Do you Hem Your Pants Yourself or Go To A Tailor?

tarzy

I have always hemmed my own pants. It's just a straight seam. I even learned how to do the "original hem" on jeans, which is super easy. I don't have a machine, I just do it by hand, and I save the $25 they charge in my area, which adds up when you have a few pairs of pants.

However - I have a feeling an actual tailor might do a better job.

I'm curious what other people think. Do it yourself or pay a pro?

17 years ago

General

11 replies

Latest reply was from Alecia

Nicole

Veteran

Tarzy, Most people know my answer, but I'll answer for your benefit.

My mom does all my alterations. Jeans and sturdy fabric hems get done on her machine. She "matches" original hems by using the same color thread and adjusting the length of her stitch accordingly. Dress pants or delicate fabrics get hemmed by hand. There's a name for the kind of stitch she uses--not sure what it's called--maybe a chain stitch? If you look at the pants from the outside, you can barely see the thread coming thru the fabric--it is maybe the size of a pin head. These are spaced about 1/2 inch apart. On the inside of the hem, you can see the thread following along the fold of the fabric.

17 years ago

cinncali

Active Member

Hi Tarzy,

My dry cleaner charges only $10 to hem jeans, and you can choose to keep the original jeans hem or not. I take almost all my jeans there now.

17 years ago

Kristen

(website)

Veteran

I can't even sew a button. My dry cleaner does all my alterations. She recently lengthened a pair of cuffed pants -- you can't even tell what she did. Costs me $11, a price I am willing to pay.

17 years ago

Jillian

Active Member

Jeans always go the tailor. My machine cannot handle the material. When I have time, I do it myself by hand. My mother taught me as a child. It really is simple and I'm sure there's a how-to on YouTube. It's about an hour of work and sometimes I just don't have the time or patience. Then, I head to the tailor. Truth be told, I rarely have the patience ;-). Nicole, you are really lucky to have your mom nearby!

17 years ago

Nicole

Veteran

Jillian, you have no idea how lucky I am. My mother is nearing 80, but she is incredible. She was a dress designer for many years, and when she wanted to simplify her life, she reinvented her career. When she had young kids at home she was a sewing instructor, then a seamstress. She also did wedding gown alterations so she was highly skilled at doing bead work by hand. She does not have the eyes for that kind of work anymore. She has even reupholstered furniture! But she is so talented when it comes to anything clothing related.

17 years ago

Ellen

Active Member

I do basically all my own alterations and if I can't figure something out, I get my mom to help. She taught me to sew when I was younger and although I rarely sew full pieces of clothing anymore, I frequently alter items. This week I made a knit vest smaller and narrowed a pair of wide-leg jeans.

It saves me SO much money altering clothes, sometimes because I can adapt if a change size or want a slightly different style, and sometimes because I can buy sale-rack versions of something I really want and tweak it to perfection. I find it takes a while to get a feel for what can realistically be altered well and what can't, but it's a fun process!

17 years ago

Donna

Active Member

I also do most of my alterations. It not only saves me from paying the dry cleaner but as EllenM mentioned I can buy things from the sale rack that are almost right and tweak them to be just what I want. There is some trial and error though so if you are just starting out to do your own alterations expect there to be a learning curve. I've been sewing for about 30 years so I've had lots of mishaps (learning experiences!). I find now that I can make better decisions about what will work and what won't, but this took time.

Recently I altered a pair of jeans that I really liked except for the front rise being a little too short. I added grosgrain ribbon to raise the rise about 1 inch at the front and tapered it to blend with the waistband at the side seams. I used two thicknesses of the ribbon to make it sturdy. It worked very well and will probably alter another pair of jeans that probably needs only a half inch added because the change made the first pair so much more comfortable to wear.

17 years ago

Cynthia

Active Member

I "used" to hem my own pants but no longer do I do that! I found this great tailor in my area, he only charges $4-$7 dollars on hemming pants!

17 years ago

Tanya

Veteran

Unfortunately, sewing a button is a highlight of my sewing skills, so I do have to go to a tailor for very single alteration. And living in a big city makes it not so cheap. Here I pay $15 for regular hems and $20 for original hems on the jeans.

17 years ago

Oneirix

(website)

Active Member

Hey Tarzy! I think that if you can do original hem by yourself, stick to your guns; a hem is a hem, and if it looks good to you, that's all that matters. Personally I can barely sew and would probably manage to a lose a finger on a sewing machine, so to the tailor I go!

17 years ago

Alecia

Veteran

I could sew a hem but don't make the time so I'm strictly a tailor person.

17 years ago

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