Tutorial: Taking in Pant legs

Hey friends! Thanks for stopping by today, and to those stopping by from Alexa Z’s blog, He and I, thank you so much for taking the time to stray away from the Zurchers to meet me!

Today I’m super excited to share with you a tutorial for taking in pant legs! It took me a while to jump on the skinny jean/straight leg wagon so I have a few pants that are still a part of my old wardrobe. Apparently, my sis-in-law had the same problem because she asked me if I could bring some of her old dress pants “up to speed.” I was happy to help!

This is a simple way to update your old dress pants, jeans, whatever. Here’s what you’ll need:

• model pair of pants
• fabric pencil
• matching thread
• scissors
• machine
• iron
• twin needle (opt)
• blind hemming foot (opt)
• thick denim or upholstery needle (if taking in jeans)

Step 1: Model pants

Turn your model pair of pants and the pants you’re adjusting inside-out. Lay the pants you’re going to adjust out on the floor, front up, and the model pants on top, front up.

Step 2: Draw in legs

Use your fabric pencil to outline the model pair of pants. You can trace along the seams of your model pair of pants pretty strictly because with the pants turned inside-out, the seam is showing/sticking out. Just make sure when you sew you use the same seam allowance as your model pants.

Step 3: Sew along drawn lines

Being sure that the fabric is not bunched, but lies flat away from the original side seam, sew a straight line along your drawn line down to the hem of the pants. A twin needle comes in handy here because it sews two straight lines on top and a zig-zag line underneath so that the fabric won’t fray. If you’re using a regular, single needle with a straight stitch, you’ll need to do a zig-zag stitch along-side the straight stitch where you sewed. And if you have a serger, I envy you.

Step 4: Trim

Cut the excess fabric on the sides along where you sewed. You can lay out your pants again to double check your accuracy.

Step 5: Hem

If you like the length of your pants, iron (if necessary) and you’re done! If you want them shorter, mark about 1-1.5” away from the bottom edge of your model pants and cut straight across. Then, fold the pants under twice to the correct length, or zig-zag around the bottom edge after cutting and fold up once. Pin in place.

^^again, if you have a twin needle, don’t worry about zig-zagging first^^

Step 6: Blind Hem

If you’re working with business pants, you might want to use a blind hemming foot. These feet are really useful because they hem the pants without leaving any trace of a stitch. It’s really neat!

 ^^see? no visible stitch^^

Step 7: Iron

Iron your pants if needed, especially along the hem, and you’re finished!

An easy answer to that box of old-style pants you have in your closet!

Thanks for stopping by today! Stick around to see what other projects you can pin to your pinterest board! I just love being productive, don’t you?

Have a great rest of your week!