Is there an optimal way of tying the drawstrings on sweats? The ones that come in one piece (no ends), or are you supposed to cut them to make ends?
I would/do tie them (without cutting) by making a loop and pulling a second loop throught the first so that pulling on the loose end will untie the knot. No loose end(s) to be pulled back into the waistband.
I cut the loop, tie a small knot on the top of each of the 2 resulting strings and then tie a “regualr” knot. The llop method mentioned above can’t get my sweats tight enough.
Thank you for the responses. I thought for a second no one was going to respond.
The exact problem that prompted the question. I thought there was a super knot that other people were using that I didn’t know.
Guess I’m cutting them. I just have to make sure the end knots are huge, because one thing I hate more than loose sweats is finding one of the ends has disappeared into the waistband
The problem I have sometimes is the drawstring is usually sewed into the middle seam in the back of the warmup pants. Sometimes it will pull loose from this middle seam and then you have to fish it thru the channel back to where it belongs and sew it back in. Very difficult.
If the end has gone into the waistband, don’t rry to fish it out. It’s too difficult and takes too much time. Intead, remove the whole string, tie it to something long, thin and ridged (knitting needles are great) and then feed the needle or whatever you use through the waistband to the other end. Pull the whole needle out to where the string starts, and the problem is solved.
Except the newer pants have a stitched seam in the middle of the back, making it impossible to pull the “whole” (assuming it even is a whole and not two) string(s) through.
This situation calls for a slipknot. At least that’s what I do with my pair. I figger cutting the string might just lead to a bigger mess. Slipknot works great.
You have come to the right place. Like George Costanza, I aspire to live my life in sweats, so I have become something of an expert on this subject. Here is what you do.
First, do not cut the loop. (If you already have, no sweat. Yuk, yuk.) Go out to a camping or sporting goods store and buy one of those cylindrical drawstring clamp thingees (called a “Cord-Lok” here with photo). It is basically an inchlong springloaded cylinder within a cylinder, with a holed drilled through its crossection.
The idea is to use the Cord-Lok in place of slipknot. It’s easier to adjust to the perfect tighness around your waist. Feed the loop of your drawstring through the hole. Squeeze the Cord-Lok and both strands of the drawstring will slide freely; release it and it cinches the drawstring tight. Put a knot at the end of the drawstring loop to prevent the Cord-Lok from coming off the drawstring altogether.
Ahhhh. For some reason, never occured to me to buy a small accessory.
Now to find some velvet sweats/tracksuits!