Black dress pants with tacky white pockets... what should I do? (dye, cut)

[Tennesseestorm]

I know so little about such things, so hopefully someone here that is a seamstress or likes to deal with clothing will have some advice.

I have a pair of mens black dress pants that I really like, they are comfortable, fit me well, etc that I occasionally wear to work. There is one thing I hate about them... the pockets (pocket linings) are white and they show when wearing the pants! One day a lady at work thought my pockets were sticking out and since then I have been paranoid to wear them. Some lady at work said I should dye them with rit dye but I dont want to stain my washing machine.

Any recommendations on how I can dye only the pockets so they dont stick out like a sore thumb when I wear them? I have seriously just thought about tossing them in the garbage, but I really like them and hate to do that if I can easily change the pocket colors somehow.

I have another pair of black pants and those pockets are black, so no problems with those. I guess these with the white pockets are cheaper or something. I purchased them in a hurry when visiting relatives in South Carolina last summer. The pants I had packed to wear at my aunts nurse graduation was covered in lint (thanks to stupid me washing black pants with a new white towel!) and I had to purchase these to have something to wear. lol.

Thanks!

[talloolla]

My suggestion is to take them to a tailor and have the pockets replaced or have them sew a piece of black fabric around the inside rim of the pocket. I doubt the service would be expensive, especially since you like everything about the pants.

[Pitt Chick]

Originally Posted by Tennesseestorm

I have a pair of mens black dress pants that I really like, they are comfortable, fit me well, etc that I occasionally wear to work. There is one thing I hate about them... the pockets (pocket linings) are white and they show when wearing the pants!

It sounds like they really do NOT fit you well.
When they are too tight through the hips, the lining pulls out and shows.

You'll have to decide if they are worth altering, or if you should just get a new pair.

[JanND]

Here is my solution. If you can sew a seam, get black thread, and sew a very tiny seam along the pockets...Essentially sewing your pockets closed. The white will never show again. Otherwise, just live w/ it, or use a black sharpie marker to color the white that shows at the edge of the pocket.

[beth98]

I agree with PittChick that is the pockets are showing they likely don't actually fit well. But you like them and it could be a weird quirk with the way they are made, so take them to a tailor and have them either sew new pockets in or remove the pockets and sew them closed. My personal preference is to remove the pockets because it eliminates any line from the pockets showing through, it will also be cheaper than having the tailor sew in new ones. It's typically around $10 for my tailor to remove and sew up the pockets on my pants.

[43north87west]

Agree that it's a fit issue.

If this is only a problem when you are wearing them and not when they are lying flat, for example, then something doesn't fit properly, hips, butt, or both. Too little room in the hips or butt will pull the fabric from the front to the back to accommodate whatever isn't fitting, which causes the pockets to open. It doesn't happen with jeans because the pockets are horizontal.

A lot of black pants have white pocket linings. It doesn't necessarily mean that they're cheap, unless the lining shows when the pants are hung over a hanger or lying flat. If they still showed when folded or hung, then I would tend to think that they were just poorly cut to begin with.