Hemming Jeans

Just recently I learned an awesome new way of hemming jeans. Sometimes with these kinds of things I figure the whole world has got to know this and that I'm just late in the game. That makes me a little embarrassed to share. Nevertheless, my recent hemming job has me awfully proud of myself . . . which means I'm gonna share it anyway!

So, you know when you're hemming jeans and it feels painful to cut off the beautiful, professional hem at the bottom because you know you're not going to be able to recreate it? This has pained me many times. Well, there's a way of hemming that allows you to keep it in tact! I just did it with a pair for my mother-in-law. It's genius!

1. Try on your jeans and measure the amount that it needs to be shortened.

2. Lay out the jeans on the table and roll up the bottom cuff.


2. Using a calculator, if necessary, divide the amount that you measured by two. For example, if you need to shorten your jeans by 1.5" then you will use .75".

3. On the "wrong" side of the jeans measure the calculated amount (.75" in my example) from the top of the professional hem.

4. Pinch that amount of fabric from above the hem and pin it.

5. Make sure your side seams are lined up correctly. Then, sew a seam just above the professional hem.

6. Do the same on the second leg, and you're done! It's as simple as that.

Now, if you have a lot of fabric hanging out because you had to shorten your jeans by several inches then you can use pinking shears to cut off the excess and use fray check to secure the edge.

Here's what my complete pair looks like:

**Update: I found my original source for this technique - you can see it here. The tutorial answers some more detailed questions at the bottom, just in case you have questions.

Also, my Mom was a little worried that I had hemmed the jeans incorrectly because in the last picture one of the legs appears significantly shorter than the other. Just in case anybody else was also concerned about my sanity/measuring skills I can assure you that I hemmed them the same length, but I had them hanging on a hook to take the picture, which made one leg seem significantly shorter. Thanks for questioning it, Mom. Lord knows I need the sanity check! ♥ Love you ♥