So you've lived through the trend of wide-legged pants and now it's back to reality with tapered pants and skinny jeans. But it doesn't mean you have to sacrifice an expensive wardrobe and restock it with new bottoms. If you can draw a straight chalk line and sew a seam, you can alter those wide-legged pants to make them custom tailored and narrower in no time, and without having to shell out major bucks to a tailor.

Turn your pants inside out. Use a pair of small scissors to carefully remove the stitches from the hems. Pull off any thread remnants and discard. Iron the hem lightly so the fabric lies flat. This makes the measuring and sewing easier.

Find a pair of pants with a width you like to use as a pattern. Turn them inside out and place them on top of the wide pants. Align the crotch and center the legs so there is equal fabric on both sides. Mark the outline of the “pattern” pants from the crotch to the hem on the inner and outer legs with chalk. Remove the pattern pants and pin both layers of the inner and outer seams every 4 inches along the length of each pant leg. Set the pins perpendicular to the chalk lines.

Put on the wide pants and use safety pins at the inner and outer seam hemline to mark the desired width if you don’t have a pair of pants to use as a guide. Remove the pants and place them inside out on a flat, smooth surface. Use tailor's chalk to mark where the safety pins are on both the inner and outer seams. Remove the pins.

Use a yardstick to mark a straight line from the crotch to 1/2 inch outside of the chalk mark on the inner ankle seam and from the bottom hip to 1/2 inch outside of the chalk mark on the outer ankle seam on both legs. Pin both layers of the inner and outer seams every 4 inches along the length of each pant leg. Set the pins perpendicular to the chalk lines.

Sew seams with a straight stitch about 1/2 inch away from the chalk lines and remove the pins. Trim the seams to within 1/2 inch of the stitching. Fold the hem back and pin it in place. Restitch the hemline. Turn the pants inside out and iron the right side. For a custom finish, top-stitch the outer seams from hip to ankle with a matching or even contrasting thread. This helps to flatten the new seam and adds a tailored, customized look to your pants.