How to Hem Jeans and Keep the Original Hem

What you’ll need

• Jeans washed and dried as you normally care for them, plus the shoes you will wear with them
• Sewing machine able to feed the actual denim layers; a compatible zipper foot and fresh needle suited to your fabric and machine
• All-purpose thread matching the denim, pins or clips, removable fabric marker, ruler or seam gauge
• Seam ripper, hand needle, iron and pressing cloth; fabric scissors only if you later choose to trim
• Optional presser-foot leveling tool for crossing bulky seams, used according to its instructions

Check the shape before you mark

The old hem must fit around the leg at its new position. Pin the proposed fold loosely all the way around: if it needs pleats, hard stretching or gathers to meet, stop. A strongly tapered leg can have a hem that is too small; a flared leg can have one that is too wide. This simple tuck does not reshape either circumference.

Use a sound factory band worth keeping. A frayed-through band or an uncomfortably bulky tuck calls for another alteration. A new conventional hem is the alternative covered in the linked sewing guide; do not cut off the band while following this preservation method.

References: Sew Much Ado: original hems, leg shapes and finishing · Sewing & Craft Alliance: hemming jeans and crossing bulky seams (PDF)

Mark the joining line, then bring the hem to it

This sequence uses Leah Day’s marking method. The diagram separates the desired bottom edge from the higher joining line. They are different lines because the original band will hang below the new seam.

1. 1. Mark the length while wearing the jeans

   With your usual shoes on, turn the jeans up to the length you want. Mark that bottom position on each leg; remove the jeans and unfold them. Check each leg separately rather than assuming both need the same reduction.

2. 2. Add the hem height

   Measure D from the old bottom edge up to your desired-bottom mark. Measure H from the old bottom edge to just beyond the inner fold of the original hem—the place where the new needle line can run beside the thick band. Mark the joining line D + H above the old bottom.

   

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   Diagram

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   D is the shortening amount; H is the retained hem height. The joining line sits H above the desired bottom. Original diagram; not a cutting template.

3. 3. Align the band with the joining line

   Turn the hem outward. Bring the spot just beyond its inner folded edge to your joining marks, then pin through the two layers around the leg. Match the side seams. Leave the gold stitching and thick band intact.

   

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   Diagram

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   Sew in the thin denim immediately beside the band, through the cuff and leg beneath it. The cuff fold below becomes the inside tuck. Original diagram.

References: Leah Day: original-hem marking and sewing method

A worked measurement you can check

For a 2-inch reduction with a ½-inch retained hem, the joining mark is 2½ inches above the old bottom. Once attached there, that ½-inch band extends downward to the desired 2-inch mark. This arithmetic is a placement check, not an instruction to make a 2½-inch cuff.

A useful paper rehearsal is to draw an old bottom edge, a desired bottom 2 inches above it, and a joining line another ½ inch higher. Hold a separate ½-inch-wide paper band with its top at the joining line. Its bottom should meet the desired line. If yours does not, recheck which edge you measured before touching the jeans.

Sew close to the band without catching the leg closed

Set up the zipper foot according to your machine’s manual. With the machine stopped, turn the handwheel slowly through a full needle cycle to check foot clearance. A needle-position instruction from another machine may put your needle into the foot.

1. Check the stitch on comparable layers

   Use matching blue thread and a straight stitch. Start with a 2.5–3 mm stitch length, as in Leah Day’s original-hem method, then test on a denim scrap folded to resemble the thickness you will cross. Check both sides for loops, missed stitches or puckering, and adjust for your fabric and machine before sewing the jeans. SCHMETZ describes its Jeans needle as having a reinforced blade and medium ball point. Choose a compatible size for the fabric; a larger needle does not make an underpowered machine stronger.

2. Keep the tube open

   Arrange only the folded cuff and the adjacent leg wall under the foot. Keep the opposite wall clear. Remove pins before they reach the needle. Sew beside the thick hem ridge, letting the feed dogs move the denim instead of pulling it.

3. Cross seam intersections slowly

   Pause before a bulky side seam. Use your machine’s approved leveling aid to keep the foot level, then advance carefully with the handwheel in the direction its manual specifies. Stop if the needle will not pass or the fabric will not feed; do not power through a stall. Secure the seam ends.

4. Try on before making a permanent cut

   Turn the old hem down and push the tuck inside. Check both legs in the mirror, standing normally and then sitting. If length or hang is wrong, unpick the new seam and reposition it while all the original fabric is still present.

References: SCHMETZ: Jeans/Denim needle construction · Sewing & Craft Alliance: hemming jeans and crossing bulky seams (PDF) · Sew Much Ado: original hems, leg shapes and finishing

Choose what to do with the inside tuck

For the reversible finish, press the tuck upward toward the knee, using the jeans’ care label to choose heat and a pressing cloth where needed. Secure it at the side seams with a few hand stitches through the tuck and seam allowances. Keep those stitches out of the visible front of the leg.

If the tuck remains uncomfortable, trimming is optional and permanent. First isolate it from the leg underneath. Zigzag through the two tuck layers on the excess side of the joining seam, leaving a usable allowance between the joining seam and zigzag. Trim beyond the zigzag without cutting either line of stitching. If there is not enough room to handle those layers separately, keep the tuck or ask an alterations professional.

Press again, then inspect inside and outside: the factory band should hang down, the tuck should stay up and the leg opening should remain free. Test any loose-looking tack by moving the fabric gently, not by pulling hard on the hem.

Hand stitches for securing a small inside tack

References: Sew Much Ado: original hems, leg shapes and finishing · Leah Day: original-hem marking and sewing method

Fix the stage that caused the problem

Check fit and stitch formation before hiding anything with pressing.

Sources & further reading

• Leah Day: original-hem marking and sewing method
• Sew Much Ado: original hems, leg shapes and finishing
• SCHMETZ: Jeans/Denim needle construction
• Sewing & Craft Alliance: hemming jeans and crossing bulky seams (PDF)