 18 years since, the choices are much more plentiful, but the prices are no better. Add to that the fact that size small in maternity fashion doesn't work for the extra small and you have a mom-to-be with nothing to wear. Alyssa is a tiny bit of a thing, but she's getting a little round belly that makes it impossible to comfortably wear most of her non-maternity clothes, jeans in particular.  She mentioned that she had heard of a band you can buy that you wear to cover unzipped and unbuttoned jeans, allowing you to wear your clothes longer. I searched around and found a couple, but they were a little more expensive than my budget allows right now.  A little more searching and I found this. Bless your heart Miss AnnaReilly!  This has to be one of the quickest, cheapest, easiest projects I've done and one of the most functional.  I picked up a pair of pants at the thrift store, on 50% off day, so they cost me $2.50. I pulled out an old tee shirt and followed the very clear tutorial and about 20 minutes later Alyssa was very happy to have jeans that fit.

She has the band scrunched down, it actually has a great deal of stretch room and the jeans also stretch. I'm sure they won't fit all the way through, but for less than three bucks, I have no doubt she'll get her money's worth out of them.
I know she looks like a tiny little girl, but she turned 20 this week. One out of the teenage years, one to go.

Thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart for your comments of caring, support, and understanding on my last post. It really is important to know you aren't alone.

* In her comment, Sarah pointed out some of the advantages of using the stretchy band and I fully agree with the functionality.  It's just the "I can make that for less"  mentality coming out.

Comments

[southerngirlmusings]

Great job on the jeans! Our thrift store has a great maternity section when you go back it may be good to browse around.

[sarah]

The Bella Band does more than just make it more feasible to wear your regular jeans longer. It also supports your growing tummy, which she may need as she starts getting bigger. They snug up maternity pants that are too big and help you transition back to your regular clothes after you have the baby too.

[erin]

oh, how i wish i would have seen a tutorial such as this when i was pregnant! lucky alyssa to have such a crafty mom!

[cindy]

Those turned out really great. She'll be so comfy in her Cool jeans, rather than the old stretchy maternity pants. :)

[lla]

you ask "Have you shopped for maternity clothes lately?" Bit your tongue, girlfriend!

I hadn't thought about the problems that A is oging to have finding maternity wear... as tiny a slip of a girl as she is, I'm sure she has trouble finding non-maternity clothes. Much less, the maternity kind. Lucky for her that she's got such a crafty momma...

:)

[robin]

Congrats to you both!
My 20 year old is also expecting our first grandchild (in Jan.) and she was able to wear her regular jeans up until just recently. She did the rubberband-in-the button thing. (she is about 6 mo. now)
If I had had this tutorial we would have done this. and I'll save it for the after. :)
We were very lucky to get many cute outfits from a young gal on Freecycle, and a local thrift. She did recently buy 2 pairs of pants and a cute hoodie (in that trendy thin fabric) from GapMaternity which was indeed pricey but she LOVES the pants and the hoodie and I hope to be able to make the pants wearable afterwards also so...
We've got some small sizes that KL can no longer fit into and I'd send them to you but it sounds like A is smaller than that even - but if you think they might holler at me. They are smalls. Normally KL is a size 11 in pants (she's hippy... which should come in handy. lol) and small/med tops. There are some pics of KL on my blog... which should link here but if it doesn't email me.

Anyway, thanks for a great idea and again, congrats on your little blessing!!
(I love your blog and am a lurker normally - sorry this is so long!)

[Jenny]

Thank you so much for this! I have the same problem. I am small yet not short so I have a hard time getting pants that fit at the best of times. I have paid $140 for a pair of maternity jeans because they were the only pants I had found that really fit well. YIKES! 3 pregnancies later and I am still wearing them will wear them until disintegrate just so I get my money's worth! LOL! I recently bought some stretchy fabric in hopes of doing something similar with some of my regular pants but didn't know exactly how to do it. This is perfect!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH.

[Jenny]

Oh, I also bought a Bella Band but found it didn't work for me. I really, really wanted it to work but it would didn't stay where it was supposed to. Very comfortable but I was constantly having to adjust and readjust it. Not very practical while chasing around a toddler and a 10 month old. If you are at all crafty, I think this tutorial is the way to go!

[Beth]

Congrats to the two of you!

I'm always in awe of your craftiness... We didn't have a budget to speak of for maternity clothes three years ago, but I discovered this place (in a local mall but the online selection is good, especially sale items): http://www.motherhood.com/. I don't know where you are but Craigslist.com here has excellent maternity-wear deals too...

Have a great weekend!

[Dragonfly-Crafts (Fiona)]

What a great idea. I remember cutting the zip front out of a pair of my jeans 14 years ago for the same expensive reason.
I lived in them.
Also, isn't this why we have sewing Mum's so they can make us cool maternity clothes.

[lucykatecrafts]

what a clever idea, wish i'd come across that when i was last pregnant, i'm afraid i won't be having another so i can try it out myself though ; )

[Mary]

Great job! Those will get lots of wear, I'm sure.

[Racheal]

Brilliant idea !

[Nicole]

So clever! Thank you for sharing. All around me friends are having babies. I'm sure they'll appreciate this great idea.

[Katie]

I did the same exact thing when I was pg with my son. I used an old pair of Levis and they were my favorite jeans during that time. It was so nice to have a nice-looking pair that didn't have weird pockets on the back or look maternity-ish. I looked totally normal from the back.

[nikki brey]

I can't even believe that you made maternity pants...You can do anything!

[Kim]

What a fabulous idea!

[Claire (not Bahrain)]

Well done Autum. This is great timing as I have just found out that I am pregnant. So will definately be getting some thrift jeans to have a go. I have been reading your blog for some time, can't remember if I have posted before, but I love your tuts and inspiration. Congrats to you both.

[Kathy]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! I'm 12 weeks pregnant, still fitting in my pants for now. And not looking forward to purchasing maternity wear. (Wasn't expecting a 3rd child so I gave away all my stuff after child #2 so I'm starting over.) I can't wait to try this out!! But it'll have to wait till after the belly starts expanding more.

[patty]

thanks for this post! I'm 19 weeks pregnant and it's been really difficult for me to find pants that fitted me! My belly's swelling but not the rest of my lower body part! quite tricky!

[Stephanie]

Great idea! How fortunate she is to have a crafty momma!

[Bethany]

I'm 13 weeks pregnant and my mom and I had a similar idea. We took a look at the products out and decided to kind of copy them. We made some tubes with elastic at the top out of t-shirt like material that I can wear under my regular shirts to cover my unbottoned pants or belly. We also made some inserts to put in my regular pants that extend the button area and cover the open area. I did find some cute pants at both Motherhood and JC Penneys for about $20 each, but the smalls are a bit loose on me and I normally wear a 4-6 in pants. The hardest part for me has been finding bras that fit. Nursing bras all seem to be rather pointy. I was a 34D before and if I go up in either cup size or band size, the wires cut into me. So far, I've only found one bra that fits ok and it's kind of thin, which also presents a problem. The funny thing is that whenever I see very pregnant women on the street, they all seem to be so well dressed.

[africankelli]

With faith, love and hope, you are going to make an excellent grandma. You are an incredible mother already!

[Sonya]

I love this post. I am planning to conceive our second child in the next few months. This post is really really helpful. I am sure going to try this out when I finally get pregnant again. Thanks! Congratulations!

-Sonya

[Mirre]

Wow, grandma... great pants ;))
Congratulations!!