Tutorial: How to Hem Jeans {And Keep The Original Hem}

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Tell me you don't have at least one pair of jeans sitting in your closet, waiting to be hemmed. You don't want to pay someone to hem the jeans for you, but aren't quite confident in your hemming skills. Hence, the jeans continue to sit... Sound familiar?!

No more excuses! Give your wardrobe and your confidence a boost by hemming them yourself! This easy method is both fast and easy, and even allows you to keep the original hem. Your jeans will fit like a charm in no time, and soon all your friends will be dropping off their too-long jeans for you to hem!

Got 15 minutes? You're golden. Here we go...

Materials:
Your favorite pair of too-long jeans!
Measuring Tape
Thread

Instructions:
1. Try on your jeans and fold the hem up (right sides together) to the length that you'd like your finished hem. Remember to wear a pair of shoes that you would normally wear with the jeans. If you wear flats most often, throw on a pair. If you like to wear wedges, go with those.

2. Take off your jeans and measure from the bottom fold to the bottom of the original hem.

3. Divide the measurement from step 2 by 2. Example: I folded my jeans up 2 inches in step 1, and divided that 2 inch measurement by 2 to get 1 inch. Using the new measurement, fold the hem up again and pin in place (remember to ignore the original hem when measuring).

4. Continue pinning each pant leg as in step 3, until both hems are completely pinned.

5. Using a zipper foot, stitch around each jean leg, through both layers of jean, as close to original hem as possible. Note: Do not stitch ON original hem, but immediately adjacent to it.

6. Turn folded edges to inside of jean legs and try your jeans on to make sure you're happy with the new length!

7. Press the folded edges upward toward the inside of each jean leg. You can also sew a couple of hand stitches at each side seam on the inside of each leg to tack the folded edges in place if you'd like. Note: If you had to hem a large amount from your jeans (I'd say greater than 2 inches or so), you may prefer to trim the folded edge and serge or zig zag the edges to reduce bulk. Make sure to press each jean leg from the outside as well to give a nice clean hemline.

Now, go grab your favorite flats...

And feel confident in your newly hemmed jeans and in your new skill!