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How To Hem Your Jeans With The Original Hem
We did a post on this about a year and a half ago but the pictures were not very big. I thought I would do an updated version of my own jeans that I have hemmed using the original hem method. It’s really easy, anyone can do it even if you are not a master with the sewing machine.
* Be sure to only do this method on skinny or straight jeans as it doesn’t work on bootcut or flares due to the fabric not being the same width around the ankle area.
All you need to hem your jeans is: Tape measure, pins/safety pins, needle & thread (or sewing machine), iron and of course your jeans.
1) Lie your jeans out on a flat surface and measure the inseam. Note down how much you want to take off of the length and half it. Always remember not to include the actual hem itself in your measurements as you will not be taking any off the hem. It’s easier to do one leg at a time so you wont have to undo both if any mistakes are made.
2) Fold the hem of your jeans inside out to the correct length you have measured, in the example this would be measuring 1″ of the fold as I am taking off 2″ in total (do not include the hem itself in the measurement). Re measure from the crotch to just under the original hem that has been folded outwards and make sure it is your perfect length (minus the hem width itself). Do not measure right to the end of the jeans where the fold is, your jeans will not be this long as you are not sewing at the bottom of the fold. You might want to get an iron and make sure that the fold is flattened down, I personally use an old hair straightener quickly (be careful not to press it down for a long time so you don’t burn the denim) as it’s easier to put the plates each side and flatten it. Make sure the seams on the left and right side of the leg match up correctly to the hem once it’s folded. Now put some pins in all the way around to hold your fold in place.
3) Now you are going to sew all the way around the hem. I have drawn some pink stitch marks on the image so you can see where to sew. You need to sew right under the hem, not on the actual hem itself. Sew just under it so you are only going through 2 pieces of denim (the folded bit). You can either do this by hand with a simple forward stitch secured at both ends or with a sewing machine. I personally do it by hand as it’s easier for me and it’s easier if you wish to let the hem down. It doesn’t matter which colour thread you use or how neat your sewing is as the stitching will be on the inside of the jeans and invisible on the outside. Be sure not to sew the leg opening together so opening ends up closed.
4) Take out all of the pins once you have finished your sewing. Now comes the tricky part. Fold the hem back down/in so the folded part you have sewn goes back inside the jeans. Get your iron or old hair straightener in my case and flatten it all out, you need to make sure you have flattened and pressed the hem down all the way around. If you have done it correctly it should look like the images below.
Now you have a pair of original hemmed jeans. Since we didn’t cut the hem off and re attach it this is a perfect way to let the hem down again back to the original length if you need to. If you have any questions just post a comment and I will be happy to reply.
Happy Hemming!
Thanks for the tip!! That will save lots of money and could allow my sister and I to share jeans even though we are 3 inches apart!!
Glad I could help
This is a great post. I have to alter all my jeans but it would be nice to be able to wear them with boots in the winter and flats in the summer. I love this tip, thanks!!
Love the wash and distressing on your jeans Lorna – would you be able to tell me which brand they are? Thanks x
They are Current/Elliott skinny jeans in loved destroyed =) You can buy them on Singer22 and ShopBop
Thanks Lorna! x
PS: What you’ll have to worry about if you decide to let the hem down..
Is the fade/crease that’s made by the inner cuff.
Just a heads up. I have to get my Rock n Republics done by a tailor now because of that.
Thank you for teaching us………
LOVE THIS!!
Thank you so much for this! I can’t believe it took me this long to learn to do what you’ve shown. You have seriously freed me from my tailor!
One more thing I wanted to add for anyone else interested: To make the hem look really good, make sure to sew literally right underneath the hem, not just next to it. Thanks again!
I’m glad I could help you
And you are right sew really close to the original hem line but not right on it otherwise you wont see it when you flip them inside out again 
Any suggestions for how to get both pant legs the same length? I had to redo a couple of times… Also, how do you keep the folded-under part from catching on your shoes?
You just have to keep re measuring each time you do it and make sure they are exact, keep re measuring as you are pinning
Emily – to keep the folder-under part from catching – assuming you don’t want to undo the alteration, you could use a lightweight fusible tape, ironing it in after you’re sure the hem is correct. Re leg length, as Lorna said, sometimes you need to have each leg a different measured length because your legs are actually different lengths. If this is a real issue for you, as she said, just keep measuring & re-pinning, and try them on to double check before sewing. Having a friend help might save some time, since s/he could pin & re-pin them for you while you wear them.
Lorna- great idea to use a hair straightener/flat iron! Much easier than hauling out the ironing board. Also, I like this version of the method better than the one that involves cutting off the hem. This seems easier to manage overall & less scary, not to mention that it should hold up better (since you don’t end up with fraying edges. I ditto the concern that if you are planning to let them down, fading & creasing could be an issue, especially if they’re washed a lot; plus I don’t see it worth the effort on a frequent basis – just buy 2 pairs – one to leave long & one to shorten!
Thanks Ellen! Those are some really good tips as well!
I used this method to hem a pair of jeans and it worked great! My only concern is will I have to iron the jeans every time I wear them to prevent the hem from flipping up?
I don’t have to
But then I only do it on skinnys and straight legs, I don’t do it on bootcuts as I don’t wear them. If it’s skinnys or straights should be fine 
To keep your hem from “flipping up” try this. After following the above and you have ironed your new hem flat, sew (with thread to match your jeans), right on top of where the new crease is, pulling taunt as you sew.
Also an easier measuring method is to pin up the length you want your finished jeans to be. Measure that and then 1/2 the measurement. Cuff up hem as shown above and using that measurement, place your ruler right above the original hem.(use it like a ledge),do not include the hem you are keeping in your measurements)) and mark all the way around and pin. For instance if I want my jeans 3″ shorter, I would turn up the hem (cuff it) mark off 1 1/2″ all the way around and pin.
Note on above regarding flipping up, you will be sewing on top of the new OUTSIDE crease of your jeans.
They don’t flip up on skinnys or straights, but if they do with your bootcuts you could try something as simple as using hem tape to tack the folded hem underneath to the inside of the jeans to stay there, maybe?
Thanks Lorna! This was such a HELPFUL tutorial!
Very helpful! Thanks
thanks for the wonderful tip!
I must be missing something. if I want my jeans 3 in shorter, I fold them up 1 1/2 in. and then sew just under the old hem stitching. If the old hem is 1/2 in. wouldn’t this make the finished shortened length 3 in plus the 1/2 in old hem. which would be shortened total amount of 2 1/2 inches.
You need to include the original hem measurement in the amount you are taking up. If you want to take off 3 inches and your hem measurement is 0.20 inches (example) then you need to fold the hem in half to about 1.4 inches
Then once it’s sewn and let down the hem measurement will be included in the 3 inches 
Thank you so much. This is so much simpler than any other explanation that I have read. I really think that I can do it. I might even try it on my children’s jeans so theirs look hip as well.
My question is regarding hemming bootcut jeans. I’ve done this with skinnies and it has worked well. However, when it comes time to hemming bootcut jeans, the hem is much longer (or wider) than farther up the leg where I am shortening the jeans to. So, whenever I go to sew the original hem up higher on the leg, I have extra hem that bunches. Anyhow advice on fixing this? Should I cut the original hem near the seam, maybe??
I know what you mean, I find you can only hem a little bit with this method on bootcut or flared jeans otherwise there is too much excess material. I would probably say cutting it is the best option unfortunately or if you do need to hem a lot you could cut the hem off then cut the seam and take some of the hems circumference off then re-attach it but that would be really complicated. This method really only works with straight legs or skinnys
Darn, I was hoping you had a better solution than cutting the hem!!
Oh well, maybe I will take some time one of these days and practice and see if I can come up with a easier way of remedying this. If I do, I will definitely be sharing. Thanks for the quick reply!
Where do you ladies go for pink jeans?
[...] jeans look like you had in 6th grade. Or if you’re handy you can do it yourself using the tutorial on denimblog.com or by asking my mom Just kidding. She really does know how but it’s not on [...]
[...] sure if this has been posted before… Just came across it and found it pretty helpful. Cheers How To Hem Your Jeans With The Original Hem : Jeans Blog – Designer Jeans | Denim Blog.com (05… __________________ Need: Rose Logo Kiedis & Pandora Myth/Persuasion Power Kasandra in [...]
Wow. OK. I admit it. I had no idea designer jeans required a special technique for hemming. I’m a life-long (non-professional) seamstress but when I agreed to hem jeans for a colleague, my daughter alerted me to the fact that you need to cut and reattach the original hem. Thank you so much for this blog. I love your method and your instructions and illustrations are extremely helpful. One question…regarding thread color. I have denim colored thread in my stash but rarely are jeans that color. What do you suggest???
Thanks in advance and…thanks again for sharing your experience and expertise.
Hi Diana
Yeah the hems of jeans are completely different to a normal jean, they are stitched using a chain stitching method which makes the thread a lot thicker. With the way I do it you can’t see the thread anyway because it’s tucked underneath but in my opinion for a professional job I would use as close a colour you can get to the denim itself, like navy or black for very dark jeans, light blue for the lighter washes etc 
Thank you so much for these instructions.I have been trying to find some one to do the California hem on my jeans and had no luck.Yesterday i decided to look on the internet.I do not sew,so of course I do not own a sewing machine.There you were with not only instructions but pictures too and when I read it could be done by hand I was thrilled.Today I hemmed per your instructions my New Radcliff London wide leg jeans and oh my gosh they came out perfect.I have 2 pair and I put my finished hem up to the pair I had not hemmed and you could not tell them apart.So I thank you for making my day and life so much easier.I am peite and I am always having to have things altered.Not any more.If I can do this,anyone can.
Hey Cindy!! You are welcome! I am glad I could help you out and well done on hemming your jeans and making a success of it
This. Is. GENIUS!!!
Thanks Lorna!!
Lauren
You are welcome!
Thank you so much for posting this! I recently bought 3 pairs of jeans and your tutorial saved me a bunch AND my jeans look like they came from the tailors!
I’m glad it worked out for you Annie!
i have development jeans,,,thank’
Thank you so much for the tip! I got some rather expensive jeans online and thought I would never be able to wear them because they were too long… I just sewed them up according to your instructions, and, even though it took me a while (I don’t have a sewing machine), your tips worked perfectly!! When I put the jeans on, I can’t even see the new seam myself! I am so happy and very grateful to you for this awesome technique! Thank you, and all the very best!!!
You are welcome! I’m glad it worked out for you
About the part that might catch on your shoe–couldn’t you just trim it off with a scissors, that is if you’ll never need to lengthen them.
You could but it does fray a lot so be careful if you do it
Thank you! This helped a lot!
Thank you so much for this fantastic blog. I had just bought an awesome pair of Diesel jeans at my local goodwill and did not want to loose the original hem. Also I didn’t want to try the cut and sew method for fear of ruining them. They were about 2 1/2 inches to long and I used your hemming method and it worked great. Not only did I save a ton of money on jeans, I also saved on sending to a tailor.
I’m glad it worked out for you Melody
I can’t believe I’ve been cutting and hemming my whole life (I hate being short!).
This method is amazing, worked a treat.
It’s worth emphasizing that you really do need to sew right next to the original stitching. On my first go I stitched right next to the edge of the hem, rather than next to the stitching, and it just wasn’t good enough. Easily fixed tho – just went around a second time in the right spot.
And I was already onto using my hair straightener as an iron. I don’t have an old one though – use my ghd and so far so good.
Thanks for this