By Kristen Philipkoski / Source: Eat, Sleep, Denim

hem

Have you ever stapled your jeans? I have. Have you ever pinned them with a safety pin? Sadly, I’ve done that too. Hemming your jeans, or even just dropping them at the tailor, can be a pain—or just one of those things that become impossible to remember to do.

The best answer to the hemming conundrum I’ve found is hem tape. It may not look as good as sewing your jeans while keeping the original hem (a neat trick we will explore in a future post), but it’s great when you NEED to wear those brand-new (and to-long) jeans tonight. Here’s a step-by-step on how to do it:

Supplies
Measuring tape
Tailor’s chalk
Fabric scissors
Hem tape
Iron

Step 1
Put on your jeans an cuff them at the length you desire. Mark them with the tailor’s chalk.

Step 2
Heat iron to medium/high. Turn the jeans inside out and fold up the hem at the length you marked. Use measuring tape to make sure length is even all around.

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Step 3
Pin the jeans at the two seams on either side of the pant leg to be sure the cuff is even.

Step 4
If you’re shortening your jeans significantly, cut off excess fabric. Otherwise, just fold them up.

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Step 5
Cut a strip of hem tape the length of half of the ankle opening. Place the tape inside the fold of your hem, textured side up.

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Step 6
Place the iron down firmly on top of fabric for about five seconds. Repeat until the tape melts and adheres to the fabric. Be sure not to overdo and burn the fabric.

Step 7
Repeat this same process on the other half of your hem, and the second leg.

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