Video

How to Hem Pants by a Pro

Published on October 21, 2024

When it comes to hemming pants, maintaining the original look is key. Many tailors use what’s known as an “original hem alteration,” where they cut off the hem and reattach it with an added seam. But let’s be honest—that’s a poor man’s alteration technique. It compromises quality, especially for pants that aren’t distressed jeans. Following the manufacturer’s original stitching and details is the only way to ensure a professional result. Anything less can cost you discerning customers once they notice the poor craftsmanship inside their pants.

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to hem pants professionally. If you have an industrial sewing machine, you’ll be able to follow along—just make sure you have the correct thread and needle sizes. These details matter, and most tailors overlook them.

If you’re using a home machine, the techniques I cover can work for lighter fabrics, but for heavyweight pants or workwear, a home machine won’t cut it. These require heavier thread and larger needles, and home machines typically don’t have the power to punch through tough fabrics like industrial machines do.

For those looking for a trusted professional to hem your pants, you’ve come to the right place. Williamsburg Garment Company is the nationwide leader in denim, workwear, and knit alterations. We specialize in giving you flawless, professional results—without any visible signs of alteration. Using factory-level machines and techniques, we deconstruct and reconstruct garments to preserve their original look and quality.

We may not be the fastest or the cheapest, but we’re committed to providing the best possible fit and finish. And we’ve made it simple to order alterations from anywhere. If you can order pizza online, you can order professional alterations from us. Just head over to WilliamsburgGarment.com and get started with a few clicks.

Denim designer Maurice Malone, owner of Williamsburg Garment Company, sewing a pair of jeans with a Union Special 35800 industrial sewing machin in the tapering alterations process.

Denim/How To

How to taper jeans video by denim designer Maurice Malone

Published on July 7, 2024

This video is a classic. Back in 2018, before we moved into our current location at 67 West Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, while working out of the back room inside Brooklyn Denim Co. in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, our intern Emoni Sheldon and I recorded this video to explain how to taper jeans professionally. With the plethora of DIY hack videos out there, I thought it was crucial to show the proper method. It’s been a hit ever since.

We’ve promised an updated, more detailed version is coming, but we’re always under time pressure to get customers’ jeans in and out the door quickly, so we rarely find time for social media posts or other instructional videos—though we’re looking to change that. This video demonstrates our process for tapering jeans with flat-felled inseams. There’s also a faster, simpler process for tapering jeans with overlocked inseam construction, and we promise to record it soon.

Since we recorded this video, we’ve perfected our process, tapering thousands of jeans from a multitude of brands, and we’ve learned what makes each brand different along with their trademark details and construction.

For now, this is still the best video out there if you want to see how it should be done correctly. Everything else is a workaround hack for doing it yourself on sewing machines that are not built for the task.

Beer

Samuel Adams Jack-O Pumpkin Ale review

Published on September 23, 2022

I’ve never had a Samuel Adams beer that I didn’t like. This one was different because it was the first time a Sam Adams beer amazed me. I was taken because it was so flavorful. I’m not a pumpkin lover. In fact, this was my first pumpkin beer, and I went into this taste test with the attitude, “Let’s get this over with, so I can at least say I tried it.”

I took the first swallow. My brain got confused. The pumpkin and cinnamon flavors were blowing up inside my mouth. I was having a drink, but it felt like I should really be chewing. It tasted like I was drinking pumpkin pie.

The Samuel Adams Jack-O Pumpkin Ale really knocked my socks off and has started me on a quest to try and review other pumpkin beers. I mean, if there’s another beer out there that’s better, I have to find it.

Poking around the internet, I came across this hilarious SNL parody of a Sam Adams commercial starring Bill Burr. It is also a must-see.

A Saturday Night Live parody of a Sam Adams Jack-O Pumpkin Ale beer commercial featuring Bill Burr

How many beers are so tasty that they deserve a Saturday Night Live skit? I remember laughing at this sketch when I first saw it a few years ago, but today I fully appreciate it. There’s a line about a beer sitting in the fridge for 8 months that hits home. If you haven’t seen this hilarious skit, check it out. And then go out and try Samuel Adams Jack-O Pumpkin Ale. It is a must-buy, must-try seasonal beer.

Outside view of selvedge jeans tapered from the inseam — Selvedge jeans tapered from the inseam

Denim/How To

Tapering both flat-felled & overlock constructed jeans from the inseam explained

Published on July 23, 2022

It seems needless to say, selvedge jeans should always be tapered from the inseam. However, some people still take jeans to local tailors or dry cleaners, who are not equipped with proper denim sewing machines and expect them to properly taper their jeans.

Tapering jeans with double-needle chain stitched flat-felled seams

Butterflied open jeans on table show how to taper selvedge denim jeans from inseam — Photo of selvedge denim jeans with the flat-felled inseam opened and prepped for tapering from. the inseam.

This photo shows an example of tapering from the inseam in-process. These jeans were sewn with a double-needle chain stitched flat-felled (lap seam), so it has to be taken apart at the inseam. With the selvedge outseam shown at the center, the inseam is then trimmed to slim the leg down. Slimming is done from the hem, up to just above the knee, and eases out at the thigh.

Shop Tapering Alterations

A tailor without a feed-off-the-arm chain stitch sewing machine will never properly taper a pair of jeans with lap seam construction. Instead, they may use makeshift single needle sewing from the hem to the knee area. Leaving the area around the crotch and thigh with the original sewing, connecting the new sewing into the original.

Sewing a flat-felled seam on selvedge jeans with a Union Special 35800 feed-off-the-arm sewing machine — Union Special feed-off-the-arm sewing machine

For more detail on how we taper jeans constructed with a lap seam, watch our popular Youtube video.

How to taper jeans professionally

How to taper jeans with a single-needle overlocked inseam

Not all jeans have two needle chain stitch lap seam construction. Some have a single-needle topstitched inseam with overlock construction. We tapered the below Levi’s jeans, slimming the legs down and the excess fabric cut from them can be seen underneath.

Single-needle top stitched inseam Levi's selvedge jeans tapered from the inseam — Levi’s selvedge jeans tapered from the inseam.

Most tailors can handle overlocked jeans much easier than lap seams. Overlock sergers are machines commonly used by tailors. However, similar to how traditional tailors may handle lap seam sewing, they will likely remove the original topstitching to just above where the tapering will end. Then use the serger to sew the new leg shape. Finally, to reach high on the leg, so new topstitching can join with the original, the outseams are opened and subsequently closed after topstitching the inseam.

Process for tapering jeans with overlocked inseams as also seen in our TikTok video:

Cut the inseam to the requested inseam length, plus 3/4″ to 1″ (depending on the hem height)
Remove the single stitch on the inseam
Press the inseam flat & draft the taper lines on each leg
Trim & sew the new leg shape with a serger sewing machine
Press the inseam to remove slack
Sew a new single-needle chain stitch on the top of the inseam
Chain stitch the hem

@williamsburggar
This is how we taper jeans with a single-needle top stitched inseam. #selvedgedenim #samuraijeans #denimtailor
♬ original sound – Williamsburg Garment Co.

Depending on the details of the tapering, we first remove the entire original topstitching in order to sew a new unbroken/unjoined line. It doesn’t matter if the taper is to the knee, above the knee, or high into the thigh.

We taper jeans high into the thighs only when we get requests to make the thigh smaller. We always advise, that very little can be done at the thigh. Explaining, that the width of the thigh is in connection to the pattern’s shape. The seat, rise, and curve in the crotch (which affects movement) are all connected. Decreasing the thigh means the curve must be shortened and straightened, which will restrict movement. Taking from the curve also lowers the rise.

In other words, the best we suggest is easing the taper from the knee, high into the thigh, clipping a bit of the curve, thus reducing the thigh to a maximum close to 1/2 inch. We don’t feel comfortable taking much more.

Looking closely, the original overlock stitching can be seen in white thread and the new sewing in tan color. These jeans were tapered high, so we went completely around the crotch.

Overlocked hem of selvedge jeans with decreased leg opening

Inside details explain how to taper overlock selvedge jeans from inseam

As demonstrated in the TikTok video below, one of the biggest things that separate our work from tailors and denim specialists is our use of the Union Special feed-of-the-arm chain stitch machine. On single-needle overlock constructed jeans, it allows us to completely topstitch the inseam from hem to hem without opening the outseams.

@williamsburggar
Williamsburg Garment Company quickly explains how to professionally taper jeans. Setting us apart from common and amateur tailors, we take the pants apart, redraft the shape, then sew them back together following the original factory’s construction. #denimhead #selvedgedenim #denimtailor #taperingjeans
♬ original sound – Williamsburg Garment Co.

The Union Special is advantageous with selvedge jeans because you don’t want to disturb the outseams. Tailors who have to rely on tapering at the outseams will destroy the beauty of the selvedge jeans. The photo below is an example of what can happen when you give your jeans to a local tailor who doesn’t specialize in or understand denim. Luckily, he later did some research, found us and we saved his jeans.

Badly tailored selvedge jeans tapered from outseam — This is what can happen when you don’t know the difference between a tailor and a denim specialist.

Denim/How To

How to taper jeans Video on TikTok

Published on July 4, 2022

We are just getting started on TikTok creating cool, fun, and informative new videos. Take a look at this one which quickly takes you through the process of how to taper jeans to narrow the leg width on a pair of Samurai selvedge denim constructed with overlock sewing and a single-needle inseam.

Follow us on TikTok and Instagram @williamsburggar so you don’t miss new upcoming videos.

@williamsburggar
This is how we taper jeans with a single-needle top stitched inseam. #selvedgedenim #samuraijeans #denimtailor
♬ original sound – Williamsburg Garment Co.