Sewing - How To Hem Jeans And Keep The Original Hem

Seems that all jeans are made with 34 inch inseams these days which makes it tough on the average guy.  I found the perfect way to hem them that keeps the original hem intact on Pinterest!  It really is quite easy to do except it can be tough on needles because of all the thicknesses but I found a remedy for that!

Pin the hems up (right sides together) so that the fold is touching the floor with your shoes on. Take the jeans off and measure from the bottom fold to the bottom of the original hem – in other words, measure everything that is turned up.  As you can see, this pair of jeans is 3.25 inches too long.

 

Take HALF that amount and measure it out on the jeans – one half of 3.25 inches equals 1 and 5/8 inches but DO NOT include the original hemline in your measurement.

 

Fold the hem up again using the new measurement and pin in place - remember DO NOT include the original hem when measuring.  The 1st two pins I put in are at the side seams – you want the stitching lines to line up at each seam.

 

After they are pinned, make a light pen mark at .75 inches from the original hem.  We will deal with this line later.

 

Here is my remedy for those thick seams that like to break the needle - on a nice firm surface, take a hammer to all four side seams to flatten the seams as much as you can.

 

Using a zipper foot, stitch around each jean leg, through both layers, as close to the original hem as possible without stitching ON the original hem.

 

Switch back to your regular foot and sew on that .75 mark we made a while ago.  Leaving it about .75 inches will help in keeping the seam from flipping out.  If you are left with about .75 inches, then don’t do any trimming.

 

Trim off the material below your stitch line leaving about .25 inch seam.

 

Serge or zigzag to finish the raw edges.

 

Turn the leg right side out and press the new seam flat, revealing the old hem.  Cover with a pressing cloth and press each jean leg from the outside as well to give a nice clean hemline.  Use lots of steam.

 

 Give it a clap with a Clapper if you have one.

 

For best results, make sure your thread is a dead match to your jeans.  Then from the right side, top stitch above the original hem which helps to keep the pressed bit in place.

 

Give them one more press with lots of steam.

 

You are done!  I’m assuming that the big bucks spent on jeans have a lot to do with the hem line so there you have it!