Shorten Trousers

What you will learn

• Measuring a hem on the body
• Pressing a fold
• Hand or machine hem

Materials and tools

• Trousers to be shortened
• The shoes you will wear with them
• Measuring tape and seam gauge
• Pins and tailor's chalk
• Iron and board
• Matching thread
• Hand-sewing needle or sewing machine
• Fabric scissors
• Seam ripper

Before you start

• Press the trousers. Put them on with the shoes you will wear, and stand with your weight on both feet.

1. Ask a helper to fold the leg up from the bottom and pin it at the length you want. The hem should skim the top of the shoe at the front and end about 1/2 in (12 mm) above the floor at the back. Do this on both legs, since legs can differ.
2. Take the trousers off and check the pinned fold line on both legs. Measure from the crotch seam down the inside leg to the fold on each leg. The numbers should match unless your legs differ.
3. Turn the trousers inside out. Open the old hem if it is stitched, and press the old crease flat. Measure the width of the old hem. Most trouser hems are 1 to 1 1/2 in (2.5 to 4 cm) deep.
4. Decide the new hem depth. A straight leg takes a 1 1/2 in (4 cm) hem allowance. A tapered leg needs only 1 in (2.5 cm), or the turned-up hem will be narrower than the leg it folds onto and will pull. Mark the new fold line with chalk, then mark a second line one hem allowance below it.

5. Do not cut yet. Fold the leg up to the inside along the fold line and pin the hem all around. Try the trousers on, with the shoes. Look at the hem from the side and back, and walk. Adjust the pins if needed.
6. Only once the fit is confirmed, trim any fabric below the second line, leaving the full allowance. If the trimmed edge frays, finish it with a zigzag stitch or fold it under 1/4 in (6 mm).
7. Press the fold line firmly, then press the hem flat. Match the iron heat to the care label.
8. Sew the hem. For a hand hem, use a blind hem or slip stitch with small stitches spaced 1/4 in (6 mm) apart, catching only one or two threads of the outer fabric. For a machine hem, stitch 1/8 in (3 mm) from the folded-under edge, or from the top edge of the hem if you are sewing a visible line.
9. Press the finished hem, try the trousers on, and compare the legs. Remove all basting or pins.

Tips for a neat result

• Pressing the fold line well does more for a neat hem than the sewing does.
• Leave the old hem uncut on the first fitting. You can always change your mind.
• A hem pinned with the pins pointing toward the hem edge is easier to remove while sewing.

Common mistakes and fixes

Check your result

• The hem is level with the floor at the back and front when worn with the right shoes.
• Both legs match in length.
• No stitches show on the outside, or machine lines are straight.

Projects that use this