Hemming pants | Imamother

amother

Tue, Feb 26 2013, 10:27 am

I hemmed my son's pants last year and now that he's taller I undid the stitching but there's a mark all along the bottom where I sewed that cannot be ironed out (I guess after being washed so many times the fabric just gets rubbed out in that way)
Is there any way to hem pants so that there is no mark when you take out the hem?

zaq

Tue, Feb 26 2013, 12:29 pm

Not really. Some fabrics will mark more than others. On black pants, permanent black marker will camouflage the faded crease.

What you can do is shorten the pants with a cuff, then take down the cuff, thus:

measure the pants length you want now. Add an extra 2 inches or so, however deep you want to make the cuff. hem the pants as if you were making them the longer length, then fold up the bottom that extra two inches or so, tack in place at the seams or hemstitch INSIDE the cuff, then press the cuff in place. When ds grows, take out the tacks or the hemstitching et voila! Pants are two inches longer. Remove the lint inside the crease, dribble some white vinegar along the crease and press. The crease may still show a bit (or not) but it will not be faded because it will not be abraded.

zaq

Wed, Feb 27 2013, 9:25 pm

No, it really is not. Let's see if I can rephrase it (wish I could draw it.)

Make a very deep hem, let's say four inches deep. Then with the pants right-side out, fold up the bottom two inches, as if you were rolling up the pants leg, thus forming a cuff. Stitch this cuff in place, either by taking a few stitches at the seams, or by stitching all along the top of the cuff. Then, when it's time to lengthen, just take out the stitching and fold the cuff back down. Almost easier to do than to describe coherently.

amother

Thu, Feb 28 2013, 7:49 pm

Honestly, I'm a huge dope when it comes to sewing. I'm even horrible at sewing on a button, I only do the pants hemming bec. it saves money, but it looks pretty bad when I do it. What I'm saying is, I re-read what you wrote a few times and I still don't get it! Is what you're explaining a common technique? Maybe there's a Youtube video on it?

zaq

Thu, Feb 28 2013, 9:16 pm

I haven't the vaguest idea--it's something I figured out on my own. Possibly by happy accident.
Too bad your ds isn't a dd--then you could just sew a strip of contrast trim over the faded hem crease and make a fashion statement. Another Zaq "sneaky couture" technique. In the 70s you might have been able to get away with it on boys' pants but today, not so much. You think matching narrow flat black braid might "disappear" into the fabric?..... Naaaah.

I know what you mean about the expen$e of tailoring boys' pants. It's why I hem my dss pants, too. But at least it takes only a fraction of the time that hemming a girl's skirt takes!

zaq

Thu, Feb 28 2013, 9:20 pm

Zaq Sneaky Couture Secret #73:

Use a fine permanent black magic marker to dye the faded crease in boys' black school or play pants that have been let down.

The ONE good thing about the black-and-white yeshivish levush is that bleach pen and a black Sharpie can handle 90% of sins.

shanie5

Mon, Mar 04 2013, 10:21 pm

To make a cuff on pants, hem them 1 1/2- 2 inches longer than needed.

Next, turn up bottom of pants the extra 1 1/2-2 inches needed to be correct length. tack in place by seams.

Press.

If hemming by hand, if you only catch a bit of the fabric with the needle, the mark will show less. Of course it does depend on the fabric too.

amother

Tue, Mar 05 2013, 7:44 am

zaq wrote:

zaq, you're hysterical. Unfortunately, my son's pants in question are actually navy, gray and khaki, so the black sharpie will not help. I guess we're not that yeshivish Rolling Eyes

shanie5 wrote:

Thanks, shanie5 I get what you're saying. Zaq, is this the same thing you were explaining before? If I do this, will the tacking by the seams come out in the wash? Or will I have to iron the pants each time I wash them? Also, if the pants are not an extra 3 inches too long, but let's say they are only 1.5 inches too long, then can I only tack them on by the seams? Won't it look bad?

shanie5

Tue, Mar 05 2013, 10:59 pm

If you tack only tack them, not sew down the hem, then depending on the fabric, you may have to iron each time-though the mark of the seam should still be noticeable.

If you hem the pants, turn up and tack the cuff, it will definitely stay in place-cuffs are only tacked-never sewn. Just tack them tightly-with 5-8 stitches, not just 1-3.

If you only have 1 1/2 inches, to let down, there is no room for a cuff. Tacking may work, but again, depends on the fabric.

For a cuff you need at least 3 1/2 -4 extra inches. You turn under 2 1/2", hem, then turn up 1- 1/2" for the cuff.