Correct hemming of jeans without changes to the factory seam

Sometimes there are cases when you need to wear some pants with heels or sneakers, but they are too long and drag on the ground. This article tells you how to hem jeans at home and what you need for this.

Necessary materials and tools

Tools that are necessary for high-quality work on hemming jeans:

• Machine for sewing thick material;
• Thick needles;
• A centimeter and a fabric marker;
• Scissors or fabric roller;
• Pins
• Yarn in the color of the product.

Tailors advise taking measurements exactly along the right leg. Then you need to carefully straighten the trousers - lay them out on a table or floor, fold them inwards with the legs, straighten along the side seams, waist line, pockets and back seam. The jeans should not be skewed. Since the fabric is stretchy, it can move very much on the surface.

Rules for cutting jeans so as not to spoil their appearance: first, try them on, mark the fold line and fold them over, try on the pants with shoes. Then you need to cut the right leg, try them on again and shorten the left leg. Before making a machine seam, baste the fold with bright threads.

Ways to Shorten a Pair of Jeans

Many jeans have beautiful seam abrasions, mostly at the bottom. If you keep them, the fold will not be noticeable. Pants can be hemmed in several ways:

• On the typewriter;
• With braid;
• Using a spider web;
• With cuffs.

There is also a creative hem for trousers. It involves the use of finishing elements. Step-by-step process:

• For finishing, you can use different fabrics: real leather, denim material a few tones darker;
• The seam can also be decorated at your discretion;
• You can make cuffs from white fabric and use colored material for edging the pocket.

A well-made fold with the welded edge preserved helps to fit expensive trousers well, and the trim gives a second life to your favorite trousers and will impress people. It is also important to combine jeans correctly. They go with almost any shoes, except summer slippers. They look good with shirts, T-shirts or sweaters. Jeans are rightfully considered universal clothing. They are worn in all seasons all year round.

How to Hem Jeans and Keep the Factory Seam

Many people wonder how to shorten jeans while keeping the factory edge? Pants look much nicer when there is a decorative stitch along the bottom of the leg. The easiest way to hem any jeans is to cut off the excess, fold the fabric twice and sew a new seam on the machine.

It is necessary to select threads of a suitable tone, but if this is difficult, you can use another method with the preservation of the seam. This option is one of the most difficult. It will be very difficult for a novice needlewoman to cope with this work, as it is very painstaking. Before starting, it is recommended to watch at least a few master classes. Below is a detailed description of how to hem jeans while preserving the factory seam.

Necessary sewing tools

To work you need a classic set of tools:

• Threads and needles;
• Trousers;
• Machine or overlock;
• Soap and a tape measure.

For a more accurate result, you can ask a friend to help you with the hemming. One person will put on the jeans, and the other will measure the optimal length of the product. Moreover, the view from the side is much more accurate than looking in the mirror.

Determining the desired length

The length is chosen according to the standards and the person's height. It is optimal to make the length to the ankle.

Let's mark and cut

Put on the pants, put on shoes and mark the edge of the fold so that there are a few centimeters from the hem line to the ground and fix it with pins. Walk around in the jeans - sit, stand and if it is comfortable, mark the cut line.

Preparing the cut bottom

Measure the excess, for example 5 cm. Turn the pants inside out, measure half the length of the fold (2.5 cm) from the bottom to the factory hem. Measure 2.5 cm around the leg, securing with needles or pins.

We sew the prepared bottom

Stitch the pants along the very edge of the factory hem, measure and cut off the excess pieces from the completed stitching, leaving 1 cm. It is necessary to use a blind stitch so that pieces of thread do not stick out.

Sewing the bottom

Hem the edges of the legs with an overlock, turn the trousers inside out and make an invisible seam with yarn in the same tone as the product along the edge of the allowance and iron well.

With this method, it will not be noticeable that the trousers have changed in any way, the seam is neat. But this action is only possible for needlewomen who have some sewing skills and abilities. At the end, if you wish, you can decorate the products with different stripes or beads, add cuffs of white fabric or lace. Some people prefer to do embroidery or dyeing along the edge of the trousers. The main thing here is to include all your imagination. Even more decorating ideas can be found on the Internet.

Shortening jeans by hand

You can shorten your pants without using an overlock, for example, by hand. Women often wear the same pants with heels of different lengths. If you need to wear long pants that are designed for high heels, you can hem them without a machine. Below is how to shorten jeans at home without a sewing machine:

• Make a fold line and mark with soap;
• Iron from the wrong side;
• Turn the jeans inside out and carefully baste the bottom of the pants to the side seams using small stitches.

After the first wash, you either need to repeat the procedure or do a good hem. If you can't iron the fold, then the leg needs to be well lubricated with a dry bar of soap.

On the typewriter

To make the seam neat and strong, like in textile production, you need to buy thick strong yarn of a suitable shade. It will be very difficult to thread such a thread into a needle on a machine. Craftswomen recommend not to thread thick threads into the machine (if it is not produced at a factory). It is necessary to wind a regular thread on a bobbin simply in several layers using two spools. The tension of the upper thread should not be strong. Instructions for working with the machine:

• Try on the jeans and mark the hem line;
• Measure the length of the fold and make an allowance of 3 cm;
• Iron the seam allowances and pin them in place;
• From the inside, unstitch the reverse stitch;
• Carefully unravel the decorative stitch;
• Thread the loose yarn into the machine - needles No. 95, 120, 110;
• Make a hem along the inside of the leg.

If the trousers are made of thin material, you can hem the trousers yourself without cutting the fabric. This can be done if the hem is not large. A seam made with a machine is very durable, it will not unravel after washing at high speeds or when drying in the open sun.

If a person doubts his abilities, it is better to contact a studio. Since it is easy to ruin the product, and some jeans are really very expensive. Services in a studio will cost from 300 rubles, which is not very expensive for any corner of the country.*

Hem the bottom using a zipper

If the bottom is very worn, you can sew on a zipper. It is important that the teeth are iron. The process:

• Cut the hem line and iron the seam allowances;
• Sew the zipper onto the seam allowance, but the teeth should be behind the bottom line;
• Sew a separate line with tape.

The result not only looks stylish, but also strengthens the entire product. Such tapered products will look very good with heels or sneakers. The zipper visually lengthens the legs and makes them slimmer. But it is important to leave 1 cm of free space so that the zipper does not squeeze the skin. The zipper should be new, the teeth should not stick out so as not to scratch the skin of the leg.

As experts say, it is easiest to shorten children's clothing items. Since the sizes of the items are approximately up to 100 cm, which is convenient when cutting fabric.

Hem the bottom using trouser tape

This method is recommended for use only on denim and woolen pants. You should select the trouser tape in advance so that it matches the product and threads.

Progress of work:

1. Try it on and record the required length;
2. Mark the new bottom line with soap, measure 3 cm from it and draw a line:
3. Trim off the excess while leaving allowances;
4. Sew the trouser tape to the seam allowance of the trouser leg. The thick edge of the tape should coincide with the bottom line;
5. Sew the tape with three parallel seams;
6. Press the seam allowance upward and press the hem.
7. Make a finishing line from the back side. The needle is threaded with a contrasting color yarn, and the finishing line of a higher density is wound in a bobbin.

This method allows the fabric to be given high strength and wear resistance. Items with tape should be washed carefully so that it does not shine. The water temperature should not exceed 50 degrees, do not use products containing chlorine or bleach. It is not allowed to use machine drying at high speeds, as this will spoil the properties of denim and tape.

You can iron at a temperature of about 120 degrees. If there are greasy stains on the pants, they must be removed with a soft brush and an alcohol or soap solution. Do not use solvents under any circumstances. It is advisable to dry in the open air, in a horizontal position, otherwise the pants may stretch under the weight of the water, and nothing will remain of their original shape.

In conclusion, it should be noted that it is quite easy to hem jeans yourself. It is important to hem the fabric evenly and correctly, as well as trim it. Otherwise, the legs will be uneven and sloppy. The hardest method is to keep the factory seam. Before work, you need to watch several video tutorials. All the described methods are good for giving old clothes another chance.

The work can be done with women's, men's and children's trousers. If this is your first experience, it is better to practice on other trousers that you won't mind ruining. Although the process is easy, it requires the skills of basting and processing edges manually.

*Prices are valid as of August 2019.