How to hem trousers by hand: without a machine, at home, carefully

What length should pants be?

Length plays an important role in how you look. It emphasizes your strengths, lengthens your legs, and visually corrects figure flaws.

However, improperly hemmed trousers can radically ruin the appearance. You may look ridiculous and even funny. It would seem like two or three centimeters, but they are the ones that will play a fatal role in creating your image.

Important! Before you shorten your pants, decide what shoes you'll wear with them. Mark the cutting line, taking into account the height of the heel or sole.

Women's trousers length

The following length is popular among women, which is directly related to the style of the products.

Straight classic: the length of the trouser leg should be 2-3 cm from the floor or reach the middle of the heel.
Tapered at the bottom: should slightly open the ankle and be a couple of centimeters shorter than the classic size.
Wide: the hem must touch the floor; the toe of the shoe should only be visible from under the legs.
Flared: length reaches the middle or 2/3 heels.

Men's trouser length

Men have their own traditions and rules.

Classic: There should be a small fold at the junction of the shoe and the trouser leg. And the back of the trouser leg should cover half the heel of the shoe. Pants should not touch the floor. They should not reach it by at least one centimeter.
Tapered: It is not advisable for the pants to cover the lacing on the shoes, and the back and front should touch the edge of the shoe.
With a turn up: the length depends on your height and the height of your shoes. The shorter the height, the narrower the collar should be. In any case, the cuff is no more than three centimeters.

Please keep in mind that some materials shrink after washing and therefore the size of the garment may change.

Important! When purchasing, it is better to choose products in which the legs are slightly longer than necessary. After all, you can always remove excess fabric.

How to determine the correct length when trying on

When going shopping, you are unlikely to take a ruler or measuring tape with you.
In order not to make a mistake with the length of the trousers, it is better to measure the item in the shoes with which you plan to wear them. It is important to pay attention to the heel, because it adds height. And a thing worn with and without a heel will look completely different on you.

It is advisable to insert a belt when trying it on if you plan to wear one in the future. A fastened strap can also shorten the item by a couple of centimeters.

By adhering to these simple rules, you will avoid mistakes when purchasing.

How to determine the length without trying on

Another option for determining the required length. With it you can do without fitting. But in this case, you will need to use other pants that suit all parameters. Fold them along the arrows on a flat surface. By placing one on top of the other, you can make sure whether this item fits in size or not.

Required materials and tools

Tools that are necessary for high-quality work on hemming jeans:

Machine for sewing thick material;
Thick needles;
Centimeter and textile marker;
Scissors or fabric roller;
Pins
Yarn in the color of the product.

Visual result
Tailors advise taking measurements exactly along the right trouser leg. Then you need to carefully align the trousers - lay them out on the table or floor, fold them inside with the trouser legs, align them along the side seams, waistline, pockets and back seam. Jeans should not be skewed. Since the fabric is stretch, it can move very much on the surface.

Rules for cutting jeans so as not to spoil their appearance: first you need to try them on, mark the fold line and tuck them, try on the pants with shoes. Then you need to cut the right trouser leg, try it on again and shorten the left trouser leg. Before making a machine seam, the bend must be basted with bright threads.

Note! In textile stores you can purchase special threads that are intended only for working with denim. But only modern machines can work with them

Raw edges

Preparing to shorten your trousers

What materials and tools to prepare

To hem your pants you will need the following.
Tools :

scissors;
needle;
ripper;
pins;
ruler;
tape measure;
soap (dry)/chalk;
iron.

Materials:

braid;
cobweb;
threads in the color of the trousers or darker.

How to prepare pants legs for shortening

Before changing the length of the product, it must be measured correctly.
It is better to do this directly on the owner of the clothing. And if this is not possible, take other trousers, turn them and new trousers inside out. Attach both items to each other along the crotch seam. Use chalk or soap to draw a line of the required length.

First way to mark length

Lay out the item you plan to hem on a wide table.
Transfer the marked line of the future cut to the front side.
We mark a right angle from the arrow line on the trousers.
Draw a dotted line along the trouser leg.
Set aside 3.5 cm down and draw a parallel line. This will be the cut point.
Straighten the pant legs and place them on top of each other. For reliability, you can pin them together with pins/needles.
Be sure to place pins along the future hem line.
The fabric is fixed and will not move, so cut the length without fear.

Advice. You can cut off the legs one by one. Along the cut edge of the first leg, mark the cutting line with chalk, secure with pins and shorten the second leg.

Second way

From the bottom of the trousers to the cutting line along the entire perimeter of the legs, use a ruler to set aside the required number of centimeters and place dots.
Draw the future cutting line using soap along the marked marks.
Make sure it is parallel to the bottom edge of the pants.
Use scissors to cut off the excess length.

Once the excess fabric has been removed, you can begin hemming and processing the cut. Without a sewing machine, the job can be done in several ways. Let's look at each of them.

1.How to cut the bottom of jeans at home?

If you've hemmed jeans at least once, you've probably noticed that the finished seam looks too flat. To avoid this, there are various techniques, one of which we will consider right now.

Let's prepare the following:

jeans;
chalk;
scissors;
sewing machine;
spray bottle with water;
ruler;
hammer;
pins;
needle;
threads;
polyethylene;
acrylic paints for textiles;
flat hard brush.

First, you should always try on your jeans to determine what length they should be. Make a mark with chalk on one of the legs.

Fold the jeans as shown in the photo and align them

It is very important to align the edges of the belt and secure it with pins

Then we straighten the trouser legs and align them along the seams.

Slightly above the mark, secure the trouser legs with pins. Draw a line according to the level of the mark using chalk and a ruler

It is very important that the strip is perpendicular to the seam

Determine the distance that will be needed for the allowance. We put a mark on it, make a line and cut off the edge of the jeans along it. Remove the pins on the bottom edge.

For convenience, we cut off too tight places on the seams and cut off the allowances at an angle

Please note that the cut out places will need to be hidden under the lapel, so their length should be enough for this

In this case, a worn effect will be created, so there is no need to iron the edges. We sweep them, having previously tucked them inside.

We fold the edges again and stitch again, as in the photo.

Some parts are still too dense. To make them a little flatter, hit them with a hammer. Thanks to this, it will be much easier to make a beautiful seam on a sewing machine.

We sew the edge at a short distance.

Place polyethylene on the work surface and jeans on top. We treat the lower part with water from a spray bottle. Keep in mind that the fabric at this stage should be slightly damp, not damp.

In this case, threads in the color of the jeans were used for hemming. Therefore, it is also better to choose the paint that is most suitable in shade.

Using a thick brush, carefully apply paint to the seam area from the outside and inside. Then leave it until completely dry. You can speed up this process using a hairdryer.

The next stage is creating a worn effect. To begin, take a thick thread, a needle and lay stitches along the line

Please note that the stitch length is about 0.5 cm. However, they should not be the same or very even

Repeat the same along the bottom edge.

Place the jeans again on the work surface and apply water to moisten them a little. Using a brush, apply white paint, but not too thickly.

We repeat the same on the wrong side.

Leave the jeans until completely dry and remove the thread. As a result, the jeans look very nice and have a slight distressed effect along the bottom edge.

How to hem trousers with a blind seam

The most common way to do the work by hand is to use a blind stitch.

What is a blind seam

The main purpose of a hand seam, which is called a hidden seam, is to join parts or hem things so that the seam line is invisible.

In trousers, such a seam will be hidden between the fabric and will not be visible from the outside.

The main thing is that the thread matches the color of the product. In extreme cases, it can be darker.

Step-by-step instruction

Turn the product inside out.
Use pins to pin the hem line.
The lines of the side seams and arrows (if any) must match.
To prevent the hem from moving, you need to pin the fabric again, 1-2 cm above the future hem.
Let's start making a blind seam.

We insert the needle into the cut edge of the trouser leg and grab one or two threads from the trouser fabric.
We bring the needle to the side of the cut edge.
We perform punctures at a distance of no more than 0.5 cm.
In this way we stitch the trousers along the entire cuff.

When finishing the work, we steam the hidden seam and the bottom edge of the trousers from the inside with an iron (through gauze).

Important! Do not iron the seam from the front side to prevent it from being printed on it.

Hem the bottom using trouser tape

There is another neat way to shorten your pants - using trouser tape. This is the most labor-intensive option that requires careful approach and sewing skills.

Technique for shortening hems with trouser tape:

Before starting work, you need to measure the length by which the trousers will be shortened and secure the trouser leg with pins.
Take a piece of white soap and use a ruler to draw a straight line according to your measurements. The length of the left and right pant legs may not be the same, so it takes time to make the correct marks.
Take the trouser braid and cut it 1.5 cm more than the width of one pant leg. Thus, it turns out that one edge of it will overlap the other. Before work, the braid must be ironed through a cloth (you can use a thin fabric) so that it fits.
We apply the thick edge of the braid to the middle of the front of the trousers. We pin it around the entire perimeter with pins.
We sew the trouser tape at a distance of 1.5 mm from the edge (so the tape will peek out from behind the trouser leg) on one side, and with two parallel seams on the other.
We bend it inward so that the edge of the braid (1.5 mm) is slightly visible from under the pants. We baste the structure.
We put the adhesive web into the hem (neither into the overlock nor into the bend itself), and carefully iron it. Carefully sew by hand in the seam areas. Once again we smooth out our work and iron it.

Shortening jeans without cutting the hem is a labor-intensive process, especially if the bottom of the leg needs to look neat. Different methods will allow you to approach the problem from different angles. Every housewife will find the most comfortable option for herself. The main thing is to have at least minimal sewing skills.

We also recommend watching selected videos on our topic.

How to shorten jeans quickly and correctly?

How to shorten jeans yourself?

How to shorten pants without sewing

There is another way to design a hem. When using it, you will be able to do not only without a machine, but without sewing at all. In this case, you will need not a thread and a needle, but a cobweb.

What is a cobweb

Gossamer is a thin adhesive tape that, when heat treated, glues the joints of the fabric. It has different widths. Therefore, depending on the gluing area, you can choose either very narrow or quite wide. The advantage of gossamer is that it is suitable for all types of fabric.

Another plus is that the tape bends easily and exactly follows all the curves of the product.

Reference . The hem of the trousers, taped with gossamer, will be thin and elastic.

The only disadvantage of the adhesive strip is that it does not retain its properties even after frequent washing. Water may cause it to lose its adhesive properties over time.

Step-by-step instructions for using the web

This is the easiest way to secure hems to clothes.

Turn the pants inside out.
Fold the edges to the required length.
Place adhesive tape between the hem and the main leg fabric.
From the wrong side, iron the joint with a hot iron;
Allow the fabric to cool and then check to see if the web has sealed the material.
If necessary, dampen the fabric and iron again.

Hem with "web"

You can also shorten your jeans at the bottom in a fashionable way: using adhesive tape. It is designed for thin fabrics, so jeans will need a double or triple layer. It is sold in any store of accessories and fabrics for sewing.

The sequence of actions is the same as when hemming by machine while maintaining the factory stitching.

Differences:

After connecting the stitching to the second chalk line, secure the dart with thread (a needle-forward stitch) or pins. Then iron it well with a hot iron, moving the dart up.
Place several layers of tape under the resulting fold and make enough multi-layered rows to glue the fold along its entire depth.
Iron with a hot iron, pausing each time you press the sole onto the fabric.

Useful tips for hemming trousers

Before hemming a new item, be sure to wet or wash it. The fabric tends to shrink.
Iron folded trousers from the inside out. Set the iron to maximum temperature and use the steam function. This will make the seam less noticeable, and the hem side will look more aesthetically pleasing.
When using an iron, be sure to look at the product label and follow the care instructions.
If possible, process the cut edge with an overlocker. You can take it to the studio, this is an inexpensive service.
You can also fold the cut inside the hem. This way the fabric will not fray when washed or worn.
After the trousers have been rolled up and the length pinned, the bottom of the trousers can be ironed. In this way you will secure the hem, and it will be more convenient to hem it.
The places where the fabric is chipped can be basted with a thin thread of any color. This will prevent you from getting scratched by contact with the pins.
Before ironing the item, make sure the fold is done correctly. Otherwise, after steaming, it will be difficult to correct hem inaccuracies.
Be sure to place the pant legs together and check their length. They must be the same!

Hemming not only trousers, but any other item, is absolutely easy. Even if you don’t have a sewing machine at hand.

We hope that our tips and recommendations will be useful to you.

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The savings are obvious

One of the easiest things you can do to look neater and more stylish is to hem your pants or jeans if they are too long. An incorrectly selected length is very noticeable: the leg either drags on the floor or is too short and because of this gives an awkward look.

The good news is that hemming pants isn't that difficult and can save you money on tailor fees. The average cost of shortening a pair of trousers is about 1,000 rubles. If you have a non-standard figure or children who grow very quickly, then you spend a lot of time and money on choosing the length.

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Hemming pants is so easy that having to do it should never stand between you and the amazing pair of pants you buy at the store. If you know how to hem pants, then you have an advantage every time you go shopping. In this guide, we will look at how to hem trousers and other items, both using a sewing machine and the usual way by hand.

Operating rules

In order for the jeans to look beautiful and neat after hemming, it is important to carry out the entire process carefully and in accordance with all the step-by-step recommendations.

Threads for hemming jeans

How to choose threads

Before you start hemming, you need to purchase the appropriate threads. To do this, their thickness should be normal. The most important thing is that they completely coincide with the factory ones.

The threads need to be wound onto a bobbin, it is better if there are two threads at once. The needle thread can be left alone and its color does not matter. When purchasing threads, it is best to have a sample of the cut parts with you.

Features of marking lines for hemming denim trousers

How to mark a hem line for jeans

It is necessary to hem jeans after they are hemmed. If the trousers are wrinkled, they must be ironed first. After this, you can begin to determine the shortening line and hem width.

At home, you can draw a line while standing in front of a mirror. You must definitely do this in the shoes you plan to wear while wearing these trousers. Having decided on the length, you need to tuck the excess inward and pin it with pins. You can also mark the hem line with chalk in one or several places along the back side; there is no need to mark it on the front side.

How to outline and trim jeans

Subsequently, the lapel is marked according to the marks with a solid line in a circle. To do everything accurately, you need to use a ruler. Below the drawn line you need to set aside 3 cm and draw another line. This is where the trouser leg should be shortened. All the above actions are performed on the second side.

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