Oh JEEZ...Neighbor's dress pants need hemming!

[New York Sue]

Okay, so my neighbor (who I would do anything for) has asked me to hem her dress slacks. And because I sew, well, you know the drill...
I have old school hem tape. I'd like to treat these as a very expensive dress slack, even though they aren't...
I just would like to get the proper procedure down, and a professional result!
(I did a You Tube search, and it's all iron on products....)
Do I sew the hem tape on the raw edge of the pant, then open up by ironing, and then proceed with the hem stitch by hand? I know some of you must be roaring off your seats, but I forgot this home economics lesson many, many years ago!
Thanks for any help. They're promised back at 5pm tonight, and I've worked all night and need a POWER nap!
I've cut the old hem (OH, YES I did!) and have my finished hem line ironed out. WOOHOO!
It's just the finishing off I'm stuck on....

[Mpyles]

Re: Oh JEEZ...Neighbor's dress pants need hemming!

I don't use hem tape...I just fold the raw edge inside the hem and fold over and hem....depending on what kind they are I will most likely do them on the machine....that's how most come from the store.

[Cat n bull]

Re: Oh JEEZ...Neighbor's dress pants need hemming!

Sorry, I have never used hem tape. For dress pants I use my machine and sew a blind hem stitch. Which I HATE doing.

I have an across the board, standard, big fat NO!!! reply to any and ALL sewing request by non-family members. And if they ARE family members, they better be extra super nice to me.

[New York Sue]

Re: Oh JEEZ...Neighbor's dress pants need hemming!

Sorry, I have never used hem tape. For dress pants I use my machine and sew a blind hem stitch. Which I HATE doing.

I have an across the board, standard, big fat NO!!! reply to any and ALL sewing request by non-family members. And if they ARE family members, they better be extra super nice to me.

I probably have this blind stitch option, but don't know it...
CRICKEY! Where's Jean when you need her!

[Lilly]

Re: Oh JEEZ...Neighbor's dress pants need hemming!

I only use the hem tape if I'm taking down a too short hem. Then I sew it on with a 1/4" seam and press it up and hand stitch it on. If I'm taking the hem up - which is usually the case around here - I press under 1/2 " and press up the hem and then I have a nice blind hem that I do by hand for the skinny pants DD's wear but I usually sew by machine for DH's dress pants. The thing to remember is that you only need to get 2 threads or so when your needle goes into the front side of the pants where it will show. More than that and the hem is very noticeable. Another thing to keep in mind is to keep the stitching loose enough so it doesn't pucker but tight enough so you can't catch a heel or something in the loose thread - yes I've done that. Last thing: if the pant is "skinny" or flared, the hem will need to be more narrow than if it is a straight legged pant. If you do need to take the hem down later, you can always add hem tape to get another inch or so length. And I always err on the side of hemming an extra 1/4 to 1/2 inch longer than desired - it is far worse to have a short pant than a little bit long pant. That way you won't have to "have a party in your shoes and invite your pants down". (An old family saying of ours.)

[Cat n bull]

Re: Oh JEEZ...Neighbor's dress pants need hemming!

I probably have this blind stitch option, but don't know it...
CRICKEY! Where's Jean when you need her!

I am pretty sure you have it too. What kind of machine do you have? Check your manual, it will show you how to do the fold onto itself bit you have to do for blind hems.

When all else fails, straight stitch that sucker! Visible sewn line is still better than too long pants!

[Genny]

Re: Oh JEEZ...Neighbor's dress pants need hemming!

This is how I hem all of our Jeans. It may work on Slacks too. This is a video from Heirloom Creations.

Hem Jeans Without Removing a Stitch (European Hem) - YouTube

[New York Sue]

Re: Oh JEEZ...Neighbor's dress pants need hemming!

I only use the hem tape if I'm taking down a too short hem. Then I sew it on with a 1/4" seam and press it up and hand stitch it on. If I'm taking the hem up - which is usually the case around here - I press under 1/2 " and press up the hem and then I have a nice blind hem that I do by hand for the skinny pants DD's wear but I usually sew by machine for DH's dress pants. The thing to remember is that you only need to get 2 threads or so when your needle goes into the front side of the pants where it will show. More than that and the hem is very noticeable. Another thing to keep in mind is to keep the stitching loose enough so it doesn't pucker but tight enough so you can't catch a heel or something in the loose thread - yes I've done that. Last thing: if the pant is "skinny" or flared, the hem will need to be more narrow than if it is a straight legged pant. If you do need to take the hem down later, you can always add hem tape to get another inch or so length. And I always err on the side of hemming an extra 1/4 to 1/2 inch longer than desired - it is far worse to have a short pant than a little bit long pant. That way you won't have to "have a party in your shoes and invite your pants down". (An old family saying of ours.)

Oh, this is SO rich, Eileen! I have my answer, and then SOME!
Thank You!
I have a plan, and I'm sticking to it.

Unless anybody else has a better plan, that is, when I wake up......

I AM stuck on a hand finish, for today. But the I'm always open for new ideas for tomorrow...

Please keep posting!

[MRoy]

Re: Oh JEEZ...Neighbor's dress pants need hemming!

I've used hem tape on dress pants to avoid bulk. I sewed the tape to the cut edge of the pants leg (if the fabric tends to ravel, I either pink the cut edge or zig-zag stitch it then sew the hem tape on top of the zigzag stitches). Then I sew the hem in place by hand.

[Vonnie]

Re: Oh JEEZ...Neighbor's dress pants need hemming!

I'm no expert so just tossing this out: How about using a serger on the raw edges?

[toggpine]

Re: Oh JEEZ...Neighbor's dress pants need hemming!

I call my mom.
After all of these years, I still can't get that stupid fold to do right. She just flips it this way and that, and Boom! It's all set to stitch!
I am going to ask her to show me one more time and I am going to video the process. She's not going to be around forever, and I'm not going to grow any taller, so....

Good luck Sue!

[Sharyn J]

Re: Oh JEEZ...Neighbor's dress pants need hemming!

Fold over the top edge and do a blind stitch with your machine. It's fast, easy and looks good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdKe9crSHac

[bubba]

Re: Oh JEEZ...Neighbor's dress pants need hemming!

It's hard to explain, but I would always do a blind stitch. You fold the hem up, and then fold it back without unfolding the first fold Be sure to leave about 1/4" of the selvage part of the hem free and now pin everything in place. You select the stitch on your machine that looks like this __ __ ^ __ __ ^ __ __ ^ __ __ You then sew along that selvage part with the straight stitch and then the other stitch will go over and just catch a thread or two of the pants/dress/sleeve. Once it is pressed, you won't see it and you will have a nicely finished hem.

[rebeccas-sewing]

Re: Oh JEEZ...Neighbor's dress pants need hemming!

If you have a serger, cut off any excess hem and then run the serger around the edge to finish it. The sew by hand or with a blind hem foot.

[Jean Sewing Machine]

Re: Oh JEEZ...Neighbor's dress pants need hemming!

I probably have this blind stitch option, but don't know it...
CRICKEY! Where's Jean when you need her!

She's eating lunch!

I do a blind hem, most machines with basic stitches have this. It looks like a straight line of stitching on the right of center with a zigzag to the left about every 5th stitch. Let me see if I can take some decent pictures to show you. You can use the hem tape edge to do the stitching on, you fold back the hem so the zigzag stitch catches the fabric on the leg of the pant. Easiest is just to hand hem it, now that you are on a time crunch.

I know there is a point of pride to do a good job, but if you are too good or it appears too easy, they'll ask you again! Make sure there is sweat on your brow, hair disheveled when you give them to her so she knows what a pain in the tuckus it was to hem the pants.