How to hem jeans with original hem without cutting

So you're wondering how to hem jeans without cutting them, but you still want to use the original hem?  Fear not - DIY jean hemming is actually much simpler than it sounds. 

Take it from me Miss Shorty Pants who needs to hem nearly ev-e-ry-thing!  In just 6 easy steps you'll have this done in no time and you'll be pounding your hand to head over why you ever spent money on having your jeans hemmed by a pro.

Okay, so here goes..

1. Decide how much you need to hem your jeans by trying them on and marking with a pin where you want the new hem to be.  

2. Lay them flat on the floor - right side out - and measure from the hem of the jeans to the pin.   In this example my husband wanted his pants hemmed by 1.25 inches. 

Step 2: Measure from hem to desired new hem

3. Now, fold up the hem of the pants all the way around the leg measuring half of the length you measured in step 2  between the bottom of the fold to the closest part of the original hem (DO NOT INCLUDE THE ORIGINAL HEM IN THE MEASUREMENT).  Hopefully this picture explains what I'm trying to say but am having trouble finding the words...

Fold up the amount equal to HALF of the amount you want the pants shortened by

In my case, I wanted there to be a little less than 3/4 of an inch between the fold and the hem since my husband needed his pants hemmed a total of 1.25".  If you need your pants hemmed 2 inches, you'd want the distance to be 1 inch if you want them 4 inches shorter than they were originally than you would measure 2 inches.  Get it? Okay, good... moving on...

Measure this same distance all the way around the pants, pinning as you go.  Pay special attention to the area around the inseams to make sure you're lining up the seams evenly. 

4. Now you're ready to sew. Sew a straight stitch right below (or in this picture - to the right of) the original hem. Sew as close to the hem as you can without sewing on it. 

Sew as close to the bottom of the original hem as you can without sewing on it

See how close I sewed (and it doesn't matter what color thread you use)

5. Now flip the bottom of the pants so they're right side out and iron on high heat to press the new hem down.

 

6. If you had to hem a lot you may want to cut some of the extra folded up material.  However, I would suggest tacking it to the inside of the seam instead of cutting it in case you ever decide you want to take out the hem.

That's it that's all there is to it.

Now there's no reason to ever spend big bucks to have a tailor shorten your pants, knowing you can hem jeans with the original hem yourself...all without cutting them.