Garanimals vent

[sdarwkcabemanmy]

A friend of ours gave us some pants for DS for Christmas which came from WalMart (they were Garanimals).

Now I love Garanimals..I think their shirts are cute and they tend to hold up pretty well and best of all, they're cheapola. But WHY oh WHY can't they put either drawstrings or beltloops on their little boys' pants?

DS needs new pants and unfortunately, this seems to be a BAD time of year to buy them. We went to WalMart last night to look at what they had left over and unfortunately NONE of the Garanimals pants in DS's size had drawstings/belt loops.

If I knew how to put in drawstrings, I'd do it. We have always had this problem with DS and will have it until he's a teenager at least. He needs one size for his waist (usually a 3, depending on the brand) and another for the length in leg (usually a 5, again, depending on the brand).

DS really liked the pants he got (one pair was green camo and the other a black/white/gray camo--he called them 'cow pants') but we returned them and DH is going to go by another WalMart on the way home to see if he can find some more 'cow pants' for DS that have a drawstring waist or belt loops or SOMETHING so they won't fall off of him.

Garanimals--please..once boys graduate out of the T sizes..PLEASE put drawstrings or beltloops on your pants. I can't be the only mom who suffers from this problem.

 

[agnes!]

If I were closer I'd put in a drawstring for you - it's really not that hard. I hear ya about waist-sizes not matching up with leg lengths though...my DD had the same issue.

Have you Googled your problem? Maybe there's a craft-y website out there that has a simple/easy solution for non-sewers.

agnes!

 

[tngramma]

Have you checked on pants that have adjustable waists? They have inside the waist on each side. There is a piece of elastic attached inside the waistband with several button holes in it. These are pulled out to buttons which will make pants fit in waist.

These are the only kind our grandson can wear since he is a size 5/6 in waist and size 8 in legenth. Can't wait till he gets old enought to buy waist/inseam size pants.

 

[ndelaware]

How about putting a couple of darts in the waist?

 

[Michelle67]

I hear ya. My son is a little no-butt. His pants are always sliding down. Sounds exactly like your son; about a 3 in the waist, and a 4-5 in the length. We like those pants with the adjustable waistbands (the button things a PP was talking about) better than drawstrings. They are handy.

 

[Alex&Evan'sMom]

Sounds exactly like my 4 yr. old. He is a size 3 in the waist and 4 in the length. But he refuses to wear a belt and loves jeans. We have some Gap adjustable waist jeans and I love them. My son is very picky and will only wear jeans if they feel right. He puts them on and then squats to see if they feel right. Anyone else's kid do this?

 

[sdarwkcabemanmy]

Have you checked on pants that have adjustable waists? They have inside the waist on each side. There is a piece of elastic attached inside the waistband with several button holes in it. These are pulled out to buttons which will make pants fit in waist.

I LOVE pants like this and he did get a couple of pair of jeans with those thingies in them. But Garanimals (AFAIK) doesn't make those kinds of pants.
I can sew..just not well. I wouldn't trust myself to put darts in or fix the waistband myself because I'm sure I would muck it up.

 

[golfgal]

How about putting a couple of darts in the waist?

Have you checked on pants that have adjustable waists? They have inside the waist on each side. There is a piece of elastic attached inside the waistband with several button holes in it. These are pulled out to buttons which will make pants fit in waist.

These are the only kind our grandson can wear since he is a size 5/6 in waist and size 8 in legenth. Can't wait till he gets old enought to buy waist/inseam size pants.

Even the waist/inseams don't help when they are skinny, skinny. DS13 has always had the same problem but what we are finding now is that the inseams STILL don't come long enough to fit his waist. He needs a 32" inseam and a 26" waist. The best we have come up with is a 30" inseam.

I LOVE pants like this and he did get a couple of pair of jeans with those thingies in them. But Garanimals (AFAIK) doesn't make those kinds of pants.
I can sew..just not well. I wouldn't trust myself to put darts in or fix the waistband myself because I'm sure I would muck it up.

If you can sew a straight line, you can add darts. I can't sew very well but I can do this. Simply gather equal amounts of material on either side of the pants-off center in the back. Fold it together so the material touches and sew. I go over it a few times so it holds. If you need to bring in the waist 2", take 1 inch on either side, as an example.

 

[mjkacmom]

This is why it would never occur to me to buy pants without adjustable waists, or at the very least, slims. I find Old Navy, especially with sales and coupons, very reasonable - I actually bought a pair of sweatpants there yesterday for ds10 with REAL drawstrings (my big kids clothing pet peeve is faux drawstrings - if anyone needs real drawstrings, it's kids!).

 

[sdarwkcabemanmy]

If I hadn't already returned them, I'd probably give it a shot.

So, just out of curiousity, since you can't seem to find pants the right length..does he wear them baggy or high-water?

I need to know! I need to know what to expect in about 10 years when I have this same problem with DS.

 

[sdarwkcabemanmy]

I didn't buy them..they were gifts and I should have told the person "If you're going to buy him pants, adjustable waist, drawstring or beltloops only please!". So it's really my fault.

my big kids clothing pet peeve is faux drawstrings - if anyone needs real drawstrings, it's kids!).

Me too! When we've gone bathing suit shopping for DS in the past, we've had to reject cute board shorts that he really liked because of the fake drawstring issue.

 

[golfgal]

If I hadn't already returned them, I'd probably give it a shot.

So, just out of curiousity, since you can't seem to find pants the right length..does he wear them baggy or high-water?

I need to know! I need to know what to expect in about 10 years when I have this same problem with DS.

We had a lot of darts in pants because when he was younger belts took too long to get off when doing the potty dance . Now he is older he wears a belt as needed. NEVER highwaters--that is instant beat-up time in the middle school . He is growing a lot right now and we just had to buy him new jeans yesterday as the ones we bought at the beginning of the year were too short already. He wouldn't wear them because they were about 1/4" too short.

 

[sdarwkcabemanmy]

DS is going through a growing phase right now too. We bought him some long-sleeved cotton shirts right before Thanksgiving to wear to school and they are now too short in the waist.


This is so unfair. I have the kid with the longest torso in the free world and legs that go up to his armpits. I think it was Bill Cosby that said he asked for a healthy child and got a lot of jokes from God in the process.

Hey God..you can knock off now.

 

[JB111107]

You can add your own "adjustable waist" elastic to the inside waistband of pants very easily. You need 2 pieces of elastic 4-7 inches in length,(depending on how much you are needing to take up), 2 buttons, a seam ripper, and your sewing machine. (and thread to match the color of the pants)

1. decide how much you need to take up in the waistband and divide by 2. This will be the amount you want to take in on each side.

2. Cut a small line in the middle of the elastic that will act as a button hole appx 3/4" from one end of each stretch of elastic. If you are handy with sewing I'd reiforce the edge with stitching. If not, you can use some seam adhesive on it which will help keep the elastic from fraying. It's like glue and you can get it at Walmart (Fray-check I think is what it is called)

3. Sew the pieces of elastic (I'd recommend at least 1" width elastic) to the sides of the waistband, lined up with the side seams of the pants to make it even. Just a straight stitch, but reinforce it several times over. Make sure that the other end of the elastic heads towards the front of the pants. (The end with the buttonhole)

4. Sew the buttons onto the inside of the waistband appx 1 inch on either side of the front center button/snap. You will have to move the buttons a little depending on how much you need to take in so measure/try them on before you sew to get proper placement.

5. Stretch the sewin elastic and pull towards the button to take up the extra slack. If you are taking up a considerable amount you might want to sew a line or two in the elastic along the waistband to keep it from gaping.


Another way to add a drawstring is easy if you have pants that have a waistband of some sort that is at least 2 layers of fabric:

Cut a small incision inside the inside fabric of the waistband. Take a length of string (shoestrings work well) and put a safety pin on one end. Slide the safety pinned end into the waistband and feed it through the pants to pull the string into the waistband and back around. Tie off the ends of the string after they are pulled through so they stay in the pants. Use fray-check or a tiny bit of super glue along the edge of the cut fabric to keep it from fraying in the wash.

Hope that helps

 

[sdarwkcabemanmy]

Thank you so much for that. I am saving that bit of info for the next time this happens to us!