My Shorts Are Falling Down.......!

[jime]

Anybody know of a good/easy way to re-thread the drawstring on a pair of shorts? I have no sewing skills.......

Thanks!

 

[Pamola]

i've done it by taping your drawstring to a straightened coat hanger and threading it through, bending the hanger if necessary.

 

[sli74]

Take a small safety pin and pin it to the end of the drawstring. Then put the safety pin into the hole and begin pushing it through by bunching the fabric over the safety pin and then pulling the bunched fabric over the end of the pin and pushing the pin deeper in once more. By doing this until the pin comes out the other hole will pull the string through. Does that make sense?

sli74

 

[Jay H]

I second the safety pin idea, that's how I've done it before. Make sure you close the safety pin first too

Jay

 

[SAR-EMT40]

Take a small safety pin and pin it to the end of the drawstring. Then put the safety pin into the hole and begin pushing it through by bunching the fabric over the safety pin and then pulling the bunched fabric over the end of the pin and pushing the pin deeper in once more. By doing this until the pin comes out the other hole will pull the string through. Does that make sense?

sli74

Genius!

What an idea. Why the hell didn't I think of that?

Keith

 

[bubba]

My mother and her mother have been doing that for years!! Goes to show that ski74 is a very talented (and engaged) woman!! (okay you 2 JayH!! -- not the engaged or woman part!!)

 

[Pete_Hickey]

I always use a bicycle spoke to work it through. Everyone has some spare bike spokes hanging around, right?

 

[chinooktrail]

Safety pins work wonders!! Another way is with a product called a 'bodkin' they they sell at any sewing store you can find. Sort of like a safety pin, but much longer, so instead of taking say, 10 minutes with a safety pin it takes about 4 seconds with a bodkin.
Just as a suggestion, use 2 safety pins, pin the end you are not threading through the waistband to the outside, and use the other to thread the cord through the buttonhole or whatever, I have seen many people try to rethread a waistband or similar only to have the other end dissapear into the casing... Not a pretty sight.

Good luck!

 

[BorealChickadee]

Safety pins work great- Just use one sturdy enough to take the pushing through the fabric. If you use a small one, it will bend slightly and open up and then it's a pain in the a$$ to get out because it's opened up inside the tunnel. So get one of those big sturdy ones. And i second the motion for pinning the free end before you start threading. Frustrating having the free end follow the pin into the tunnel.

I also have the forerunner of the bodkin. A long needle with a hook on the end from one of the original machines used to make silk stockings.

 

[KMartman]

Take a small safety pin and pin it to the end of the drawstring. Then put the safety pin into the hole and begin pushing it through by bunching the fabric over the safety pin and then pulling the bunched fabric over the end of the pin and pushing the pin deeper in once more. By doing this until the pin comes out the other hole will pull the string through. Does that make sense?

sli74

Beat me to it...this is BY FAR the EASIEST way to accomplish this task. I think my mother showed me this one when I was about 10....probably in "ask Heloise"

M

 

[jime]

Thank you all! I never would have thought of the safety pin idea on my own. I've never heard of a bodkin so I'm going to try and find one just to satisfy my curiosity.

 

[albee]

(kidding)

This post has nothing to do with hiking, and is therefore deemed fluff.

Unless they're hiking shorts...

 

[chinooktrail]

They are a handy little tool. They look a bit like a pair of tweezers with a sliding ring. You place the drawstring between the 'tweezer' ends, and slide the ring up until it keeps the string tigthly in place, then slide it through the waistband. They are much longer than a safety pin, and you slide it through with the drawstring trailing, so you keep tigthening the ring as you go. Takes 2 seconds.
(Have you ever seen those BBQ tongs that have the little sliding thing to close them? Looks like that on a mini scale)
Another thing you may want to do is sew a few tacking stitches in the center back of the waistband, catching the drawcord, so you won't have this problem again.
Good luck!

 

[skibones]

Safety pins work great- Just use one sturdy enough to take the pushing through the fabric. If you use a small one, it will bend slightly and open up and then it's a pain in the a$$ to get out because it's opened up inside the tunnel. So get one of those big sturdy ones. And i second the motion for pinning the free end before you start threading. Frustrating having the free end follow the pin into the tunnel.

I also have the forerunner of the bodkin. A long needle with a hook on the end from one of the original machines used to make silk stockings.

Saftey pin is what I use. If they still sell diaper pins, use that- they're big and sturdy. If I can find a bodkin I'd like to get one for future use.

 

[John H Swanson]

Absolutely !

I always use a bicycle spoke to work it through. Everyone has some spare bike spokes hanging around, right?

A rival to the paper clip in terms of usefulness....but I use the safety pin method on this one.