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Nothing is worse than pants that are too short. At least I would say that is true for me! It makes me feel so self-conscious especially if they are a wide leg pant that aren’t coming over my shoes. Not everyone is like this. I have several clients, particularly from the older generation who actually prefer their pants to be short.

A few weeks back a gentleman came to me who is a volunteer firefighter. He was generously trying to save his department some money so rather than having a new uniform ordered he looked through what they had. There were several pair of pants that fit but one was too short and the other too long.

When a pair of slacks needs just an inch on the length there is frequently enough seam allowance to let them down and still have an inch left to turn under for a new hem. However, this pair needed to be let down 2 inches.

A quick look inside at the seam revealed there would be just enough if I could create a false hem. (At least false hem is my term for it).

The cool thing about this project that I also had the pants that were super long to work with. So I was able to use what I was cutting off the long pair, to make a false hem on the short pair.

These pants were sewn with a blind hem, which is customary for slacks or uniform pants.

There is one basic step to taking out the blind hem. Use a seam ripper or sharp scissors to carefully remove the stitching. Then pull all the access threads out from where you removed the seam. It is important to remove these extra threads because they will just get in your way or cause the project to look shabby.

The extra band of fabric taken off the pair that was too long will be sewn onto the end of the too-short pair of pants. Leave just enough seam allowance (1/2” will totally suffice). This seam will actually be the bottom edge of the hem. Once this step is finished just blind hem stitch the pants as you normally would.

If you have never sewn a blind hem before refer to the video below for a tutorial.

Or for more info on how to hem pants look at one of my previous blog posts here

Also

If you are a novice seamstress you may have trouble with your stitches not catching from time to time. Be sure to grab you free troubleshooting guide. For the checklist go to the post page and scroll down to the bottom where it will tell you to click for your download. 

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