Repairs and Alterations by hand: How to shorten jeans.

Shortening trousers is a very common alteration, and one you might need to do more often than others. Like many alterations, it can be done by hand with minimal equipment.

When it comes to jeans, it’s nice to keep the original hem so they maintain their look. This tutorial shows exactly how to shorten jeans while preserving that original hem.

I also have another tutorial for other types of trousers, as well as the rest of the series: how to sew on a button and how to mend a hole in a seam by hand.

How to shorten jeans by hand while preserving the original hem

What you’ll need:

• Scissors
• Pins or clips
• Needle and thread (matching denim)
• Measuring tape/ruler

Steps:

1. Try on the jeans and determine how much to shorten: Put the jeans on and fold the hem upwards to the outside to gauge the desired length. If you’re working alone, try to estimate as best you can. Take the jeans off and refine the measurement: use a tape measure, or mark a piece of paper or card as a guide, and go around the hem to ensure consistency. Use pins, safety pins, or needles to hold the fold in place.
2. Measure and fold: Turn the jeans inside out. Decide how much you want to shorten them—for example, 3 cm. Fold the hem up towards the front so that half of the desired amount (1.5 cm in this example) sits above the existing hem. Pin the fold in place to hold it securely before stitching. Stitch directly above the existing hem.
3. Hand stitch with back stitch: Tie a knot in the end of your thread or stitch a few stitches into the seam near where you want to make the repair. Bring the needle up from the back about 2-3mm away from where you have secured the thread. Push the needle back down a 2-3mm behind where the needle came up. Bring the needle up again a stitch length ahead of the last stitch and repeat.
4. Trim excess fabric if needed: If the hem is small and the seam isn’t too bulky, you can leave it as it is. If the hem is larger or bulky, you may need to trim some of the excess fabric. When trimming, leave as much as possible while ensuring the seam does not hang below the original hem. Since denim is hardwearing, you can leave this seam raw—it won’t fray easily.
5. Finish and press: Press the hem gently to flatten. Your jeans now have the original hem intact with the new length!