When it is about the pants, it all comes down to the fit. You may possess a pair of pants which look great on the waist but are too large or small for your leg’s length. The one word solution of these problems is called “Hemming”. Hemming is a very easy and simple procedure through which you can adjust different lengths of different parts of your pants. Knowing how to hem pants will definitely give you an advantage everytime you hit the dressing room. Not just this, you’ll be surprised to know that you can even make your own pants in future. In this article, let’s talk about how to hem your own pants.
Things that you will need to hem your pants :
So before starting to do crazy researches on your pants, you’ll need these things,
- Seam ripper.
- Scissors
- Chalk
- Measuring tape
- Sewing kit or Sewing machine (See Top Sewing Machines)
- Iron and Ironing Board.
Start the process, let’s prepare the pants :
First, you’ll have to remove the stitches which are already present in the pants. To do that, a seam ripper works more efficiently and quickly than scissors. So use seam rippers instead of pair of scissors. Make sure that you are not cutting or poking any fabric of the pant.
Through the whole edge of the hem, you will notice a looped or zigzagged stitch. This is placed in the end so that you can keep the end of the fabric from ripping off. Leave the whole stitching untouched if possible.
Now unfold the hem totally so that it can hang loose. Now you are going to iron a half inch fold.
First plug in your iron in the socket safely and then let it heat up. Now be careful as some fabrics are not heat resistant so actually there is a chance that they might melt down when the iron is aapplied. So, first test the iron in a small area.
This step is an important and great way to check your pants whether they can be ironed in the future or not. Also, instead of doing all these, the tag of the cloth can sometimes give you this information too. If you feel any danger to your pants from the iron, make sure to lay a damp towel between the iron and the fabric of the cloth so that it doesn’t melt down. Now iron about a half inch fold in order to provide it a nice crease. Then repeat the same thing with the other one’s leg.
After the ironing is completed, you can guess how long you would need your hem.
Now after these steps are done, the next thing to do is to find the length. So the next order will be finding the length to figure out how much you want to hem the pants.
Finding the required length :
First try out the pants which you want to hem. Also wear the pair of shoes that you want to wear with the pants. The reason is that Hemming the pants without trying on with the shoes can make the hem too short or wierd. On side of the left leg you can fold the hem up and put them inside the pants. You’ll have to have a full-length mirror in order to get the best possible idea about what the end result can look like. Adjust as much as needed till it looks right in your eyes.
Then pin the hem through the places in your pant at the top and bottom. Insert one pin initially along the head of your hem. Because we have folded and ironed the half inch in the second step, it should be easy for you to feel the edge of the fabric even from the exterior of the pants. You have to make sure that the fabric is tight and straight before you insert the second pin at bottom. It is not required to do this in both of the legs. Look at the mirror again to make sure it still looks right.
Measure the adjustments and pin them
Take the pants off. Carefully turn the pants inside out keeping in mind not to disturb the already inserted pins. With the measuring tape you’ll have to find the length of the bottom fold to the top edge of the fabric which you folded up and put inside the leg. Use the sizes to fold and then pin the rest of the hem. Measure at least in 4 places totally all around to make sure that it is right in every side. Use a chalk to mark each measurement instead of a pen, pencil or markers, as they can stain which can even stay after washing.
Iron and sewing up the hem :
The final step is to iron and sewing the hem. After the whole process is completed, iron the pant without changing or damaging the measurements and then sew the hems according to your measurements and adjustments. You can use both hand sewing and machine sewing. But remember, never sew around the bottom edges of the pants. In case of a machine stretch, make sure to set your machine for a small to medium straight stitch. Make sure to tie all the stitch edges or supplementaries.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
