What do you do when your pant hems fail you? Maybe they’re too long, or the thread comes undone leaving you with a sloppy one-sided pant mess.
If you are a whiz with a sewing machine, just ignore this.
But if, like me, you can barely remember how to thread one (Ms. Drust, my Home Ec teacher, is pulling out her hair somewhere), this crib sheet is for you.
Obviously, if you have time you should take ’em to your tailor. If your tailor is kind of out of your way, like mine is, or you keep forgetting to put your pants in the car so you can actually bring them to tailor (ahem), I’ve got a few options for ya.
One:
Just roll ’em up. Not just a look for wading in the surf anymore, all the cool kids are all doing it these days (seriously, just Google rolled pants trend) – including yours truly at work today:
So. Long. Even for this tall gal.
Two quick rolls – problem solved!
Two:
The classic safety pin – this works best if you have a lining to pin it to so the metal doesn’t show through on the outside.
One side of my white Banana Republic pants mysteriously gave up on its hem a few weeks ago. The crease from the original hem was still going strong, so I just folded the errant hem back under and pinned it to the pant lining, one pin on the inner and outer seams each:
Three:
Stitch Witchery. I’m going to admit I’ve never actually used this (as you can tell by the fact that it’s unopened…probably because it’s over my laziness threshold), but it seems really simple. Cut a length the circumference of your pant hem, insert in between the outside pant and the folded-in hem, and iron. Voilà, you have a temporary pant hem!
All this to say, don’t let your favorite pants languish in your darkest bureau drawer just because their hem is misbehaving. Try one of these fixes until you have time to do a proper sewing job or hie thee to a tailor.
What are you favorite tricks for fixing up pant hems? Have you tried Stitch Witchery or the equivalent? Do you wear your pants rolled already as a style statement? Scroll down to comment!
I’ve really enjoyed your blog since I found it a few months ago. These are all good options for a no-sew hem fix but don’t overlook the humble roll of scotch tape. I have taped a hem in an emergency with the best intentions of making a permanent fix that night only to forget and wear scotch tape for quite some time ;-)
Thank you, Ilona – so glad you enjoy it! I love that you kept a scotch tape hem going long after the initial fix – did you tape a ring around the whole inside of it to the rest of the pant, or only in certain spots?