[daisyduke947]

Umm...let me know if this isn't allowed to be posted here!

I have a pair of J Brand jeans (the Love Story) that I want to have hemmed up an inch, because they are too long. Is there any specific way any of you, if you have had them hemmed, have had them hemmed so they still look good? I know hemming jeans can be difficult, especially if you don't hem them right, they can end up looking really bad. Anything you can tell me would be great.

Thank you very much!

[laureenthemean]

I usually get them hemmed professionally. If I do them myself, here's a little trick I found online:

This will only work if the jeans are relatively straight-leg, not too flared or tapered at the ends. Also, you might want to wash the jeans first, b/c they might shrink a bit and change the length.

Figure out how short you want the jeans, and mark it somehow, like with a piece of tape. Fold over the jeans so that the hem touches the mark (like if you were cuffing your jeans). Sew them just below the hem, and then you can sort of fold up the extra fabric and iron them down so that they're on the inside of the jean, or you can cut off the extra fabric. Hm, this is confusing, I'll see if I can find a tutorial online...

[laureenthemean]

Here you go!
http://www.daciaray.com/?p=38
HTH!

[sammydoll]

Yeah, i just bought The Doll style and love it, but definitely need to get them hemmed a good inch or two. I'll be taking them to my local Nordstrom's, they always do a great job! (and they're wonderful because they will fix items that were not bought there!)

[daisyduke947]

Thank you, laureen!! I saw that, but unfortunately, with the Love Story, they have a flare, so that can be difficult. I really want to try that technique you showed me, called "Euro Hem", I believe, on my other pairs of jeans though.

Ooh thank you, sammydoll! That's helpful too! Do you know how long it takes for them to hem the jeans?

[daisyduke947]

sammydoll, do they just roll up the jeans, or will they reuse the original hem?

[laureenthemean]

^^You can get them done either way at Nordstrom. Original hem costs more, of course.

[daisyduke947]

They end up looking okay, laureen?

[laureenthemean]

I didn't get them done at Nordstrom, just at a dry cleaner near my place, but they looked good. If your jeans just have a regular 1/2-inch hem, though (sorry, I can't remember if J Brand does, I think I lost mine), then you should just get the regular hem done.

[loserxstar]

you can do the dacia ray version at home also. even with a large flare, with only 1 inch change, it should be easy. since you are folding them up, you are only sewing up 1/2" (since it's doubled over). also, since there is no cutting involved, you can always undo your work if you don't like it. i hem most of my jeans using this method, and at first it took me about 30 minutes per pair, but now i'm down to about 10 minutes :) i only take my jeans to get professionally hemmed if it's a tricky one (like TR joeys that have a twisted seam), or if i'm hemming off a ton of fabric (5"+) with a flare.

[daisyduke947]

Thanks laureen, thanks loserxstar! Mine are the Love Story though, which is why I'm confused on how to hem them.

This is the pair I'm talking about: http://www.tobi.com/product/8106-j-b...is-denim-flare
You can see that it has a really thick hem at the bottom, it's almost 2 inches wide. I want to hem them up basically 2 inches as well. If you were to just fold up the jeans at the hem at the bottom, that's the length I want them to be. But it is a bit difficult because when they are folded up, the leg opening where I want them hemmed is smaller than the 22'' opening at the very bottom of the leg.

[tomato4]

Nordstrom overcharges for hems if you dont buy the jeans from there. i think any dry cleaners or tailor can do it. just make sure to tell them you want the original.

[laureenthemean]

Hm, you might try doing them yourself; couldn't hurt. If that doesn't work, I would ask the tailor about what your options are.

[loserxstar]

i have done it on jeans with a wide hem like that (COH Fayes, SFAM Dojos). in my opinion, it's much easier than a thin hem. there will be an extra line of thread above the first hem no matter how you do it, but if you use clear thread or thread that matches the denim, it should blend in just fine and not be noticeable. even when you get your jeans hemmed at the tailor with originals, that extra thread is there. the trick is to keep it close, so when you iron it down after, it's flat.

if you want to hem it up 2 inches, then there will be a 1" foldunder. when you are using your sewing machine, you can gently tug the side of the narrower opening, to stretch it out and match the wider part. works really easy for me... i mastered it on the first try! and i am by no means any kind of sewing machine expert :) you have to look closely at the pictures on the dacia ray guide. once you have it down, it's super easy.

i have done about 10 pairs of my own so far... the result def. doesn't look as good as when my tailor/drycleaners does it, but i save a ton of money doing it myself, and should i decide to sell the jeans later, they will have a better resale value because the hem can be let out. and when i show my friends how i did my original hem, they are all impressed and say it looks fine!

[daisyduke947]

Hmm, okay. Thank you, thank you!!!!

One last question, any idea how much Nordstrom charges?