I bought a pair of Rock and Republic jeans for $2 at the Lancefield op shop last weekend.  They looked as though they’d never been worn, so I just bought them figuring that they looked as though they’d fit me.  When I did try them on, the fit through the legs and hips was great – except that the rise was TINY!  These jeans were so low cut that they were almost indecent even before bending over.  So I did what any self respecting seamstress should do – I cut off the waistband and replaced it with a wide stretchy band of ponte knit.

These are now extremely comfortable and the rise is more than socially acceptable. I usually wear fairly long tops, so the chances of the band being seen are very slim. I did remove a few rivets and the zipper pull before stitching the band to the jeans – no need to break any overlocker needles!

There are a multitude of tutorials for converting regular jeans into maternity jeans, and I suppose that what I have done is pretty much the same – except easier!  The rectangle I cut out for the band is a few inches shorter than my waist measurement, which should keep it tight enough to keep my jeans up.  It had to be stretched a bit to fit it onto the jeans.  So there you go – convert your uncomfortable jeans with too-tight and/or too-low waistbands into these comfy “maternity” jeans!