A little hem cheating is not always bad!

    When I came back from vacations I noticed that  I have a lot of clothes that I do not wear, because they need to be altered. Some of them are in my closet for way too long. So I promised my self to alter every summer garment has to be altered, before I start a new project. So far so good, I've hemmed 3 pairs of pants, fitted 3 dress and I have 2 more dresses and 2 skirts to fit. Those last 4 garments are self made, before I lost weight and I still have not figured out how to alter them... the easy way.

   So among those 3 pairs of pants, there was these linen, jeans like pants, with this interesting hem.

    I wanted my hemmed pants to have this same hem, but I was to bored, tired and fed up with hemming pants, to take all the measurements, so I decided to cheat! And here is how :

   Firstly, I noticed that there is this little overlapping here, that would hide well a stitch.

So, if I measured the desired length and I folded the extra and I hid the stitching under that overlapping piece no one would notice. Right?

So I did.

1. I measured the desired length.

I had to shorten these pants 4 cm.

That means 2 folded cm (2 + 2 = 4).

2. I turned the pants inside out and I pined 2 folded cm.

3. After pinning I pressed, to create a sharp folded edge.

That's how it looks from the outside.

4. Having my edge all sharp, I removed the pins.

I folded the hem, having the edge as a guide.

I pinned making sure that : a) the side seams match and

b) the overlapping piece is kept, by the pins, down, so that when I 'll sew right next to the existing seam line, I won't sew over it . Got it?

5. I stitched really close to the existing seam line.

I used my zip foot, to keep my needle really close to the seam line.

6. Then I turned the pants outside in (!) and I pressed really good.

See?

Can you tell I've cheated?

This is how it looks in the inside.

No one will know, unless you are not pressing your own clothes!

Tip : If the amount of fabric you have to fold under the existing hem is too long, you may follow the steps above and after stitching, cut the excess off, leaving a 1,5 cm allowance, which you will zic zac, to prevent unravelling. 

See you around

Maria