How can I add a drawstring? Or is there another fix?

Question

We got these jackets for swim this year and they kinda flare out at the bottom, i hate the way it looks and i figured i could add a drawstring or something to tighten it up but i'm not exactly sure how to go about it. any hints or otehr ideas?

Thanks!

Answer 1

this is going to sound more complicated than it is, but at the bottom edge of the jacket, you should have a hem, usually the fabric doubled over and hemmed shut. depending on how big the hem is, you could make a small hold, preferably in the side seam, then take some sort of cord, ribbon, or elastic that is just thick enough to fit in that hem. attach a small safety pin through the elastic or cord and then fish it through the bottom hem until you come out of the same hole that you entered. The safety pin just allows you to grab it from the outside and move it along. Once you are all the way around, you can do a couple things, if you used elastic, just tighten it as much as you want, sew it permanent and then close the hole back up. Or if you used a cord or ribbon, just tie it however tight you want.