How to Hem Jeans & Keep the Original Hem

I used to skip purchasing jeans if the length wasn't exactly right.  A few years ago I learned how to hem jeans and keep that original hem (keeping that nice stitching at the bottom so they don't look hemmed). and it really is super easy to do.  I bought a pair of jeans last week that were only available in one length, and while the store offered free hemming, I was going to have to wait almost a week to get them done.  I can do them myself in 15 minutes, so that is the route I chose to take.  Here is a quick tutorial to show you how to do it.

Start by washing and drying your jeans so that you won't have to worry about them shrinking afterwards.  Next, figure out how long you want them.  You can measure the inseam of a pair of jeans you love, or try them on and fold them to the length you'd like them to be.  Once you've done that, decide how many inches shorter you want the jeans to be.  I needed mine to be 2" shorter than what they were.

Next, fold the jeans and measure half of what the total amount of inches you'll be shortening from the edge of the original hem.  I wanted mine 2" shorter, so I only folded them 1".  

Iron the fold flat all the way around, measuring often to make sure you are staying even all the way around.  Pin the fold in place all the way around, being careful to match up the side and inner seams.  With your sewing machine, stitch as close to the original hem as possible all the way around.  Backstitch at the start and finish.  You'll have to go slow over the thicker seams on the side and inner part of the jeans.  

Fold the extra fabric back inside the jeans and press flat, stretching the seam tight as you iron.  

You can either leave the extra fabric in place, or cut it off, just make sure you have them the right length before cutting!  Sometimes I leave the extra in place so that I can change the length of the jeans if I ever want to.  I have a pair that I've adjusted a couple times for different shoes.  Totally up to you!  

Here is the finished seam.  You can't even tell that they are hemmed unless you look super close.

DIY T-Shirt to Little Girl's Nightgown Refashion

My kids have become big hockey fans and we've gone to a few of our local minor league games recently.  At the last game we went to, my daughter caught one of the pink t-shirts that the cheerleaders were tossing into the crowd.  She was very excited, but she is five years old, and the shirt was a Womens Large size.  I wear an XS and was never going to wear it, so I wanted to find a way for her to enjoy it.  I decided to make it into a nightgown for her to sleep in.

 My plan was very basic, and there was nothing exact about it. If you are someone who needs precise measurements, you should probably just stop reading at this point. :)  I started by laying the t-shirt flat on my cutting mat and placing one of her nightgowns on top of it.  Next, I eyeballed 1/2" or so around it and put a few pins in the shirt around the shape of her nightgown.  

Next, I sewed the new seams starting at the bottom and ending at the cuff of the sleeve.  I just sewed a line and pulled the pins out as I went.  I had Little Miss try it on really quick, was happy with the fit, and then moved on.  I could have just cut off the extra fabric and left it alone because knit won't unravel, but I decided to just cut it by running down the seams with my serger.  Quick, easy, and even though it is just a nightgown, I like having the seams finished.

This project was super quick, easy, and now my little hockey fan can enjoy her prize from the last game.  

My Etsy Shop - Star Creek Creations

I've talked about my Etsy shop, Star Creek Creations before, but I have some holiday specific onesies available that I wanted to talk about.  

When I started my shop, I mostly made things that people asked for.  I would get a request, draw it up, make the custom order, and then add it to my shop if it was a design I really liked.  Some of my most popular designs started because of a custom request.  If I had spare time, I'd think of new things I wanted to add, make a one or two to add to my In Stock section and then see how they did.  One of the things that always seems to do well are holiday specific items.  They make an easy baby gift and are fun to do.  

Here are the "spring" holiday onesies I have available in my shop right now.  I have some that are in stock in certain sizes, but they can be custom ordered in whatever size you'd like as well.

Here are a couple "summer" styles.

 And, here are the "fall" onesies.  

Little Girl's Jeans Refashion

My daughter grows out of clothes length wise, never width wise.  She has long, skinny legs pants that are long enough for her always end up being too big in the waist, even with the adjustable waist bands.  That being said, she outgrows the legs of the pants long before she ever is too big for the waist.  Every year I think about trying to extend the life of her jeans, and finally got around to working on a pair of them.  She had a pair of skinny jeans that were too short, and a little worn in the knees, but fit fine otherwise.  I decided to add a cute ruffle to the bottom and put patches on the knees to give them a little more life.  

I started by cutting the hem of the jeans off right above the cuff.  Once I had that piece, I cut it and measured the length to find out how big around the ruffle would need to be. This was my easy solution to avoid putting any sort of effort into figuring out my measurements.  It was 10.75" long, so I doubled that for the width to allow enough room to gather the fabric. 

Not a great picture, but you'll get the idea...

I wanted my ruffle to be about 2.5", and I hate adding hems, so I cut the fabric at 6" and folded it in half.  Here are the steps I went through for the ruffle... 

I sewed the ends together to make a circle, and then gathered the top edge.  I recently bought a gathering presser foot for my sewing machine, and it changed my life.  I was horrible at the loose stitch, pull the strings to gather method, and just ended up avoiding anything that required gathering.  Now it takes barely any time at all and looks a million times better.  Once I had the gathering done, I flipped it inside out and pinned it around the cuff of the jeans (they were right side out) and sewed them together. I pressed them flat and topstitched around the jeans as well, but didn't take a picture of that step.

Next, I made appliques using the same method I described in my Denver Bronco Baby Onesies post.  I placed them on the knees and on a shirt so that she would have a whole outfit.  

I love how it turned out and my little fashionista was more than happy to pose for pictures.

Denver Bronco Baby Onesies

A few years ago I opened a shop on Etsy called Star Creek Creations.  I have made and sold 100's of appliqued onesies, as well as T-shirts for kids and adults.  I've been too busy this year to do many custom orders, but have had some instock items available in the shop.  One of my best sellers has always been my Denver Bronco onesie, so I opened up customs for those again recently.  Today I made 10 of them (size Newborn, 0-3 months, and 3-6 months) to keep my Bronco loving customers happy.  My favorite part of making this style is that I typically sell them to people who don't live in Colorado.  

High fives all around for Bronco love all over the United States!  

Here is a little information on how I make my onesies..

-Bronco fabric (or other fabric depending on the design I'm making)

-Lite Double stick fusible web (Lite is the key word...the regular makes the design feel too stiff on a shirt)

-Draw whatever design you are going to be making on the paper side of the web that has the product on it

-Place on reverse side of fabric and cut slightly bigger than the lines of the design

-Iron web onto fabric

-Cut the design out exactly to the lines you drew

-Place on shirt/onesie and iron on

-Sew the edges of your fabric

My morning's work (added to Star Creek Creations today)...GO BRONCOS!!