hem your own jeans

If you are like me and a wee bit on the short side, you will most likely need to hem most of your jeans. Even though I am a sewer, I dread doing it for some reason. Perhaps it's the mundanenus of it. But hemming jeans to fit is a cinch and you can save bucks on alterations.
You really do only need basic sewing skills.
Denim is thick and a bit tricky but if you use the right needle it's easy.
Also, buy a top stitching thread to match and they can look just as good as the original jean.

Here is what I do:

Get yourself

Jean thread that matches your jeans usually Antique Gold. Buy a good quality one like Gutterman.

A jeans needle
Fabric scissors
Measuring tape
Pins
Iron-Very Important!!
Sewing machine- of course.

How to Hem Jeans

Decide on the length. At this point it's great to have a friend to mark for you as bending down to measure doesn't always work out that well as I have discovered many times. Or a full length mirror can help.
Pop pins in all the way around, take them off then press to get the new hem line.

Measuring hem width

Decide what width you want the hem. I usually measure the existing hem (in this case 1.5cm) then double this measurement.

Pop a pin in where you want to cut

Then measure down this measurement (3cm) from where you want your new hem line.

cut off at pin

Cut off fabric where your pin is.

fold the hem width and press, make sure you press well this will give a neat professional look

fold again , press well and pin in place

This is the important part, test your stitch length and tension. When you are working with a different size needle and thread the tension will vary greatly. I had to do a few tests on this particular fabric. My tension ended up being around 8!

Now on the right side of the fabric top stitch all the way around feeling with your fingers for the edge of the folded hem. Pull the fabric gently whilst stitching. Your stitching needs to be a few millimetres from the edge folded underneath.
For example if your hem is 1.5cm wide your top stitching will be 1.3cm from the hem edge.
Now press again.

There you go, not so bad after all.