**warning: this post is mostly for short people**
Mrs. Stephanie Court from Barefoot in the Kitchen was kind enough to lend me the following post. Contessa Court is a very accomplished seamstress, but I can personally verify that this technique is friendly and approachable (just like Stephanie). Follow these steps and soon your pant hem and leg lengths will be perfectly matched too.
“I never think of myself as short (I’m almost 5’3”) until I stand next to someone other than my kids (which doesn’t happen all that often). Or until I go shopping for jeans. This year I invested in a good pair of jeans. I love them. But, like most pants, they were about 2 inches too long. Since I am not a heels and jeans kind of girl, they had to be hemmed. This is how I did it:
Step 1: Determining the amount the jeans need to be shortened.
Try on the jeans with the shoes you will usually wear them with and cuff at desired length. (Make sure the cuff ends exactly where you want the finished hem to be.) Pin the cuff and remove the jeans. Measure the length of the cuff, ignoring the original hem. (see photo above) Divide that measurement in half and re-pin the cuff using the new measurement as the length of the new cuff, again ignoring the original hem.
Step 2: Sewing the new hem
Once the new cuff is pinned, it is time to sew. I like to use the zipper foot on my machine for this step. Sew the new cuff in place as close to the original hem as you can.
Step 3: Finishing
Now that you have sewn the cuff in place, you have a little fold of extra jean on the inside of the pants. This can be trimmed off, or tacked in place. I prefer to tack it in place so I don’t have to worry about unfinished ends raveling. (But before you do any of that, try on the jeans, again with your shoes, to make sure they are the right length.) To tack the fold in place, turn the jeans inside out. Press the fold in the direction of the waist of the jeans. Sew a few stitches at the side seams to hold the fold in place and out of the way of the hem.
To see your handiwork, turn the jeans right side out and ta-da! You have a “new” hem. Because we sewed the cuff in place close to the original hem, there is a seam there, but it is not very noticeable.”
My finished product:
