How to Hem Jeans and Other Pants 

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Hope it works better for you!

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I appreciate that! Thanks for watching.

Wonderful! I'm glad that worked for you. Thanks for watching!

Nice work! Glad you gave it a go.

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Best of luck! Thank you for watching.

Haha, that'll be a great look!

That's great! I'm glad you have success. Bravo!

Thank you very much! I'm glad to hear you liked the music. So many people same to hate it! 😆 Good luck with your project!

That's great! I'm glad it was helpful.

Thank you! I wish you success!

Glad you had success! Thanks for the feedback.

Good luck! Thanks for watching.

Two Dani's in a Rochester! Although I spell my name Danni. Glad you enjoyed the tutorial, thanks for watching!

@@TailorItYourself as soon as I heard those first few seconds of your intro, I was like: "yup... this was meant for me to watch!" Hehehe is Danni short for Danielle?

It is! I was given a girl's name that could have a boy's nickname.

@@TailorItYourself hahaha same here! I have 2 brothers - so going by Dan or Dani was just easier. That and I noticed how the name Danielle has the word: "Yell" in it, when you say it. So you can't really say our full name in a pleasant way. It always comes out somewhat condescending. Dani / Danni sounds much more playful and happy. Or at least I feel like it does. Hahaha

I'm glad you found it helpful! Thanks for watching.

You're most welcome! Thanks for watching.

Thank you!

I'm glad you found it helpful! Thanks for watching.

That's lovely to hear, thank you!

Thanks for watching!

Thank you!

I use a professional boiler made by Reliable. It's a heavy iron with a Teflon shoe, that is connected to a constant stream of steam. It doesn't shut off until I turn the power off. So yes, one pass! Much more efficient, but much more expensive than a regular iron. I can leave it face down as it rests on a silicon pad.

@@TailorItYourself Thank you so much! Your answer was as thorough and considerate as your video and I appreciate both a great deal. I love learning about the tools of the trade and you used all of yours so well.

No problem! Thank you for the kind words.

I do! If you browse through my channel you'll find a video on tapering jeans and other casual style pants.

No problem, thanks for watching!

My industrial machine has a knee attachment that raises the foot. Home sewing machines don't have that, unless you've rigged it in a table somehow. Thanks for watching!

Thanks for your response! I am also getting a nice looking straight hem on top (the inside) but the bottom thread is loose and tangled looking and the line isn't straight. Is that a common rookie error and is there a simple fix? I tried on a few scrap pieces and it keeps happening. Thanks again for the help!@@TailorItYourself

Sounds like either the tension is off, or the top isn't threaded properly, or the bobbin isn't threaded correctly.

You should watch my video on how to lower a waistband. You'll do a similar thing but instead of cutting off excess, you'll be sewing on a wedge of fabric to the back, and tapering off towards the sides.

@@TailorItYourself I would very much like to see that how to add on to make a higher waist in the back

I'll likely not be making that video, but I'm happy to walk you through more details if you'd like to contact me directly, tailorityourself@gmail.com

@@TailorItYourself I think I can figure it out but thought I could compare with your idea. I altered a out 22 bridesmaids dresses this summer .It was the most I've ever done.I also altered a 2 thousand dollar wedding dress. I am 74. God has been good. Happy new year.

Wow, good for you! Even I don't work on bridal. Working on jeans should be a breeze compared to that!

It's PMC wax tailors chalk I order through wawak.com. There's a recommended tools list in the video description.

Yup! I have another video showing how to hem pants if you'd like the thread going through the top of the machine to be visible.

If you think that will help keep your folds neater, you can certainly do that. But if you're using wax tailors chalk ironing it will make your lines dissappear.

You can run two or three regular weight threads through the sewing machine to try and blend the colors. I have a video showing how to hem jeans "from the outside" as well as doing an original hem to preserve the look of the original stitching.

Not necessarily. I've got an old Singer that's just a good as my industrial machine, just slower. Try it with the machine you have and see how it works. If you don't have a machine yet, I recommend buying something used. The older the better - more metal parts.

That's a good question. Some machines just aren't able to handle thick seams. You could try hammering the bulky parts to flatten them out. If that doesn't help them you can hand sew the areas the machine won't sew on.

You can cut and roll the lining in with the rest of the denim.

Generally when you're hemming pants with a regular rolled hem like in this video, you leave them with the right sides out. If you turn them inside out that can also work, you just won't be able to see the fold on the underside and it can get wonky if you're not paying attention. This can be advantageous if you're running multiple threads through the machine to make the thread appear thicker or blend a color. I have a video showing how to do a hem "upside down" if you're looking for more specifics on that.

@@TailorItYourself thank youuuuu so much 😊

Thank you! That's very kind.

You're welcome! Thanks for watching.

You can watch my video on how to do original hems!

I use a Reliable professional boiler.

It's an old Brother DB2 I bought at a sewing machine shop in Milwaukee, WI probably almost 20 years ago.

I use 14 or 16 depending on the fabric.

Good question. I can't remember exactly off hand but I think it's a DB2, or DB3. Either way, it's old. I think from the 70s or 80s.

I can't remember off hand exactly but I think it's a Brother DB2 or DB3.

@@TailorItYourself thank you

You are good! Thank you.

I use my razor blade to shave off just the end, kind of like peeling an apple with a knife. Takes a little practice but gives you a nice, sharp edge.

@@TailorItYourself Thank you. That is what I do also but thought maybe there was another way I didn't know of. Thanks for your videos.

You bet! Thanks for watching.

Sorry to hear that!

If you have a hard time seeing detail in the video, there's a link in the description to a detailed pdf with close up pictures.

I have another video showing how to do an original hem, if that's what you mean.

Thanks!

Glad you found it helpful! Original hems are done to preserve the original stitching and wear lines, which some people are particular about.

Thank you for your appreciation. I'm glad you found it helpful.

Straight, but long.

I charge $18 for a regular hem, $25 for an original hem.

That's great! Excellent work.

Thank you for the kind words! Very much appreciated.

Thank you so much! And for the Venmo tip, much appreciated!

Glad you found it helpful! Thanks for watching.

Thank you very much!

You can, but the cut edge will be exposed and will fray.

Thank you so much! I'm glad you found it helpful.

Thank you! I'm glad you found it helpful.

Every machine and fabric is different. Sometimes you have to play with it a bit. Thanks for watching!

@@TailorItYourself Thanks for the reply!

Thank you! Glad you found it helpful.

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thank you very much! I appreciate the kind words.

I don't know if that's true but I appreciate you saying so!

Glad you found it helpful! Thanks for watching.

It's a Casio! I've had probably about 4 of them. Sadly the one in the video is no longer with us. For whatever reason when the battery dies it can't be replaced.

@@TailorItYourself Bummer. I'd get on the watch forums for work arounds before you give up if you really love it.

It hasn't been in production for some time. So I can only assume the ones that are left all have dead batteries that can't be replaced. It's just time to move on!

@@TailorItYourselfYou might be able to get a computer repair shop to replace the battery for you. They can sometimes do miracles. : ) Edit: Is that the Pop Tone LDF50, or are they reproductions of what you have? I'm seeing the Pop Tone supposedly takes a CR1216 battery.

Thank you for the kind words. Happy sewing!

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed.

Thank you!

Was one of those 34's a typo?

@@TailorItYourselfLol, yes. I meant to type 32.

Sizing down two inches should be very doable. You can view my video on how to take in the waist.

@@TailorItYourselfThat's encouraging! Thank you.

Some home machines just aren't built to handle heavier fabrics. My only suggestion is to try it on a different machine. I suggest buying an older machine that's made of more metal parts. The older the better.

@@TailorItYourself The machine that did it was a cheap Brother that I bought from Walmart. However even on a Singer model 15 it still happens to an extent. It always pulls towards the side with the hem, the needle wanting to come off the hem because there's thicker cloth on one side than the other so the presser foot is literally pushing the fabric to the side.

It's tough for me to say without experiencing it in person. But unless the machine you're using is pre-1980s, I'm guessing that's the issue. I have a Singer from the 40s that works just as well as my industrial machine, it's just slower.

@@TailorItYourself By the way do you know how do jean manufacturers make those factory hem? Do they somehow stretch the fabric while hemming it, then shrink it? Is it possible to make it at all if you decide to alter the jean? I know people fold them over then sew it, but that only works if you are shortening the jean by a couple of inches. What if I want to turn it into a short (it's consistently hot in Taiwan and so a lot of jeans gathering dust because it was simply never cold enough for me to wear them)?

If you want to keep the original hem, I have a video showing how to do that as well. If you want to turn them into shorts you'll need to hem them with the method in this video. Manufacturers sometimes use a chain stitch machine and then offset the rolled hem so it gets that twist and then develops the ripple wear lines over time.

Every machine is different. You can look in your user manual or Google the threading for your specific machine.

There's a recommended tools list in the description. Buy an old, used machine.

You can do that as well. But folding twice takes out that extra step of using the zig zag and is more durable.

I would say this is probably a 7. But every person is inclined to be better or worse at these types of things. Just depends how you function regularly. I would practice before diving in.

Marking for a t shirt is a little different. But you would only need 2 sets of lines. One to mark the finished length, and one to mark where to cut the excess off. I'm hoping to do a t shirt tutorial in the coming months.

There's more than one way to do a hem. I learned to do it in a more efficient manner as pinning will take more time. But if that works for you, do what works for you.

@@TailorItYourself oh yeah pinning takes up most of my time whenever I’m altering a garment! But I’m still a beginner so I feel more comfortable doing it that way. I can be sure that everything has been measured correctly and checked and checked again. With your skill level I understand that you don’t pin if you don’t need to. I just thought I’d leave this comment for other beginners to find in case this technique still seemed a bit daunting.

That's a very fair point, thanks for the tip!