Ever faced a dilemma where a pant fits you perfectly except for the fact that it’s a bit too long? Wearing your pants long is not just a fashion faux pas but, let’s face it, straight out uncomfortable. While a pair of heels can get your pants off the floor, having the hems bunching up at your ankle does spoil the sophisticated finish of an otherwise comfortable and well-fitting pair of pants.
If you’ve shelved perfectly good pants simply because they’re long, here’s a quick DIY guide to hem your pants at home. Though the methods described here aren’t as effective as professional methods like blind hemming, they do give your pants a clean finish.
Method 1: Hemming Pants by Hand
Of the three methods listed here, this one guarantees the best results. However, it also requires the maximum time to execute.
Step 1
- Remove the original hems with a pair of scissors or a seam ripper.
- Try on the pants with the shoe you’d usually wear with them.
- Stand in front of a mirror and fold the hem(s) inwards to the desired length, tacking them in place with sewing pins.
- The bottom of the fold should ideally fall three-quarters of the way down your heel.
Step 2
- Take off the pants and turn them inside out.
- Mark out the new hem using a fabric marker/chalk.
- You can now remove the pins and unfold the folded edge.
Step 3
- From the marking you just made, measure out an inch. Mark this too with a line.
- Maintain this 1-inch line as your guide, and trim off the extra fabric.
Step 4
- Fold the raw edge resulting from the cut to the first hemline that you’d marked out.
- To ensure that the raw edge remains hidden, fold it again along the new hemline.
- Tack pins all the way around to ensure the fold remains in place.
Step 5
- Select a thread that matches the shade of your garment, and you’re ready to start sewing.
- Sew along the fold to create a new hem. Remove the needles as you proceed to ensure that your fold remains in place.
Step 6
- Place the finished leg piece against the second leg and repeat the steps.
Method 2: Hemming Jeans to Retain the Original Hem
This method helps you reduce the length of your trousers, jeans or pants without taking off the original hem. If the original hem is custom-designed, you may want to retain them. In such instances, the method below would be most handy.
Step 1
- Determine the actual length of the excess fabric by putting on the pants (while wearing your shoes) and folding it outward to the point that fits appropriately.
- Use pins to hold the folded part together.
Step 2
- Remove the pants, and use pins all along the original hem to keep it in place.
- Use a straight stitch to sew just below the original hem using a thread that matches the garment.
- Trim the excess fabric–cutting first along the seams and then all around.
Step 3
- Stick the raw edges with fray check or fabric glue, let dry and turn out the edges so only the original hem is visible.
- Alternatively, you could also use a zigzag stitch right after the straight stitch. This option saves you from troubling yourself over frayed edges. Simply snip off the excess garment below the zig-zag stitch and turn the bottom edge out for a neat finish.
Method 3: Hemming Pants without Cutting or Stitching
In all truth, this isn’t really a hem. It’s a temporary fix and lasts only for a few washes. However, if needlework isn’t your forte, this method gives you a hem-like effect, and all you need is hem tape!
- Turn your pants inside out, folding them to the desired length.
- Pin and iron the crease before applying hem tape to the fold.
- Iron over the folded edge.
- If you don’t have an iron, you could use hemming stickers, which don’t require heat transfer. However, this would be less effective than hem tapes. Also, poor-quality tape can ruin your pants.
Get in Touch
While hemming pants are easy, often, there are those favourite pairs that you may not want to experiment with. Or perhaps, you’re simply too busy to take on the task.
Contact Love Your Tailor on those occasions. With a 10,000 sq. ft facility, we are literally the largest clothing alterations factory in Southern Ontario. Our world-class tailoring and pant alteration services are backed by a 100% Money Back Guarantee. We provide pickup and delivery, and you can rest assured that your pants will look tailormade.
Give us a call and keep pant hems where they belong–not sweeping the floor nor flailing wildly around your shoe, but resting snugly around your ankles!
