The gas took effect on Ernie, and as the film went on, Ernie began to shrink!
But the gas had no effect on clothing.
Ernie began to get smaller, almost the same height as Tim, who suddenly noticed that Ernie's clothes were getting looser.
"Ernie," Tim said, "is it just me, or do your clothes look somewhat bigger?"
Ernie looked down, and gaped - his clothes really did look bigger. "You're right!" Ernie said, staring at himself. "My clothes are getting bigger!"
Indeed. Ernie saw that even his feet were too small for his shoes [he doesn't wear socks under his shoes], and they hardly seemed to be on the ground!
As Ernie stood, so that he could get a better look at himself [shedding his shoes in the process], his watch fell off his wrist, and landed on the couch.
"Holy cow!" Ernie exclaimed. Tim got off of the sofa, and Ernie saw to his shock he was now the same height as Tim's waistline.
"Either I need better glasses," Tim muttered, "or you're shrinking!" he said to Ernie. "And it's DEFINITELY not the first guess." he added.
As if to prove him right, Ernie shrunk even smaller, and his pants, now far too big to wear, collapsed around his ankles, followed by his drawers.
Luckily his shirt was like a dress to him now and covered his naked thighs.
Tim watched, awestruck as Ernie became no higher than his knees, then no higher than a bottle of lemonade.
Eventually, Ernie got so small, his shirt collapsed around him. He was totally naked in front of the giant Tim.