@popvulture It's interesting to see these recommendations. I appreciate them, but to be honest, I can't picture myself buying a stretcher. Maybe I'd create some kind of jig....
The question it raises to me though is why the same malleability wouldn't occur from just wearing the pants as I have for the past five months... Would cold washing them help? A while ago I dropped a spot of acrylic paint on the pants and in trying to dab the spot off the dye really bled from the area in a way that scared me from washing them for good...

I got my first pair of Iron Heart jeans recently, an old womens discontinued tomboy pair I was happy to snag off ebay for the cheap-ish! I really love these jeans and wish they were still in production- but now, for my question. My pants are a very close fit for me, and are very snug around the waist. The denim is obviously very stiff, the 21 oz, and sometimes i feel like the waistband is cutting into my sides. I have had them for four months now, and havent washed them yet, i think for now i would prefer not to, but i wonder if anyone has any advice on how to soften the waistband up a bit?