Repairing the drawstring in scrub pants?

Question

I have several pair of scrub pants. They are in great shape except that the drawstring broke. Does anyone know a good cost effective way to replace or repair this? Thanks

Answer 1

Is the tunnel that the drawstring is threaded through go all the way around the pants? If it does, you have and easy repair. Find something to use for the new drawstring. Try a sewing store, they have things like that, and can tell you what to buy. .Make sure you buy one long enough to tie in a bow, tie in a knot at both ends if you wish, and around your waist, and small enough around to fit into the tunnel without folding over. My good hospital scrubs have a woven flat string.. Put a large safety pin in one end of the new cord, making sure the safety pin will fit into the tunnel, and put it far enough up the cord so it won't rip out the end of the new cord. Put the satety pin into one side of the tunnel, and work it from the outside of the pants through the tunnel, and around to the other side by gathering material, and pushing the pin a little farther each time. When you reach the far opening, continue to pull it carefully through. Remove the safety pin, and you are done.
You can do the same thing with elastic, if you do not want the tie anymore. Same rules, sturdy looking elastic, not too large for the tunnel. Thread it through the same way. When it gets all the way around, pull both ends up, pushing the material back, and pin both ends together, and to the opening in the pants, or you might lose the elastic back into the pants, and have to retrieve it. Then you need to find a sewing machine, and sew the two ends together. The elastic might show a little in the hole that once accommodated the ties, but it would not bother me, I wear my scrub top out.
If you sewed, you could make your oun scrub ties, again with the trip to the sewing store. They make cording that you sew a cover over. Just cut a very long piece of material to fit your waist plus the tie, plus a seam on each end, and a knot in each end, plus the seam on the side.You can piece the long piece together from shorter pieces. Sew the sides together with enough space to fit the cord. Cut the cord close to the end of the material, and sew up the ends. Thread it through just like above, and tie the ends in a knot, if you like.
If the tunnel does not go all the way around the pants, you have a new problem, one that might need some ripping of seams and some sewing.
Good luck, but this is easier than it sounds.

For an earlier questioner, Tafford.com

Answer 2

If it is a drawstring runs all the way through the waist casing, this is what to do:

Buy a soft cord from fabric/sewing notions store or knot together the broken pieces of the old drawstring. There are specific shuttles for dragging the end of a cord through a casing but you can attach the end of the cord to the bend of a large hairpin or large safety pin and feed it carefully through the casing until you get it all the way around and out the other hole. Make sure the trailing end does not get pulled inside the casing and get lost. Gather the material of the waist as you pull the cord through.

If you prefer you can convert it to an elastic drawstring. At the fabric store get a small packet of elastic of what ever width will feel comfortable on your midsection and will still fit through the opening of the casing. Draw out enought elastic from the packet and measure it against your waist. Then add about two-four inches more and cut. Attach this in the same way as the cord. Before you knot both ends of the elastic together make sure you have secure each end while it is still sticking out and try them on. Then put both ends of the elastic together and pull it tighter until it is the right resistance to keep the scrubs secure to your body without being too tight at your stomach. Then double knot both ends at the fitting point.

This method is often done for mens' and women's cultural baggie garment sometimes called "shalwar"

If it is only a fabric string at the front of the waist, you will have to hand sew with needle and thread through the pant waist and end of drawstring over and over in a short line back and forth until it tacked into place by the thread. Before you cut the thread let the last couple passes be through the unfinished loop of the previous stitch.

It is worth the effort if they are still good to wear.

Answer 3

Remove the old drawstring completely. Then, purchase cording that is narrow enough to fit into the holes where the two ends of the drawstring came to the front of the pants. The cording should be as long as the old drawstring. Get a bodkin for less than 2 dollars, which is a small sewing tool that can be attached to the end of the new drawstring in order to pull it through the waistband of the pants. ( A bodkin is safer to use than a safety pin that could open and stick you.) After doing that, make a knot on both loose ends of the new drawstring so that it will not get pulled out easily. Problem solved.

Answer 4

I have had some shorts and a pair of sweat pants that lost their drawstring, and I put the string back in. It requires a thin probe with a hook, like a dental probe, and some time to do it. I used the probe to push the string through the the pants. You push it in and then bunch up the pants, then push the string through again. You keep repeating the process until you get the string out on the the other side. Once you get the string all the way through then tie a knot on each end that is bigger than the hole. Tie it right next to the hole so it won't slip inside again. When you pull the pants on and tighten the string, the extra knots won't get in the way. Good Luck!

Answer 5

I would recommend using pretty Matching ribbons! all you do is remove the old strings, and take the ribbon end and fold it over twice, so that it will hold a safety pin pushed through it. You take the safety pin and run it through the hole where the strings go, and you can feel it inside, you scrunch up the waistline and push the pin through to the other side, this usually takes a while until you get the hang of it! If you could sew you could use fabric, but since you don't, this is abut it unless you want to use cording that you can buy at the fabric store, they also sell these plastic stoppers like th ones people use on jackets, to keep from losing them inside. when the ribbon or cord is sticking out both sides, you just put a knot larger than the hole in each side!

Answer 6

Easy-peasy. These directions presume that there is a single channel through which the drawstring passes, and that it is not sewn closed at any point.
Go to Walmart or whatever and buy some fabric tape or cord (usually sold by the yard). Make sure you have a large safety pin.
Remove the existing cord.
Put the safety pin in the end of the new cord and feed it through. Because there's something to pull on, it'll be pretty easy to ease it through.
When it come out the other end, trim the cord to the right size. Voila!

Answer 7

Well, I don't know if this will work, but go to the Fabric department in Wal-Mart or a fabric store and see if they have any cording or something that's similar to the drawstring that needs to be replaced and see if it will fit the opening for the drawstring and if it's the right color. You'll have to also buy a safety pin that will fit through the drawstring hole. Measure out the length you need and cut it. Pin the cording onto the pin, close the pin, and push the pin into the hole, and work it through the waistband of the pants. Good luck, should you choose this mission.

Answer 8

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RE:
Repairing the drawstring in scrub pants?
I have several pair of scrub pants. They are in great shape except that the drawstring broke. Does anyone know a good cost effective way to replace or repair this? Thanks

Answer 9

Knot one end of the string, then wrap a cable tie around the string and tighten it. Pull the string through the cable tie until it hits the knot, then work it through the drawstring channel. If the cable tie is 4 inches in length, you can bunch up the waistband the length of the cable tie, pinch the waistband to the end of the cable tie and pull the waistband in the opposite direction you are threading the drawstring. Took me about 5 minutes or less to thread it around the waist. Untie the knot and pull the cable tie off the end.

Answer 10

Go to a sewing supply store (fabric store) and ask for drawstrings (or thin elastic, if you prefer...take the pants with you to get a width that will fit) and a tool called a "bodkin" which makes it easy to put the drawstring or elastic into the tunnel sewn into the top of the pants. You might check the yellow pages for a place that does alterations if you want someone to do this for you instead of doing it yourself.