Shortening a pair of raw-ish denim jeans by four inches for a friend. The original hem has that chain stitch roping which she likes. Keeping it means folding a lot of bulk up inside, and four inches is enough that the leg taper will be visibly wrong at the new length. Cutting and topstitching is easy but loses the look. What's the deciding factor at that much length?
Four inches is past where the original hem method behaves. That technique works well up to about two inches because the folded excess sits inside the leg without much taper mismatch. At four, the leg opening at your new hem is meaningfully narrower than the original hem circumference you're reattaching, so you either get puckering or you have to ease it in and it looks wrong. I'd cut, then rebuild the look: sew a new hem and topstitch with a heavy gold thread in a triple stitch. Not identical, but deliberate.
Topstitch weight, roughly 30 to 40, in the needle only, regular thread in the bobbin, and a jeans needle at 100. Lengthen the stitch to about 3.5mm.
That's the answer I suspected and didn't want. Is there a thread weight you'd point at for the topstitch?
Ask your friend what she actually cares about. Half the people who say they love the roping mean they love the fade line above it, which you can't keep either way at four inches.
Whatever you pick, wash and dry the jeans the way she will before you measure. Four inches is a lot to cut off a denim that might still shrink half an inch.
@hemline_hank · 9mo ago · 3 replies
There is a middle option people forget: cut off four inches from the top of the hem allowance, then reattach the original hem to the shortened leg. You're taking the length out of the leg rather than folding it, so there's no bulk and only a small taper mismatch, which you can ease over a couple of inches. It's more work and there's a visible seam an inch above the hem, which some people like and some hate.
Reply
Report
@capsule_cora · 9mo ago
Hadn't considered removing a section from the middle of the leg. That seam placement might actually suit these.
Reply
Report
@darning_dee · 9mo ago
If you do this, match the seam to the existing flat felled seam style on the outseam or it'll read as a mistake rather than a choice.
Reply
Report