Lori @ Frogs Lilypad said she needed to hem some suit pants for her husband and asked me how I hem my son's. Well, my son bought more pants that needed hemmed so I took step by step photos while I hemmed them.
Hemming is not hard, it just takes some measuring and some bravery if you have to cut them off.
most suit pants come unhemmed- the bottoms of the legs usually have a serged finish on them. If you don't have to shorten them much, you could just turn them up the pants the needed amount and use that as the actual finish.
this pair of pants needed to be shortened by 5 1/2 inches.
I like to put a 2 inch them on dress pants so I needed to cut this pair off 3 1/2 inches.
I just mark the cutting line with anything that will write on fabric- this part will never show
Then, be brave and cut!
to finish off the edge, I like to use hem tape. This is a sewing notion that looks a little like ribbon and is sold with other notions like Rick Rack and bias binding.
turn the pant legs wrong side out, then lay the hem tape on the underneath and machine sew it to bottom pant edge, close to the edge. I used a zig zag stitch but a straight stitch would work if the fabric does not ravel easily.
Now, turn up the hem. I did this one just a bit more than 2 inches to account for the hem tape.
Hand sew the hem with a blind stitch. If you take very tiny stitches and use matching thread, the hem stitching shouldn't show at all.
take out all the pins and trim all the straggly threads.
it would of been nice to use a matching gray hem tape but in my town, I couldn't find gray so I used this beige hem tape. It won't show anyway and won't change the look of how the pants look when done
Now turn the pants right side out and press the hem. You might want to have the wearer try them on first before you press them.
that's it!
Hemming is not hard, it just takes some measuring and some bravery if you have to cut them off.
most suit pants come unhemmed- the bottoms of the legs usually have a serged finish on them. If you don't have to shorten them much, you could just turn them up the pants the needed amount and use that as the actual finish.
Now, turn up the hem. I did this one just a bit more than 2 inches to account for the hem tape.
Hand sew the hem with a blind stitch. If you take very tiny stitches and use matching thread, the hem stitching shouldn't show at all.
take out all the pins and trim all the straggly threads.
it would of been nice to use a matching gray hem tape but in my town, I couldn't find gray so I used this beige hem tape. It won't show anyway and won't change the look of how the pants look when done
that's it!
Being brave and cutting expensive suit pants is something I'm so nervous about. Thank you for doing all of this for me. Since I don't have to do any cutting, I feel a little better about hemming those pants. Thank you!!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this! I have a few pairs of my husband's to do, but have been putting it off. You make it seem so easy.
ReplyDeleteAn old hand at cutting and hemming pants and I confess, I still say to myself "Be BRAVE and DO IT!', lol Cutting and hemming make me nervous. I measure three four five times before cutting. In all these years I've messed up only 1 pair and that was the one John came to help me with. I had to patch the leg just above the hem but it worked and no one but we knew it. Very good tutorial.
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