Tutorial: Shorten your jeans but keep the original hem
So you need to shorten your jeans, but you don’t want to lose the original hem… Jeans just don’t look right without the slight fading and wear that appears on the hem. Melissa from Blank Slate Patterns and Melly Sews shows how you can shorten your jeans while keeping the original hem. It’s a simple trick that will help keep your newly hemmed jeans from looking homemade.
Click below for her tutorial:
How to Hem Jeans, by Melly Sews
[photo from Melly Sews]
I am a seamstress and from looking at the photo, (I tried the video and it wouldn’t load) I can tell you that they are not done properly… First you want to determine you length. Turn the jeans inside out and fold the leg with the side steams in the middle and a front and back crease at the outsides. The reason for this is because the inside seam can often be curved up higher than the outside seam. You may find this is true when you have folded them this way. The inside seam will be shorter. Now measure the length of the hem only on the outsides where the front and back creases are and not in the middle where the seams are. If these are the same measurement and you pull slightly they will be good to go. Now press at the bottom where you want your length to be. Now, I know it may seem strange to do this, but cut right in the crease you just pressed in, your finished length. Take the bottom that you just cut off and measure 1/2 inch up from the top of the original hem. (Discard the unneeded band or use for another project). Turn the leg and hem section right sides together with side seams matching. Stitch as closely as you can to the top of the original hem as possible without sewing on the original hem. Zig-Zag on the edges to prevent the fabric from unraveling. Turn right side out and press the seam you just sewed in an upward position. On the right side stitch a close top stitch all the way around the leg to keep it in place while wearing. Then I also stitch in the ditch of the side seams to also help the seam stay in place. Press and you are done. You will have a hem that no one will notice.