Hemming Jeans

I take jeans to a tailor to get them done. If he's in middle school, it might just be better to hem them a tad long and then not try to let them down (with a tell-tale light line) later. I haven't had jeans hemmed in a while but I think it's less than $15 per pair, well worth it for jeans I wouldn't otherwise wear.

2 1/2 inches is a pretty deep hem, but denim is very hard to sew on regular machine with heavy seams, thus the breaking of the needles. You almost need "heavy duty" needles and machine.
Once you hem the jeans and wash and wear, there will always be a 'crease line' with fading, so if you hem and let them down later, it will show. You can hand sew a hem, but will need more than just "tacking" because of wear and tear of the jeans. That area will take a beating, and will quickly fall apart.

Though you want them to last longer and let the hem down, it might be easier just to cut off and make new hem so it won't be such a deep and thick amount to sew. OR, just roll them into a cuff.

Have him wear the jeans then roll the jeans into cuffs to where you want them to be.
(This works best with straight leg jeans.)
Use pins to tack them in place.
Help him take off the jeans carefully.
Now you'll need a needle, thread, and a thimble.
Use a whip stitch to secure the rolled part - remove pins as you go.
I do this for our son's taekwondo uniforms (they start out long on him and before I know it I have to rip the stitches out so I can unroll the cuffs).

We've had several years when our son shot up 4 inches.
No matter how long I got his pants (and tacked them up, then let them down) he'd STILL be wearing floods within a month or two.

I'm 5'1" so I have to hem every single pair of pants I get. Have him put them on inside out and then cuff them to the right length at the heel of 1 leg. Then have him take them off. Measure the cuffed part and then measure and pin all the way around the pant leg. I always hand stitch instead of using a machine. It's actually faster and easier then trying to adjust and move through all those layers of denim.

My daughter just cuffs her son's pants and calls it a day without sewing. The kids grow pretty fast so it's not worth hemming.

I take everything to my seamstress. A lot of what I purchase has to be altered.

I pay around $10 for hems on any pants and a little more for dresses. All dresses are way to long for me and I have them cut off and hemmed to the length that looks best on me. I pay up to $20 for dress hems.

At his age I would not hem them. When he grows and you try to take it down they will have a worn out line around each ankle.

I sew. A LOT!

My special needs kiddo has very short legs...and still is growing.

For jeans, I roll them up when she wears them...and make sure there is no 'drag' on the ground.

THEN, I make sure I 'UN roll' them before I wash them.

That seems to prevent the 'line'.

When there has been linear growth that leaves just over an inch...I hem them (on a machine with heavy duty needles).

I charge $12 for a pants hem that is reasonably 'straight forward'.

Best!

MANY people need hems done for jeans!
Geez...not like you can stretch him 2 inches before school starts.
Here I pay $15/pr.

There's a way you can keep the original " jeans hem" which will ensure the coolness if his jeans!

http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=A2KLqIPt7fB...

With 2.5" to lose, cut them and hem them to fit. Take the original hem and attach it back on the bottom right at the edge of the sewn hem line. Hand turn your needle if you can at the seems.

You may be able to salvage a little bit of the length, but you will like have a fade line, as mentioned.

I wouldn't roll up the pants. Sorry, but I don't think that is stylish for boys and if he is 11 and concerned about appearance, I don't think it will work. I would cut excess material, and since I don't sew and don't want to pay to have my pants hemmed. I use iron on hem tape you can find in the sewing section of any craft store. Set it to the desired length and iron it on the inside of the pants. I've done this to a few pairs of pants that I have. It is washable. Sometimes I would have to redo it, but it was worth it to me. I don't think I paid over $10 for the roll and was able to "hem" multiple pants. I don't know if you will be able to hem up so much and let it out, but then again at 11 do you really think he's going to outgrow his pants before he out wears his pants?

I did this for a friend whose daughter was similar to what you describe. I did cut off some of the length--inch or so--because it was just too much. Then I took up a 1/4 inch and then another inch and 1/2. I ironed the hem so it stayed and put 4 stiches by hand--one on each seam, and one front and one back. It held up well. And when it came time to lengthen, she just removed the stitch and then put a new one herself on the 1/4 inch hem. The only problem that ever came up was for those well-worn since it put a line at the bottom of the hem that hit her shoes or the ground. minor problem though.

When my kids have new jeans that are a bit too long, they just cuff them. It has never been a problem or cause for teasing.

They grow so quickly that I don't want to mess with hemming. I don't stitch the cuff either, because they boys get dirt and whatnot in there so they should be unrolled before washing.

My older son tends to outgrow his pants by height before he wears them out, and my younger son tends to destroy his pants by the time he outgrows them.

ETA

So glad you let us know. So he's short and not too heavy? So he can wear his pants a couple of years and a hem would be the cheapest way to go.

I'd really think about just turning them up that 2 1/2 inches and hand hemming them then. Although, the fabric turned up won't fade due to wear and sunlight like the rest of the pants do. So it will probably be just easier to keep him in shorts and knit pants instead of solid pants like jeans.

I know that sweat pants or sports pants are pretty popular and they have elastic and drawstrings.

I wish it was easier to fit kids.

*******************************************************************

I don't understand, I'm not being mean or anything but only trying to get a better picture of his body type....

Is he heavy? Larger in the middle so he has to have jeans way too big so they'll button? That's why they're too long? How is it they're not super baggy in the hiney if they fit around a large waist?

Or is he normal around but extremely short?

Why are they too long?

He's 11 so I would imagine he'd be in a 12-14-16 or men's smaller jeans. Don't men's jeans come in waist and lengths?

So I'm trying to think of ways to address this without saying you are doomed to buying ill fitting jeans when in fact you could be shopping the wrong way.

This chart from Sears shows a huge difference between regular size pants and husky size pants. If they're the same length but the waist is just different sizes wouldn't this type of sizing help fit your son in pants that don't have to be hemmed?

The husky pants are nearly 10 inches larger around but the same length long.

http://www.sears.ca/content/resource-centre/sizing-info/m...

If he's picking out pants/jeans he likes but they are the wrong fit for him then you have to say no, that he'll have to wear what fits well. Otherwise take the pants to a dry cleaners that has a seamstress on call to do alterations.

I'd be prepared to pay about $10 per pair.

Otherwise I'd take kiddo to a store where they have pants in slim, regular, and husky in every size. Then you can find the exact size that works for him and his body.

My grandson wore husky's when he was 12. A husky size 10 fit him perfect. He got mad that I made him try on "Pants too small for me".

The size 12's were too long but he had to have "that size" because he was old enough to wear that size.

But his inseam hadn't caught up with his other stuff.

The smaller "size" took care of the length and the "husky" size took care of his larger frame. He only wore 10 husky's for maybe 6 months though. He had a growth spurt and got taller then they were indeed too short.

So try some smaller sizes but in husky on kiddo. See if that doesn't work better.

I'm short and my jeans have always been too long. I have always cuffed them.

This happens with my grandson who is also chunky. We have to buy adult jeans for him and they are always too long. His mom just rolls them up. They don't stay rolled and fray from him walking on the hem. When I can find a shorter inseam (29") they stay rolled better.

We started with rolling because if you hem them shorter and let them down there will be a fade line and this seemed tacky to me at the time. But then frayed leg bottoms look even worse. However, I've noticed other kids especially older ones with the frayed hems and none with a fade line. So we continue to roll the legs. It's good to be "in style."

I have noticed that he doesn't grow enough to need the extra 2 1/2" and I would just alter the length by leaving an extra inch in length. Because he doesn't care about the length I don't hem them.

I have shortened my own jeans by just cutting off the extra leaving enough for a narrow hem and then machine stitching the hem. I do make the leg long enough to cover my shoe so that as the jeans shrink a bit over time they don't get too short. I wear my jeans for years. My grandson, because his waist grows only wears his for a school year so shrinkage is not so much of a concern.

As to the needle breaking, use a heavy duty needle and manually guide the needle over the seam. I press the hem first and cut out excess fabric as well before sewing. Cut one side of seam allowance a different width than the other side. This is called grading.

I just take mine to an alternations place. I think it was around $10 to have them hemmed.

I am petite and what I do is buy jeans at the Goodwill dollar sale. Any length will do. Then I cut the bottom of each leg off to my desired length and manually fray them (or run them through the washer and dryer a few times. Cut all the long strings off and voila....they look like they came that way and actually quite stylish!

I would roll up the jeans to fit, and sew a stitch on each side to hold it in place. Then you can undo the couple of stitches, unroll them, and re-stitch as he grows.

My DD is the opposite- she has super long legs, so I have to sew fabric to the bottom of any pants she owns... Even if I buy slim jeans with adjustable waistbands, I sill can't find any that just fit her. (I have to pull the waistband so tight that it looks ridiculous.) I understand your frustration! Luckily, I have a girl so I can get away with up cycling clothes into 3-4 sizes.