PFMs Do It Better: A Denim DIY (How To Hem Jeans)

I bit the bullet and tried what I never thought possible. I hemmed my jeans while...(wait for it)...still keeping the original hem. And they were flare-legs with a 36" inseam! Let me walk you through how to do it.
First off before doing anything else- if they are new, wash and dry your jeans. This is key, we don't want any surprises due to shrinkage. Try on your jeans with the pair of shoes that you would be wearing. Fold the hem up to the appropriate length. Now you should have cuffs.

1. Carefully take off the jeans and measure how much you cuffed (from fold to bottom of the original hem.)


2. Divide that measurement in half. For instance: I folded my jeans up 2.5" in step 1. So, I divided that by 2 to get 1.25". 


3. Take that new measurement, refold the hem up accordingly and pin in place. We are not including the original hem in that measurement!   


4. Pay extra attention to lining up the seams at the sides while pinning. Especially crucial if you are hemming flares or wide-legs. Continue pinning until both legs are done. 


Using your sewing machine, stitch around the jean legs as close to the original hem as possible. Do not stitch on the original hem, and don't sew your pant legs shut by accident!

 Turn the folded edges inside of your jean legs. Break out the iron, and press the folds flat inside the jean legs. The steam setting was very helpful for this. I also pressed them from the outside to get them nicely crisp with a clean hemline. You will notice that if you had more than 2" of material to sew and press it will be bulky...remedy this by trimming the folded edge and zig zag the edges.

Try them on and get excited that you are finished, and that you can actually wear your jeans without tripping over them. No mad dash to the tailor necessary!