Basic Fold
Lay the pants flat with the crotch facing up. Lay them on a flat surface. Use your hands to smooth out the fabric as much as you can, erasing any ridges or wrinkles. This is a simple, quick, and easy everyday fold that leaves very few creases and wrinkles, so you look great in your sweats next time you wear them.
Fold the crotch inward. You’ll notice that the crotch sticks out, which can make achieving a nice tidy fold tricky. No worries! Just fold the crotch inward so that the pants form more of a rectangle.
Fold the legs up toward the waistband in thirds. Now, just bring the bottom hem of the sweatpants up about a third of the way toward the waistband. Then, fold them up another third, and then another, until the fold reaches the waistband. Nothing to it! Or, if you’re not great at eyeballing thirds (we’re right there with you), fold the legs up to the midway point, then fold the waistband down to the midway point, and finally fold the bundle in half where they meet.
Space-Saving Ranger Roll
Lay the sweatpants flat with the crotch facing up. Lay them on a flat, solid surface, which will make it easier. Smooth the fabric with your hands until there are no wrinkles or ridges. Otherwise, it won’t be as compact as it could be. “Rolling really does maximize the space in a suitcase,” says Naylon. “So if you can roll, that will definitely use up all the space properly.” This method is excellent for packing sweatpants for a trip, or for fitting them into drawers when you don’t have much storage space.
Fold the waistband down 3–4 in (7.6–10.2 cm). Take the waistband and turn it down over the pants, so that it’s like you’re starting to turn them inside-out. Make it so that the waistband more or less touches the top of the sweatpants’ pockets.
Fold one leg over the other. Fold the pants in half vertically. Take one leg of the sweatpants and fold it over the other. Take care to match up the legs as closely as possible, and smooth the fabric with your hands as you go to keep it nice and neat.
Roll the pants tightly from the cuffs up to the waistband. Take the bottom cuff of the pants and, as snugly as you can, start rolling them up toward the waistband. The tighter you roll, the smaller your final bundle will be.
Wrap the waistband around the folded bundle. Once the pants are rolled up to the waistband, take the inverted waistband and pull it up and around the rolled bundle. Tuck any loose edges into the band, and you’re done! Now you have a small and secure, rolled-up pair of sweatpants ready for travel. Moon says, “When you roll, you can sometimes depending on the dimension, stand them up so you can see them all at a glance.” Try standing the sweatpants on-end for easy access.
KonMari Fold
Lay your sweatpants flat, and fold one leg over the other. Lay them on a flat surface with the crotch facing up, and use your hands to smooth out any wrinkles. Then, fold one leg over the other, taking care to line up the seams as best you can. This is one of the methods made famous by Marie Kondo, an organization and clean living celebrity.
Fold the crotch in to make the pants a rectangle. When you fold one leg over the other, you’ll notice that the crotch sticks out. Fold the crotch onto the legs to make the sweatpants more closely resemble a rectangle, which will make for a neater end result.
Fold the legs up toward the waistband, but leave a little space. Take the cuffs of the legs and bring them up to the waist of the sweatpants, but not all the way. Leave about 2–3 in (5.1–7.6 cm) of space. This will come in handy in the next steps. Now, the sweatpants are folded more or less in half.
Fold the legs up toward the waistband again. Now, take the legs of the sweatpants and fold them up to the waist, so that the legs are double-folded. Again, leave a bit of a gap between the folded edge and the waistband—aim for where you folded the legs the first time. For thicker fabrics, or for an even smaller bundle, fold this portion in thirds up to the waistband, and skip the next step.
Fold the legs up a third time, all the way to the waistband. Now, fold the legs toward the waistband one final time, this time folding them so that the edge meets the edge of the waistband. You’ll be left with a tidy little bundle! Depending on the thickness of your sweatpants’ fabric, you may need to fold more or fewer times to achieve that sturdy bundle. For thin sweatpants, fold the legs 3 times, like these steps show. For thick fabric, you might only fold them once, then fold them again in thirds, rather than folding them in half 3 times.
Stand the bundle upright in your drawer. Part of the advantage of the KonMari method is easy viewing and access to your sweatpants while they’re in your drawers. To store them, set them upright, so that they’re “standing” on the waistband and the fold you created, almost like a tent. “It's file, don't pile,” says Moon. “You want to be able to see everything without having to dig or guess or mess it all up again.”
Leg Roll for Travel
Lay the sweatpants out flat and fold one leg over the other. Work on a flat surface and use your hands to smooth out the fabric. Make sure the crotch faces upwards, then fold one pant leg over the other, taking care to match up the legs as close as possible. This is similar to the roll fold, but a bit more secure, and won’t come undone as easily if you’re traveling and jostling your bags, for example.
Fold the top leg out 90 degrees at the halfway point. Take the top leg and fold it in half, so that it sticks out perpendicularly from the pants. We’ll use this to “bag up” the completed roll in a moment.
Roll the sweatpants from the waistband down. Take the waistband and start rolling tightly down toward the hem of the legs. You’ll pass by that folded leg on the way down—don’t worry, just keep going and let the leg hang loose.
Tuck the bundle into the dangling leg. Now you have a tightly rolled bundle with a loose leg that’s sort of like a tail. Take this loose leg and turn it inside out over the bundle, so that the bundle is snug and cozy inside the pant leg. Toss it in your drawer or suitcase!
Shortening Sweatpants Hack
Turn the cuffs of your sweatpants inside-out. Take the bottom hems of the pant legs, and turn them inside out so that they’re folded up over the pant leg by about 3–4 in (7.6–10.2 cm). Note that it’s easiest to do this hack while you’re wearing them! To crop the legs even shorter, fold the hem further up your leg. This helps them fit better without having to shrink them through alterations.
Wrap an elastic band around the middle of the folded cuff. Take an elastic band, like a hair tie or a rubber band, and slip it over the inside-out cuff, so that it’s about centered. This will be the new “cuff” of the sweatpants.
Fold the hem down over the elastic band. Now take the very edge of the pants—which you just folded up, and fold them back down over the elastic band, so that the band stays in place but is hidden by the folded hem.
Tuck the folded hem inside the pant legs. Finally, use your fingers to “roll” the hem inward, so that it’s inside the sweatpants’ leg and held in place by the elastic. Essentially, you’re just folding the hem into the leg of the pans and using an elastic band to cinch it in place around your leg. Easy peasy! Now, style your makeshift joggers with high-top shoes or low-cut sneakers for a fresh look.
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