I haven’t abandoned my home ec class. I keep looking at the projects hoping to steal a bit of time here and there to finish some more up. This one was a necessity. When my daughter tore a hole in her best-fitting pair, I had to face the pile of size six jeans that are too long. It’s a big pile.
I knew I was going to have to hem most of them, but since she’s growing so fast, I decided to only do a few at a time.
I picked an easy pair to start with: straight leg. I only broke one denim needle — my machine’s motor is definitely not a match for that side seam. I stopped and started on either side and hand stitched that part of the hem.
I’m pretty impressed with how they turned out. The real challenge will be tackling flare and boot cut styles.
refashion: I like how the original hem is retained with this technique. They don’t have that “my mom hemmed these” look to them. I have a feeling that I’ll be using this skill a lot in the coming years.
I hate hemming jeans. The thickness of the pants where the seams meet up always kills me. How do you deal with the bunch of fabric there?
A seamstress once told me the most important tool when hemming jeans is a hammer. She told me she hammers the seams to flatten them and make them easier to sew through. I still haven’t tried it, but I am curious to find out if it works!
Great job on the jeans! I hemmed my husband’s jeans for Home Ec, and I have to say, I was pretty proud of myself! I feel like it’s a good skill to have…