Rolling pants: exposed hem

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Gigi

Veteran

I just got a pair of black ankle pants from WHBM:

http://wdr-www.whitehouseblack.....Id=5701019=

I have quite skinny calves, so the pants flare out a bit above the ankle, which is stumpifying on 5'2" me. (I think that the model in the main pic has the pants clipped in the back, because they do not taper that much. If you look at the pics of the model from the side, you can see that the pants are a little wider at the ankle.)

Because of the flaring, I thought that rolling the hem would be better, to get the hem maybe five inches above the ankle, as Angie recommends in this situation. The result indeed looks much better. The problem is, when I roll the pants, the amount I need to roll them exposes the hem. Is this a big problem? The pants are black, so maybe it won't be too obvious. I'm just wondering what others do in this situation. The pants are extremely comfortable—they feel like leggings—so I would like to keep them.

11 years ago

Dressing

8 replies

Latest reply was from NDMom

Diana

Veteran

It doesn't bother me on black pants since you can barely tell anyway, but if it bugs you, you can try the under-over cuff that I use on my pants with white undersides. Basically, you fold a big piece up to the inside of the leg, then make a small regular, outside cuff with that. This way the hem stays inside and none of the underside of the fabric shows at all.

Hope that explanation made sense. If not let me know and I could prob snap a couple of photos for you.

11 years ago

Aida

Veteran

Hmm what do you mean by exposing the hem, are you just folding the fabric back once? What about doing a few very narrow folds instead?

11 years ago

Gigi

Veteran

Diana, I think I see what you are saying. I hadn't ever thought of folding the pants inside the cuff to start! Thanks for the tip. It works!

Aida, the hem is about two inches up from the bottom of the pants. It seems like no matter how I do it, with two "regular" folds or three narrow ones, the hem is exposed because it's so high up.

I guess the good news is that when ankle pants are out of style, I can just let down the hem and have full-length pants. :^)

11 years ago

Aida

Veteran

Oh I gotcha! On black or dark pants I usually leave it be since it won't show as well, I mean all pants have the hem anyway and we are rolling them up so I just leave it be. On my pants with the high hem I usually do one bigger fold along the hemline and make it an obvious thing, or fold underneath at that same place so it looks like a clean hem. Diana's tip is a good one to avoid that if it bugs you.

11 years ago

Diana

Veteran

Ok, here's a couple of pics.

#1: first step. Fold the hem under inside the pants leg. (I folded the other leg the regular way so you can see what I'm trying to avoid, that big white cuff.)

#2: second step. Give it another fold, out and up this time like a regular cuff. I make it much skinnier than the first big fold.

#3 is an alternative that exposes the original bottom edge. To do this I just flip the original edge back out during the second step instead of leaving it tucked up inside. Hard to explain but just try it, it will make sense then.

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11 years ago

Gigi

Veteran

Diana and Aida, thanks! Thanks especially for taking the time to do pics, Diana. Hopefully that will help others too.

I have the pants off now, but when I wear them "for real" out and about I will try the suggestions. It's nice to know that I don't have to be super-picky about it either, that it's OK to let the hem show if I want.

11 years ago

Zibbets

Veteran

I just had this happen today with a pair of khaki bermuda shorts. I'm going to try Diana's under-over fold. Thanks!

11 years ago

NDMom

Active Member

Diana....just brilliant! Thanks for the tip and the photos!

11 years ago

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