As a professional seamstress, one of the things I’m asked to do more than anything else is hem. Whether it be skirts, dresses, or pants Hemming is one of those things that every sewer beginning or advanced should know how to do. So really this is what we call a Blind Stitch Hem, i use it mostly when hemming trousers, but it’s a very clean and hidden hem that can also be used on dresses and skirts.
Step one, marking the hem:
You’ll want to try on your pants (or garment to be hemmed this way) and mark where you would like your finished length. You then want to mark 2 inches- 1 1/2 inches below your finished length and remove the excess. I almost always prefer 2 inches for a couple of reasons. The first being its the longest you can leave behind without the hem bunching weird in the trousers, but also because styles change, and sometimes people sell or give away their pants because their size has changed. This means that there’s room for the pants to be let down in the future.
The next thing is to finish the raw edge, if you have an overlock machine or serger this is the place to use it. Otherwise a good old fashioned zig zag will do the trick!
We measure it up once again 2 inches, this time pinning all the way around. And now we’re ready to stitch the hem in place
If you own a Blind-stitch machine this would be where you use it. Although I personally am not a fan of the blind stitch machine, I prefer to sew it by hand. If sewing by hand, you’ll want to use clear, or matching thread. And then use either a Whip Stitch, or Catch Stitch to hold the hem in place. I used a Catch stitch because its my personal favorite. Here’s the tricky part though, while stitching the hem in place the needle will pass through just the Hem (the finished edge) and then just the leg (where the finished hem meets the pant) when passing through the leg of the pant you’ll want to only pick up one or two threads of the pant leg, so the stitch is invisible from the front of the pant.
Lastly press everything in place, make sure to follow the original creases, and Voila! You have a professional hem that is indistinguishable from the manufacturers!
I hope you enjoyed this little how to! Now get out there and get sewing!!!!
