Hemming - Page 2

Close-up of sewing details on an Original Hem alteration
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What is an Original Hem alteration?

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An original hem also called a European hem, or euro hem is an alteration method where the goal is to shorten jeans and pants without losing the original manufactured hem. This alteration technique is a perceived value on garments with pre-washed or aged hem edges to those who do not want to lose the look.

Photo explains what is an original hem alteration on jeans
An Original Hem alteration on a pair of Gustin selvedge jeans notes the construction details of one of the many techniques. Each method has a visible seamline from re-attaching the hem.

This method of hemming is preferred among sewers with home and common-duty industrial machines. It allows them to dodge sewing through multiple layers of denim fabric required in traditional jeans hemming. Besides preserving tatter hem edges, some techniques preserve the manufacturer’s stitching above the hem, which is too thick for home machines, and usually not stocked at most dressmakers and tailoring shops.

Another method of Original Hem alteration has a clean inside construction but is stiff and uncomfortable around the ankles

The alteration method above has a clean inside construction but its construction style causes the hem to be stiff and ring-shaped. The customer who sent this pair in removal and re-hemming complained it was annoying to wear.

Denim enthusiasts and those generally knowledgable about jeans avoid original hem alterations. It is an alteration procedure typically advocated by DIY diehards and non-denim experts because it is generally easier for their equipment to handle. The tailor’s selling point of the process is the preservation of the store-bought hem. Void in the conversation is the annoying inside bulk around the ankles, goofy seamline, or stiff ring-like shape of the cleaner sewn version of the alteration – and the fact that the aged look of the hem will naturally come back through frequent washing and/or wear.

Denim jeans and like-constructed pants are predominantly sewn with chain stitching at the hem and heavy threads that can withstand harsh washing, not typical in other garments. However, even denim lovers more knowledgeable than the average mom about jeans and workwear can get talked into an original hem alteration. Either that or don’t ask the right questions in choosing a hemming service. Have a look at a few examples of jeans and pants sent to us in need of rescuing.

Iron Heart fans should be warned, that the photo below could be extremely upsetting.

The photo shows a pair of Iron Heart jeans as a prime example of bad tailoring. The jeans were tapered from the outseams, destroying the selvedge, and then shortened with an original hem alteration.

This is a prime example of bad tailoring. These rather expensive and high-quality jeans were tapered from the outseams, destroying the selvedge. Not to go far enough, the tailor topped them top off with an original hem alteration. Here there is no reason to save an aged-looking hem edge. The obvious reason for using this hemming technique is the lack of equipment able to sew through the heavy denim typically found in Iron Hearts jeans.

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Hem of Loose J58 vintage Levi's Engineered Jeans with sloped cuffs
Hem of Loose J58 vintage Levi's Engineered Jeans with sloped cuffs.
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How to shorten Levi’s Engineered Jeans explained

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We recently added an option for special request alterations that fall outside of our regular services. For example, shortening the inseam on these vintage Levi’s Engineered Jeans is far more time-consuming than chain stitch hemming. After all, you would not want to lose the sloped hem shape that uniquely identifies these by cutting them straight like regular jeans. This calls for more than our trouser or chain stitch hemming services.

Photo shows how to shorten Levi's Engineered Jeans while keeping the original hem shape
Vintage Levi’s Engineered Jeans with sloped cuffs made in Japan

For this style, we first record the size and shape of the original hem by creating a pattern to recut the newly positioned leg opening. After, we remove the inside panel at the hem stitch by stitch to keep it intact.

Alterations process of hemming Levi's Engineered Jeans
Leg opening of Levi’s Engineered Jeans sloped cuff hem in the process of having the inseam shortened.

These jeans have a twisted leg, so measuring the inseam can be tricky. On jeans with a leg twist, you can’t just follow the inseam line down with the measuring tape. Instead, you must follow the shape of the leg down without turning under the seam. Following the inseam line on a twisted leg will ultimately mean that leg will be slightly shorter.

Finally, after the jeans are cut-down, the original inside hem panels are sewn back into the leg opening. Finished, the jeans keep the look of the original factory sewing and stitching while being customized to a concise length.

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How to hem a t-shirt video cover photo shows the hem being cut off the bottom of a white t-shirt.
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How to hem a t-shirt professionally

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We take a quick and humorous look at the alterations process of hemming a t-shirt. Those looking to shorten the length of a tee or lightweight knit shirt that’s too long, or simply trying to restyle the look, should have a peek at this new tutorial video “how to hem a t-shirt.”

A short video that explains how to hem a t-shirt

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Photo shows what is a original hem alteration
Close-up of an original hem alteration
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Avoid original hem alterations

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An Original Hem alteration. What is it? And, why you should stay away from this type of hemming alteration.

People often fall for this alteration because they like the washed or worn edge on the hem and believe it will be lost while shorting their jeans. Most choose the Original Hem alteration because a tailor or seamstress offers the option, or they learned of this novel alteration that touts keeping the tattered hem by cutting it away and reattaching it to the jeans.

Tattered washed hem edge removed from jeans in order to reattach it when performing an Original Hem alteration
The leg opening from an Original Hem alteration

ORIGINAL HEM ALTERATIONS – DON’T DO IT!

First of all, it’s cheesy, hacky, corny, wack… There are many ways to describe this bad idea. We get lots of jeans from those who tried this alteration with requests to have their jeans rehabilitated and hemmed with traditional chain stitching. A word of advice, don’t waste your time and money damaging your jeans or wearing this embarrassing look.

Close-up of light washed jeans with original hem alterations
Close-up of light-washed jeans with less flexible original hem alterations

Patience pays off. There is really no reason to hack up your jeans. If you wash and wear regularly, the wavy lines and abrasion highlights will return to jeans after traditional chain stitch hemming. If you want to speed up the process or have a lot of shredding, try roughing up the edges of the hems with sandpaper, an electric grinder, or cut them up with a sharp blade.

To fix bad hemming, the original hem has to be cut away or opening -up, depending on sewing construction.
This cleaner sewn version was sent in for removal. The customer said it was annoying to wear, like a ring around their ankle.

Tailors and seamstresses use multiple techniques to make original hems. The results in our opinion are all bad. In every approach, a seamline is added where there was none before, losing the flexibility of the original leg bottom. Layers of fabrics are sewn together and create a stiff, unsightly, (depending on how heavy the fabric or which method is used) uncomfortable line above the new hem. Other less stiff techniques leave the inside of the jeans looking so hideous, that you would never want to turn up the jeans to make a cuff. Also, if you don’t tack the hem down (which leaves additional visible stitch lines) the hem can flip up exposing the embarrassing-looking sewing construction.

Mangled insides exhibited on Gustin selvedge jeans that are badly tailored with an Original Hem alteration
Example of a bad tailoring technique with an original hem alteration on Gustin selvedge jeans.

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Bad DIY lockstitch hemming done by home sewing machine
Example of poor quality DIY lockstitch hemming done by home sewing machine.
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Fixing Tailor’s & DIY Hemming Mistakes

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We fix a lot of professional tailor shops and DIY home sewing machine hemming jobs. People learn the hard way that home sewing machines aren’t up to standard when working with denim and then send jeans to us for re-hemming. The thick seamlines are just too much for most domestic machines, so we often find thin broken needles stuck inside of hems.

Others discover that the difference between the quality of denim alterations from a suit tailor or local cleaners, and us is like night and day. That’s because the heavyweight fabric requires specialized machines and the workmanship required for denim is worlds apart from suits, fine trousers, dresses, and style of garments commonly worked on at most tailoring shops.

Lockstitch sewing on selvedge denim jeans hem
Lockstitch hemming is often what you get at Cleaners or Professional Tailoring shops.

Hems are commonly sewn with chain stitching at jeans factories. Most professional tailors will try to hem jeans on single-needle lockstitch machines, but they often can’t handle the thick fabric or seams. Again, home sewing machines aren’t nearly capable.

Chainstitch vs lockstitch hemming
Example of chainstitch vs lockstitch hemming compared. Chain stitching at the top of the photo, lockstitching at the bottom.

When it comes to stitching sizes, professional tailors will use threads that are a little heavier than the small thread sizes which must be used in domestic machines. But still, they usually don’t stock the thicker thread sizes commonly used with denim. The difference is plain to see when it comes to jeans- have them professionally altered by a denim specialist.

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Guide showing the key hemming and tapering points in jeans
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A detailed guide for hemming jeans and tapering them to perfection

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How to taper and hem a size 30x36 jean to size 30x28

When smaller and mid-sized denim brands manufacture jeans, they try to cover a wide range of customers by producing jeans as long as 34 to 36 inches. For those who have to shorten jeans or pants offered by most better producers, we would like to share this example of how to hem a pair of jeans and achieve the original optimal fit through the leg shape.

Graphic shows hemming jeans size 30x34 to 30x28 with added tapering
  • A – The leg opening is also known as the hem. The inseam of this jean originally measured 34-inches long.
  • B – Hemming is shortening the inseam length. These jeans have been hemmed to measure 28-inches in length. The leg opening appears slightly smaller at this point in the photo, however, with added tapering, the hem has been trimmed to the original size. It is only because the width of a tapered pant gets larger the higher up you go. The raised leg opening looks smaller at this point as compared with the original width.
  • C – This is the original knee position of the uncut 34-inseam leg (12 ½ ” below the crotch). The knee is where the leg circumference begins enlargement into the thigh. Without raising the knee position on shortened jeans, the area around the knee will be bigger than it was originally designed.
  • D – By tapering, we trimmed the denim slightly to match the original measurements at the lower leg and raised the knee placement so the leg keeps its original contoured shape. The new knee is located 10 ½ ” below the crotch. Without raising the knee, you can see how much extra fabric would remain if hemming alone.

Unless you are up for laying out good money for a pair of custom-made jeans, it is likely a brand that offers multiple inseam options will simply make its standard size and cut the length down before shipping, without consideration of moving the knee position. Like most brands, if you order hemming without additional tapering, we would do the same.

Let’s say a brand offers pants or jeans sizes 30×28, 30×29, 30×30, and 30×31. That’s four different inseams within a single waist size. To have the proper knee location on each and every size would require four different sets of patterns. One pattern per waist size, per each inseam length. It is unlikely a brand would do so unless they are a mass producer. Now that you have an understanding of why it is so difficult to find pants off-the-shelf in a multitude of inseam sizes and the behind-the-curtain factors associated with those who may, let’s get to the workaround.

Our suggestion is merely hemming jeans and adding tapering. For this is a simple alteration where we take apart the legs, make the adjustments, then put them back together. If constructed with a lap or flat-felled seam with double stitch lines, we only need to take apart the inseam. If the jeans are constructed with a serger and single-needle stitch line at the inseam, we start by removing the inseam’s topstitching. Next, we draft the new shape at the inseam and sew it back together following the original thread colors. The outseam is never touched.

Constructions details that help explain how to hem jeans

Before explaining how to hem jeans with added tapering, we will first explain the two types of construction found in most jeans. Inseam design is especially important when it comes to tapering but it does not matter for hemming.

  • E – Denim and work clothing most often are produced with a flat-felled seam. It has a double-needle chain stitch (sometimes 3-needles in work pants) at the inseam for strength and durability. It would be surprising if your local cleaners, tailor, or even most denim specialists have the machine required to sew this seam. It is mainly found in factories and small-batch jeans makers. Without the need to open the outseam, it sews the topstitching and closes the seam in a single pass.
  • F  –  Pictured in both images are selvedge (selvage) outseams. The vast amount of jeans sold will not be produced in selvedge denim. Top-end denim brands will offer selvedge in their line-ups. Some only offer selvedge. Selvedge does not factor in the quality of the fabric. When jeans are not produced in selvedge denim, the outseams can also be constructed with an overlocked edge and pressed open. Low-end denim producers routinely close the outseams with a closed overlock for speed.
  • G  – The hem or leg opening on jeans is commonly sewn with chain stitching in better denim. Low-end makers will frequently use a standard lock-stitch. Home sewers and fine tailors often run into difficulty working with the hem using sewing machines not suitable for sewing through multiple layers of denim fabric.
  • H – Makers of very heavy jeans will construct them with a single-needle topstitched inseam to avoid the difficulties of folding and sewing through multiple layers of thick denim. On women’s and skinny jeans, single-needle topstitch construction is also most often used for comfort and flexibility. Lower-priced jeans also prefer the serger seam for ease and speed.

The heavy lifting in the leg shape of jeans is at the inseam. Selvedge and a good deal of non-selvedge jeans have a straight outseam from the hem-to-hip curve. Unless the jeans have a flared or bootcut, tapering should be done at the inseam. Tapering selvedge from the outseam would be unforgivable.

Even though outseam tapering alterations and regular lockstitch stitched hems are simply amateur, there are commercially produced YouTube videos where one of the world’s biggest and most popular denim brands gets it wrong. Perhaps because it’s faster, more convenient or they don’t have the right equipment and skilled operators in their stores for factory quality alterations. Good advice before letting anyone begin work on your jeans ­­ – ask how they intend to do it.

For more information on hemming and tapering, check out our many other articles and alteration services.

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