Monday, June 27, 2011

FIX IT- How to Hem Dress Pants

Our studio receives a countless amount of inquires regarding alterations, this is why we've decided to start a new blog post section to serve as a reference for all of our sewers, we like to call it FIX IT! You can expect to find everyday sewing instructions and tutorials for simple at home alterations.

Happy Sewing!

HOW TO HEM DRESS PANTS by Sheila Wong

1. Put on pants that need to be hemmed with the potential shoes you will be wearing most with them.
2. Get the assistance from another person to fold in hem to new length you want your dress pants to be. Pin at the side seam and in seam. Just do one leg.
3. Now its time to prep your pants to be sewn. Measure the distance from the current hem to the new length you want. Chalk a circle around your pants at this measurement. EX: If you measured 3 inches from bottom of pants to your new hem line then chalk 3 inches from bottom all around pant legs (both legs).
4. Now chalk another circle around both pant legs 1 inch below the line you just did. Cut off any excess fabric from this line.
5. Serge raw edge. If you do not have a serger use the zig-zag stitch on your machine lining up to the raw edge.
6. Press in your hem at top chalk line from step 3.
7. Pin hem so layers don't move around while hand sewing it so layers don't move around.
8. Use a blind stitch for dress pants so you don't see any top stitching at hem. Blind stitching is a type of hand sewing stitch where you hand sew the serge edge to the pant closed by going through only 1-2 threads of the pant so you don't see any thread on the exterior of the pants. Try to pick a matching thread shade to the pants just incase you pick up to many threads on the exterior side.

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