Bib shorts gripper/hem thing curling up with age, any bright ideas for repair?

[bludger]

After about 1.5 years my Decathlon shorts are curling up at the grippers, creating a kind of trumpet effect. This wasn't so big a deal at first but now it's beginning to look decidedly unsightly.

Has anyone done a good repair on a problem like these before? My first thought was to use a sewing machine to sew the gripper inside on itself. I am guessing it is impossible to 'rehabilitate' the hem with glue or whatever... They aren't yet starting to show a 'full moon' at the back so I hope to keep them in service for at least another year.

[Kim]

PSA:  Successfully machine-sewing stretchy fabrics isn't entry-level stuff.  There's all sorts of witchcraft involved in choosing a stitch that can stretch (zigzags and cleverer twiddly stitches) while preventing the fabric from stretching as it's sewn (special feet that feed on both sides).  And you'll need a needle you haven't got, as usual.

If your sewing skills are mostly cargo-cult like mine, then at a minimum you'll need something to practice on...

[LateStarter]

my Castelli Endurance bibs, two pairs, have started to do the same and after only 6 months, always washed properly in accordance with instructions, very bloody annoying, only mitigated by having got them reasonably cheaply, manufacturers seem to go in for all sorts of exotic leg gripper designs that don't work, come on how hard can it be, get it right and stop fiddling with the design

[LateStarter]

PS - a potential solution involving minimal sewing genius skills. While wearing if I gather a small length of the bottom edge so that it puts a bit more tension on the edge the rolling straightens out. So if I perhaps undo a little bit of a suitable vertical seam and cut a small triangle out and re-sew I posit that this might put the edge under the same additional tension and thereby cause it to not roll up?

Or I could just ignore the slight dorky rolling look as the rolling hasn't yet impacted the gripper function.

PPS - or if I do more riding/training my thigh muscles might enlarge enough thus placing the edge under similar increased tension ?

[Ashaman42]

Glue the gripper to your leg!