Hemming Pants – A Quick Method
Hemming Un-Cuffed Pants and Skirts
You can always opt for hemming costume pants by hand. But using a sewing machine makes this tedious work much quicker and easier.
If costume pants (or skirt, for that matter) are too long, you will need to hem them to fit the actor. For shows where the actors will also be dancing, this is especially important. Costumes that are too long on dancers can be dangerous, and can cause the actor to trip.
To hem pants (un-cuffed) and skirts by machine:
- Remove the existing hem
- Cut the leg 2” longer than the desired finished length
- Serge or zig-zag around bottom edge of each leg
- Turn pants legs inside-out, and fold up 2” of fabric.
- Make 4 machine tacks near the top edge of the turned fabric – One at each seam, one at the center front, and one at the center back
- Steam-press the hem
Cuffed Pants
You can quickly and easily hem cuffed costume pants by machine. Remember that small flaws in workmanship can’t be seen from the audience.
To hem cuffed pants by machine:
- Remove the existing cuffs and hem
- Cut the leg 5” longer than the desired finished length. If less than 5” extra length is available, you will need to make narrower cuffs, or hem the pants without cuffs.
- Serge or zig-zag around bottom edge of each leg
- Turn pants legs inside-out, and fold up 3” of fabric.
- Sew around leg through both layers of fabric about 1/4” from the edge of the turned up piece
- From the new bottom edge, turn up a 2” cuff
- Make 4 machine tacks near the top edge of the cuff . Make one tack at each seam, one at the center front, and one at the center back
- Steam-press the cuff
