I'm a short girl. Buying pants is such a struggle. I'm too short for a regular jean but too tall for the short jean. I had such a hard time buying any pants . . I just didn't buy any.
And I got away with it for years.
I just wore what I had and folded them . . .
which I will admit
looked really really bad.
But a few month ago I learned how to hem my jeans without cutting the original hem. And now I just buy jeans that fit my curvy self and don't worry about the length. I can fix that in just a few minutes!
Just a tad too long.
You will need to get a pair of jeans that fit you in length already to use as your template.
The jeans in the first picture are different. I finished hemming the other pair but forgot to take a picture of the before. I have a few that need to be hemmed so I just snapped a few photos of the another pair.
The jeans in the first picture are different. I finished hemming the other pair but forgot to take a picture of the before. I have a few that need to be hemmed so I just snapped a few photos of the another pair.
. . . excuse the dirty jeans. That's what happens when I don't fold them. Wow, that's a good 3 inches or so too long!
Measure from the end of your template jeans to the stitching of the hem on your jeans that need to be altered. For me that's 3 1/2". Divide that in half. Which is 1 3/4.
Leaving your jeans right side out, fold your jeans up so the inside of your jeans are showing using your halved measurement. In my case, I'm going to fold my jeans up 1 3/4" from the top of the hem to the bottom of the fold.
Got it?
Get pin happy!!
Pin your fold all the way around.
NOTE: Make sure your seams line up!
Again, please excuse the dirty hem.
Ugh!
I swear I do laundry!
I usually put a pin on either side of the seams to really keep that section from moving. You don't want that to be off.
Seriously!
I really shouldn't have to tell you to do the same with the other pant leg.
But then again . . .
You know who you are.
You know who you are.
Now it's time to sew!
For these jeans I used a navy blue thread. You won't see it on the outside anyways. But I like to think that I helped my sewing be more invisible.
Sew as close to the top of the hem as you can all the way around. Keep those seams in line at all times! You may need to go slow over the seams since they are pretty thick. Sometimes I have to turn the wheel on the side of the machine by hand. It just depends on the thickness of the seam.
Now it's time to iron!
Not my favorite part of sewing but it's necessary. Iron the hem folded up first and then unfold it. Iron the bottom of the jeans pulling slightly at the seam you just
made.
You can cut that flap of jean that's left if you want, but it will fray and you will be constantly cutting those threads. I just leave that flap in there and iron the bottom of my jeans after I wash them.
See I told you I do wash my clothes!
Voila!
Your jeans should fit you now!
No one will ever see that seam unless they have a foot fetish.
Ok, I just had a visual of a stranger inspecting my feet while I'm shopping.
Creepy!!!
And there you have it! Please feel free to ask questions. I'd be glad to answer them!
As always, Make Life Creative!
Linking here:
