This week I continued on my True Bias Capsule Wardrobe by sewing up these Dani Pants in a lightweight plaid suiting. To make them a bit more dressy, I decided to add belt loops and the end result is exactly what I wanted. I will show you how I did this in the following tutorial. It really is an easy upgrade and makes the otherwise casual pants feel very work appropriate.
You will sew up the Danis according to the instructions until it comes to the waistband. At this point you will want to create your belt loops by cutting a strip of fabric that is about 17.5" long and about 1 inch wide.
Finish one of the long edges.
Fold in the unfinished long edge to the wrong side by 3/8" and press. Fold the finished long edge in by 1/4" to the wrong side, covering the raw edges of the first fold, and press. Edgestitch along the two folded edges to secure.
Cut into 5 pieces - each about 3.5" long.
Pin with right sides touching and pointing down, and sew them into the waistband at the following places.
- two at the seams for the front waistband
- two 1 inch behind the side seams
- one at center back
Finish the waistband according to the instructions with the belt loops loose and pointing down. Make sure you have done all of your waistband topstitching before moving forward (the following photo only shows one of the lines of topstitching because I forgot to take a pic once all three were done.)
Turn under the top 1/2" of each belt loop and pull up towards the top. Align it with the top line of topstitching. Sew a small line of stitching along the top edge of each belt loop to secure.
Since I know I will be wearing a belt with this pair of Danis, I decided to go ahead and omit the buttons and instead sew on some large hook and eyes for a flatter waistband.
That is it! I love my new belted Dani pants. The plaid matching was not fun, but was worth it in the end. Love how it looks styled with boots and a tucked in Nikko top.
