Yes, My Daughter's Jeans

March 15, 2015 11:13 AM

My tiny teen has a pair of white stitching bling-pocket jeans that she really likes, except for two things: (1) they're boot cut and she wants a pair in skinny leg style; (2) they are regular length and she needs them in a petite/short length.

She wears about a size 4 womens/5 juniors/28 sized-by-waist, and needs a 29-30" inseam max. (The jeans in question are a.n.a. brand, size 4, with a standard 32" inseam that is about 3" too long). The "Miss Me" brand has some models that hit the right stylistic buttons but don't appear to come in short lengths and I'm not gonna spend $100 for jeans that we need to get altered. Indeed, I'm not going to spend $100 on jeans for her period. If you want to pitch in your eBay-fu to my quest, EUC is fine. She might also be able to do girls size 16 if the material has a little stretch (she's got girls 14s that are too small in the hips).

posted by drlith to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (8 answers total)

Why not just take these jeans to be altered? Going from boot cut to skinny and getting a Euro hem certainly seems easier than scouring the internet looking for the perfect jeans.
posted by Trifling at 11:27 AM on March 15, 2015

Agree, drop into your nearest tailor/seamstress will take care of these wishes for about $20-25.
posted by Miko at 11:38 AM on March 15, 2015

JCPenney's Arizona line always has option of short, regular, and long inseams, and their jeans only run about $20 a pair, but I'm not sure if they make styles bling-y enough for her taste. I also found these ZCO jeans on JCP's website. They have a 31" inseam but skinny legs and might be worth getting altered.
posted by jabes at 11:48 AM on March 15, 2015

If you shop in petites, you can find the right length but will prolly go up a size to a 6. Nordstrom has some options. Also consider buying ankle length jeans. The ankle hem may work out to be a perfect regular hem for your daughter. Ankle length are everywhere right now plus Target has cute multiple length skinny jeans right now. They have jeggings as well. The price is usually less than 30 bucks.
posted by Lil Bit of Pepper at 3:48 PM on March 15, 2015

If you have a sewing machine, you can do these alterations yourself. Carefully cut off the hem and zig-zag stitch the raw edge. Then taper the legs to the extent desired. You may need to take apart and then reconstruct a flat-felled seam. Then fold up the hem, only once, and sew in place.
posted by mchorn at 6:00 AM on March 16, 2015

If you go the route of getting the length altered, definitely request that they use special jeans-hemming techniques, or the end result will look impossibly dorky. Jeans that have been altered are usually very distinctive and awkward-looking. I speak from traumatized experience.
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 8:45 AM on March 16, 2015

Just to clarify: if you turn up the fabric at the hem only once, stitch in place 1/2" or less from the edge, and match the color and thickness of the original thread (in the case of the ones you linked to, white upholstery thread), it won't look homemade at all. This method is preferable to the standard professional jeans-hemming technique, which is to cut the hem off entirely and sew it back on higher. I'm a very short lady who's done this many times. It's almost invisible.
posted by mchorn at 4:14 PM on March 19, 2015

the standard professional jeans-hemming technique, which is to cut the hem off entirely and sew it back on higher.

That's not the professional standard technique, in my experience. There's taking a tuck and tacking down the same hem, cutting off only excess jean fabric, like this, and there's just making a new rolled hem, like this. Neither reattach a cut-off hem and neither look homemade when done well, and both use matching thread. If you're worried about what a seamstress can do, just ask to see an example. Usually the work they do will be far better than the original work on mass-manufactured cheap jeans.
posted by Miko at 8:51 PM on March 19, 2015