Sewers/tailors of Metafilter, how do I shorten these pants?
January 3, 2022 11:38 AM Subscribe
I was gifted a pair of Vuori pants that are more than 4 inches too long for me. Sigh. How do I shorten them so I can wear them?
I am a fairly experienced sewer, have an old (pre-1972) Elna machine that works perfectly, and would forge ahead confidently to shorten jeans or other non-stretchy pants. But I'm not sure how to deal with these pants that are 89% recycled polyester and 11% elastane. These are obviously casual pants so the hemming doesn't need to be perfect, but I'd like it to at least be credible, if you know what I mean. Is Wonder Tape the way to go, or something else?
I am a fairly experienced sewer, have an old (pre-1972) Elna machine that works perfectly, and would forge ahead confidently to shorten jeans or other non-stretchy pants. But I'm not sure how to deal with these pants that are 89% recycled polyester and 11% elastane. These are obviously casual pants so the hemming doesn't need to be perfect, but I'd like it to at least be credible, if you know what I mean. Is Wonder Tape the way to go, or something else?
The nice thing about knit fabrics is you don't need to double-fold the hem. You can cut the leg to about 1-3cm longer than you want the hem to be, then fold up that edge and either narrow zig-zag or stretch-stitch (also called lightning stitch), if your machine has that option, around the hem. I have found with some knit fabrics, the hem will get wavy if you just fold it up and hem it, but you can iron on a strip of lightweight knit interfacing to the bottom of the leg, fold that up, and stitch over the bit with the interfacing in it.
And seconding the stretch/ballpoint/jersey needle advice!
posted by phlox at 12:20 PM on January 3, 2022
And seconding the stretch/ballpoint/jersey needle advice!
posted by phlox at 12:20 PM on January 3, 2022
Twin needle is definitely the way to go with that kind of fabric. I sew almost nothing but stretchy fabrics like that and I hem everything with a twin needle.
posted by jacquilynne at 12:20 PM on January 3, 2022
posted by jacquilynne at 12:20 PM on January 3, 2022
Do you have a Nordstrom’s near you? They offer free tailoring on items sold there. Let them know that you received the joggers as a gift and you’d like them altered
posted by raccoon409 at 12:44 PM on January 3, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by raccoon409 at 12:44 PM on January 3, 2022 [3 favorites]
You can definitely hem that with a twin needle but if that is too much trouble - the hem is not going to be a point of major stretch in those pants. I could make all kinds of recommendations about what to do to do it *properly* but quite honestly, I would carefully cut off enough so that you have about 1/2" left to do a hem, and I'd turn it under twice and run a straight stitch all the way around. I've been sewing for at least 15 years, and if these had a fitted/cuffed ankle I'd give you more complicated advice, but in this case, I don't see any point personally.
posted by Medieval Maven at 1:02 PM on January 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Medieval Maven at 1:02 PM on January 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
Agreeing with Medieval Maven - and if a straight stitch isn't stretchy enough the worst case scenario is the thread breaks, the hem falls down, and you have to do it over (probably switching to a double needle or a zigzag at that point).
posted by mskyle at 2:32 PM on January 3, 2022
posted by mskyle at 2:32 PM on January 3, 2022
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If you don't like the look of zigzag or blind hem stitches another approach is to do a straight stitch and actually stretch the fabric a bit as you feed it through. That's what people used to do before zigzag stitches and it can work pretty well, but you'll definitely want to practice. If you have a reinforced (triple) that could help avoid accidentally tearing the stitches when you wear it, but at the price of losing any horizontal stretch there.
Finally, if you've got a twin needle you can use that to get two rows of straight stitches that can stretch (because the bobbin side does a zigzag). Things to watch out for: tunneling between the two rows, and the fact that it's really easy to break a twin needle. So again, it's great you have 4 inches to practice with.
One more thing - if the fabric is knit instead of woven, you'll probably want a stretch/ballpoint/jersey needle. (They're not exactly the same but I don't know which would be best for your fabric.) But if you don't have one at home, I'd probably just give it a first try with what you've got.
posted by trig at 12:08 PM on January 3, 2022