I am a shortie – 5’2″. It is inevitable that when I buy new pants I have to hem them.

I found this method for hemming pants using the original pants hem so they look cute. And guess what? It is super easy. Everyone will think your pants are tailored just to fit YOU!

 These pants are hemmed! They fit perfect and you can’t even tell. Success.

French Hem Tutorial

Step One: Try on your pants with shoes that you will wear them with. Fold up the bottom of your pants so they are the length you want. Have someone help you pin them there or pin them up yourself.

Step Two: Measure both pant legs. If they are folded up the same amount, perfect. If not, average between the two to determine how much to fold up your pants. My pants were folded up 2.5″

Step Three: Divide that measurement by 2 to determine where to pin your pant legs. So, my pants were folded up 2 1/2″ so I will now pin my pants up at 1 1/4″. DO NOT INCLUDE THE ORIGINAL HEM IN THIS MEASUREMENT!!! So measure from the edge of your hem up 1 1/4″ (or whatever your number is). Pin around both pant legs.

Step Four: Sew around your pant leg as close to the bottom of the hem as you can. If you have a zipper foot you can use that…or a regular foot is fine, too. You can try your pants back on at this point to make sure that leg is ok, or if you trust your measurements just sew the other pant leg.

Step Five: Iron  your pant legs flat so the folded part of your pants is pointing up inside your pant leg.

And your golden.

Here are some pictures of what your pants look like once hemmed:

Not noticeable at all, right?

You have to get really close to see the new hem you have created (especially on dark pants)

Sometimes that inside flap tends to roll the pants up, but I always dry my pants lying flat and make sure that the hem is folded the right way. That helps. If it is really annoying you, you can use an iron-on adhesive on the inside of the pants to keep the fold up.