How to Hem Pants
Getting a new pair of pants is great, until you realize it’s too long for your height. Instead of walking around with the hems trudging around your ankles in an unfashionable manner, you should just hem your pants and adjust it to fit you. Here’s how.
What You’ll Need:
Full length mirror
Dressmaker’s pins
Scissors
Sewing machine
Tailor’s chalk
Flat iron
Ironing board
Needle and thread
Yardstick or ruler
Seam ripper
Procedure:
Get all the materials you need and choose a well-lit area to work on. Have your sewing supplies ready and at an arm’s reach.
Chances are your pants already has an existing hem. You should remove it. Use a seam ripper to do this, or a small pair of scissors. Be very careful not to damage the fabric. After you’re done removing the hem, press the pants using the flat iron, to remove creases.
Wear the pants. Make sure you’re wearing flat shoes instead of heels, to make the length more accurate. Using the yardstick or ruler, measure your desired hem at an even distance from the floor. Mark it using straight pins or tailor’s chalk.
Remove the pants, then straighten the markings you made, if needed. Very lightly press the new hem line you’ve marked into place. Get your dressmaker’s pins and use them to securely pin the fabric inwards.
Try on the pants again to check the length. Be careful not to get pricked by the pins, though. If the length still doesn’t look okay, make the required adjustments, remarking the pants again. If you’re satisfied, take off the pants again.
If there’s too much hem fabric, you can trim it away. Use your scissors, turn the pants inside out, and cut off the excessive fabric, leaving only at least one to two inches of hem allowance.
Iron the hem again, as flat as possible.
Using basting stitches, ease in any excessive fullness seen in the hem fabric. Don’t gather, pleat or fold the hem just to make it fit.
Finish the fabric’s raw edge, mimicking the original hem. To prevent it from fraying, use basic seam finish methods, and put in hem tape if it looks too bulky.
Put the hem in place either by passing it through the sewing machine or hand stitching it with thread and needle. Make sure the thread you use is the same color as that of your pants’ fabric.
Press your pants again.
Pants look neater and better on you if it fits you perfectly, from the waist to the hem. Follow these steps and give your pants a more fashionable flair.