How to Hem Pants
Pants too long or too short? Skip the cost of a tailor – hemming your own pants is "sew" easy.
Up next in Easy Sewing Projects (45 videos)
All you need is a needle, thread, some fabric, and these step by step instructions to start sewing.
You Will Need
- A pair of pants
- Scissors or a seam ripper
- Shoes
- A friend
- Pins
- An ironing board
- Measuring tape
- An iron
- Thread
- A needle
- A dry or damp cloth (optional)
Steps
-
Step 1
Let hem out
Let out the existing hem with a pair of scissors or a seam ripper.
-
Step 2
Try pants on
Try the pants on with the shoes you’ll wear them with. Have a friend help determine the right length and pin the pant legs at your new hemline.
-
Step 3
Fold at pin line
Take the pants off, turn them inside out, place them on an ironing board, and fold the bottom at the pin line.
-
Step 4
Measure new hem
Measure from the pin to the bottom of the pants; then measure your fold all the way around each leg to make sure it’s the same.
-
Trim excess material if the hem allowance is more than an inch and a half.
-
Step 5
Iron in new hemline
Iron each leg at the pin line and fold the hem allowance in half so the raw end is tucked into the new hem for a more finished look; then iron them again.
-
Use a dry or damp cloth between the iron and material to protect your pants from a too-hot iron.
-
Step 6
Hem pants
Pick a matching thread color and sew an invisible hem by using a loop-type stitch between the hem allowance and pant leg, being careful not to stitch all the way through the pant leg or pull the thread too tight.
-
Step 7
Try pants back on
Turn the pants right side out and iron a final time. Double check your hem length by trying on the pants and shoes.
-
The earliest known sewing needles were made of iron and date to the third century B.C.E.
