Loving my slippers this Winter.
Anyway....
We short people find it hard to buy jeans that fit us length wise. I bought some jeans from Buckle and they hemmed them for free for me leaving the original hem on the jeans. I picked them up, took them home, looked closer at the hem and I thought to myself, "I could have done that." A couple years went by and I did nothing about all my long jeans, until today. Cathe, from Just Something I Made, put up a tutorial on her blog and I was so happy to see it! The thing is...I did mine just slightly different. Watch.
I did just what she said; put the jeans on, find where you want your jeans to lay and pin it. Roll the jeans up so that the original hem is slightly above that mark, and pin it.
Sew right next to the original hem, like so.
That's it! This seriously took me maybe 15 minutes to do and it was so worth it! Best part is that I didn't have to pay anyone to do it for me.
Here is where I do my thing. Instead of leaving that extra chunk of fabric rolled up and tacked down on the inside of the jean, I just cut it off. There's a lot less bulk which is good when you have skinny jeans. Plus, I think that is how the hemming lady does it at Buckle.
Unroll it and iron flat.
That's it! This seriously took me maybe 15 minutes to do and it was so worth it! Best part is that I didn't have to pay anyone to do it for me.Much better.
Stephanie
40 comments:
i've done this to a few pairs of my own. best way to hem jeans!
I was seriously JUST telling my husband that I wish I knew how to hem jeans..I might give it a try...Thanks!
OMG, you are brilliant!!! I am short person, and so I have a couple of pairs that need altering - as usual - and I was going to send them out for that.
Now I don't need to!!! Yay!
Thank you so much for sharing :)
I'm loving your slippers too! :) Where'd you get them? (Or did you make them?)
Does it fray where you cut off the extra fabric?
OH MY GOSH! Why didn't I think of that? So easy...thanks for sharing! xo
Holy Guacamole! This is genius. I'm the official jeans-hemmer in my family and now I can do it quicker and without that " I hemmed these myself look"!!
My slippers are from Target, last year though. But I've been thinking I could make them and share it with you all :) So, the jeans fray slightly, but not enough for me to worry about. Good luck with your hemming!
do you think this would work for my husband's khaki pants that have a cuff at the bottom. i really need sewing for dummies so if you want to do a tutorial for that kind too, that would be great!!
omg!!! that is great!!! thanks for sharing!!
Do you stitch by hand or use a machine?
I'm curious - does having that extra seam there make the hem flip up after a while? My regular jeans' hems flip up all the time and I'm certainly not about to iron my jeans! But mostly I do need to hem jeans because I'm short, so was curious about the flip factor.
If you don't want them to fray.... go around with zig zag.....
To keep them from flipping ... Tack the sides of the extra up inside the jeans ... just on the sides. it will help hold them.
What do you mean go around with zig zag? I am about do this for my husband. While I am happy to iron the jeans after sewing, I don't want to have to iron his jeans all of the time.
Really great idea! I can't tell you how many jeans I have hemmed and NOT done this! DANG - so will be using this from now on! My machine will really be happy NOT to be sewing all those thicknesses also! : )
Use a zig zag... I think she means to use pinking shears to cut off the extra fabric. These are the scissors that make the zig zag shape that keeps fabric from fraying.
That. Is. Genuis.
Catherine Denton
Zig zag means use the zig zag stitch on the sewing machine...
I'm not understanding the cutting process, does it not not cut the jeans?
Genius! I'll need to do that instead of my uneven attempts at sewing a straight new hem.
Thank you so much! Being a short person myself, this is a very useful tutorial.
To prevent fraying, after you cut off the excess material, use the zig zag stitch on your machine and go over the edges before you flip it down and iron flat. Make sure to iron the zig zagged edge up, towards the waist, so the seam will lay flat.
You could also use a surger and it'll cut the fabric off for you and make a nice edge that wont frey.
i would've never thought of doing that. that's cool.
I am so going to do this. What a great idea. Thanks
I am so excited about this technique. I cant wait to try it!! Thanks for sharing.
I do designer jean home parties and can't wait to be able to offer on-site hemming at my parties! I have so many customers that need them hemmed.
Just a note that the easiest way to do the stitching so close to the hem is to use a zipper foot. I didn't see it mentioned so thought I would add it. I have been hemming jeans for YEARS and never thought of doing it that way!! What a great idea, thanks!!
Just some advice: I hemmed some pants this way, but I didn't cut the fabric off yet because I wanted to test the length and decide if it was right. Boy am I glad I waited! With tennis shoes my pants were perfect, but I wore boots with a heel today and they were WAY too short! I looked ridiculous! I am just going to take out my stitches and re hem it. So don't be too hasty to cut the fabric off. Wait until it is the perfect length for sure.
There is also a wonderful product called Fray Check that you can get from the sewing section that will keep your seams from fraying. It works great.
Saw this on pinterest and I will have to keep this in mind - at 5'2" too long jeans is always a problem
OMG! Thank you, at 4'11 I have always had to alter my pants...never keeping the original hem, I love it.
Wow!! How super easy is that!! I wish I knew that long ago!!
I work at a alteration shop and this hem is a hollywood hem
I do this with really strong fabric glue since I can't sew. You still fold and iron, but you have to let them sit for a day before wearing or washing. Works like a charm, if you get the right glue then it lasts YEARS.
Thank you for this!! I have 4 pairs of jeans that have been sitting by the door waiting for me to take them to my tailor to be hemmed. I can so do this myself!
So, do you just leave the pins in then?
Can this be done with any type pant such as black dress pants? Also, In order to keep the bottom from flipping up, is it better to leave the extra on and maybe sew it up the side hem so that it doesnt fall down? Or cut off the extra? I dont want to be ironing either!! But this looks easy!
Dear Anonymous...please don't leave the pins in :)
I know this works with straight-leg jeans because I've done it, but was thinking it might not work so well with flares as the bottom hem would be wider than the circumference of the site you'd want the new hem, depending on how much of a hem you needed. Just a thought.
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