Tutorial for hemming Jeans--Undetectable and no cutting!

Okay--I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Ashley of Make it and Love it for the original tutorial, so please, journey on over to her blog and have a look around.  At the same time, I'm a pseudo-seamstress and therefore need to tweak things to make them easier for my crash-n-bash style of sewing.

I do not have long legs.  I am okay with this fact, as it is a huge convenience when traveling in those tiny crevices they call seat rows in airplanes; but the world hasn't totally accepted that not all of us are leggy models, I find the need to hem my jeans.  Often.  Since jeans are a staple of my wardrobe.  Or I really should say THE staple of my wardrobe.  I pretty much wear jeans constantly (and church clothes once a week).  And I LOATHE the home-made hem look you get when you have to shorten jeans.  No more!!

I have a lovely old Viking that my beloved Dad gave me and I don't intend to part with her (my sewing machine) until she throws a fit and flings herself off my table.  (She's come close a couple of times, but I can usually talk her down.)  She moans and groans and often speeds her stitching up just when I need to slow down or stop.  But I often moan and groan and gripe and fail to follow directions, so all in all we're a pretty good match.

Anyway.  Here are step by step instructions for how I hem my jeans.

1. Gather your materials.

You will need:

• Sewing machine threaded with invisible thread.  (You can find it at fabric stores, it's like very fine fishing line.  I love the stuff.)  Or if you don't want to go to the store, use whatever you have that looks denim-ish.
• Measuring Tape 
• That metal hem ruler thingy (Googled it--its a "Sewing Gauge."  You're welcome.)
• Denim or dark-colored thread
• Needle for hand sewing
• Thimble (This is not optional.  Trust me.)
• Iron and Ironing Board
• Scissors

2. Measure and Pin

You will need to know your inseam measurements.  If you don't already know it, the easiest way is to find a pair of jeans that is just the right length (Hopefully you have a pair) and measure them along the inner seam from crotch seam to edge of hem.  Go do it.  Write it down, you'll need it in the future.

Now measure the jeans you wish to shorten along the inseam.  What's the difference?  For me my new jeans were 31 1/2 inches long.  I like an inseam of 30".  So the formula is 31.5 - 30 = 1.5.  So I  needed to shorten these jeans by 1.5 inches.  NOW, take that number and divide it in half. For these its would be .75 or 3/4 of an inch.

Set your Sewing Gauge for that final number.  Fold the hem up (right sides together) and pin it in place so that the space between the edge of the hem and the new fold is exactly that number.  Pinning and sewing is next.

3. Pin and Sew

I start my pinning (using my sewing gauge) at the side seams.  One pin on either side of the bulky seam keeps them lined up properly.  Then I work my way around pinning about every inch or so.  I check each spot with the gauge as I put the pin in.  I find that placing the pin heads so they face the folded edge makes removing them while sewing a lot easier.

Now sew.  Sew as CLOSE to the folded-under edge of the original seam as you can.  Don't stray over onto the hem though, that will cover up the original stitching and defeat all your hard work to preserve the look of unmodified jeans!  Don't forget to backstitch at the beginning and the end.  Oh and don't forget to do the other leg.  I've done that and felt so blonde when trooping back downstairs to finish the other side...

4. Finger Press and Machine Tack

Flip your jeans right side out.  Match the side seams together so you can find the middle of the front and back of the leg.  You're going to tack the extra band of fabric up in two (of a total of four) places with your machine--at the middle front and middle back of each leg.  (We'll get to tacking the side seam part later.)  So finger press the seam open--give it a little stretch to be sure the original stitching on the outside of the hem shows.

Set you machine for either a close zig zag or (as I do) for a buttonhole (the end part) as shown above.

Keeping the seam open and taut, flip the leg inside out and set the edge of the fold directly under the needle. Do a few stitches.  Just back and forth 3-4 times. Remember, center of the front and back of the leg.

Trim your thread and inspect your work.  See that little mark at the end of my thumb?  That's the tack.  Ah, the beauty of invisible thread.  Do the other leg.    Now for the last bit.

5. Steam Press and Hand-Tack

Warm up your iron on "cotton" and be sure it's full of water so you can use lots of steam.  I like to fold and roll up a towel and shove it up the inside-out leg of the jeans.  This helps the tacked up extra fabric from making an impression on the outside above the new hem.

Press the seam all the way around.    Double check as you go that the seam on the "right" side is open and looks smooth. Lots of steam!

Now get your thread (I don't suggest using invisible thread for this as it's squirrely to for hand sewing.)  Hand tack the side seam portion of the flap up.  Use a good sharp needle and a thimble--there's a LOT of fabric to push through.  If you do it carefully, your tack need only go through the inner part of the seam and won't show on the outside.  Do each side seam on each leg.  Now there are a total of 4 tacks in each leg spaced equally around the circumference of each hem.

You're done!

If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comment section.  I'll be glad to (albeit in my langled manguage) try to explain whatever you might be stuck on.  Oh and feel free to ask me very basic questions about sewing.  I'm not a seamstress so I won't think it's dumb.  Heck what little terminology I learned in Home Economics class 20-something years ago I've long since forgotten.  So if you ask about the weird arm thing that bobs up and down, I'll totally understand.  And if I don't know the answer to your question right off, I'm a very talented googler.  I can almost always figure out from whom to get/steal knowledge.

Happy Hemming!

Sorting, Purging, Washing, Planning

Stuff!  Lonely socks, old eye glasses, scratched CDs, piles of papers, and other flotsam and jetsam are everywhere around me.  Where did it come from and what do I do with it all?

Letting go of things feels so freeing afterwards.  Before and during?  Overwhelming and full of second-guessing.  "But I may NEED it." "But what if I find the other one?"  and "What if the economy crashes for real and I wish I had more stuff to make into other stuff when there are no more stores?" are questions that come to mind as I look at thing I come to in my quest for the simple and streamlined.

I've whittled my make-up routine down to only the stuff I actually use 95% of the time.  Specialized lotions and potions are out.  Tried and true multipurpose favorites are in.

My latest project is preparing for travel.  I have 2 toiletries kits.   One for luxury travel (anyplace climate controlled) and one for camping.  I've had these bags for a while now, but it's hit and miss as to them being ready to go.  Making a laminate-able list for each back and a commitment to keeping them ready to go.  Part of my unpacking routine will be to refill and repack each kit before I put them away.

Oh and since when do I own 4 hair dryers?  But there they were, lurking in the dark space beneath my sink.  So one now lives in the guest bathroom.  One got tossed (broken) and the other two are travel dryers.  One teensy, one merely tiny.  Perfect.  Didn't need to buy a thing.

Fun with Books

N1D (Number one daughter) and I ran some errands in a nearby city.  Took in 2 reusable grocery bags of books for trade credit, and came home with 7 American Girl Doll books for N1D and some C. S. Lewis and Laura Kinsale finds for me.  Oh and $2 in leftover trade credit as well!

Already got a bag ready for my next trip! =)

Free streamlining of the home and new reading material = win/win

What I did the last few days

So Monday I set up what I'm going to call "Mom's chemistry cupboard" in the cabinet above my awesome laundry sink (more about that later) to be my formulation station for my cleaners.

The upper left are my not-parting-with-anytime-soon clorax cleaning wand refills.  Upper right are CLR (hard water and rust removing chemical), vinegar, ammonia, and alcohol gel.  Bottom right are my dusting and furniture repair basket and my carpet spill stain basket.  Bottom left are empty spray bottles, bleach, glycerin, lysol concentrate.  Soon my on-order Dr. Bronner's mild castile soap will be joining the club.  Oh and a few essential oils for scenting my stash.  Missing is my Ivory dishwashing concentrate.  It had traveled over to the washer for a few minutes to masquerade as Woolite.

I'm sure I'll weed-out and add-in as I figure out what I need and what I don't.

If you're really bored you can read what is in each of my cleaning baskets below:

Dusting/Furniture repair basket

• Dust cloths
• Stain Markers for scratches
• Old English Scratch cover
• Guardsman furniture polish for the one table that I baby
• Orange Pledge

Carpet spill and stain bucket

• Old washcloths (I find they absorb and clean better than anything else I've tried)
• Resolve High Traffic Foam
• Spot Shot
• Stiff-bristle brush
• (yet to find) Small dust pan for getting up *chunks*

Oh and lest you think that my house is an emporium for excellent cleaning and dustless days, nope.  Still messy.  Working on it.  That's why I have this blog.


Yesterday...

...I purged and streamlined our medicine and first aid stuff down to free up the cupboard in the first photo and moved it down to an area half the size.  Now that both kids can swallow pills, I don't need to keep as many children's liquid medications around.

My symmetry-loving self (read: OCD tendencies) is headed back to the Walmart clearance aisle to shell out another 50 cents for the missing pink crate. (Gotta love a bargain).

The lazy susan holds stuff we use often, and then each bin is separated into "Oral Meds", "Bandaids", and "Vitamins."  The last bin will be fore assessment stuff: thermometer, my stethescope, BP cuff, etc.

Oh and the pill bottle on the bottom left?  N1D's (Number one daughter--age 8) baby teeth.  She does that.  Don't ask me.  She has her reasons.

Now for the "abundance" part

Just got back from a weekend trip to visit N1S (number one son) for Parent's Weekend and am exhausted.  Just FYI, N1S is attending a boarding academy for his high school years (prep/religious not military/correctional--not that there's anything wrong with that if that's your thing...).  This is a relatively new thing for us and the hellos are still awesome and the goodbyes are all sorts of wrongs.  We're hoping for maturation past that teary-goodbye stage.  For us.  Not him. He's absolutely okay with the whole away-from-home-adventureness of it all.

Anyway.  Meetings, performances, parent-teacher conferences, getting to know people, and then packing him up to get on a bus for home leave.  For a mission trip--not home. *sigh*  He'll be home in a few days.

So--about boys.  And their dens--er--dorms.  Everything is neat and clean, bright and shiny, but the whole place still manages to smell like

and

With a top note of

I helped him pack and clean up his room a bit.  When I was done, things were a little neater, less dusty, and now had an overlay of scent-o-lysol; but it made me feel better.

God bless all the stinky boys everywhere; and may we savor each moment with them, for they grow up too fast.

Tomorrow, back with simplifying all of Zederhaus.  Beginning with the medicine cupboard.  

Getting my clean team together

I've been using homemade cleaning solutions for over a year now.  But haphazardly with cheap-o sprayers that break easily, scribbled on with sharpie that faded off (shocking, I know!) and looked messy.

So I pulled out the bottles, squinted at my handwriting trying to decipher the ratios, gave up and tracked down the original base recipes from which I'd drawn inspiration.  (You can find them here, here, and here if you're really curious and want some alternatives; OR you can keep reading and I'll give you my adulterated versions.  My recipes were based on cost, safety, simplicity, and what I buy from the store anyway.  Scientific, no?)  Then I got out my brand-new, clear, heavy-duty sprayer bottles (found them at Wal-mart--little more expensive than the opaque kind, but seem to be sturdier) and got my clean on!

With the exception of adding tea tree oil to the All-Purpose Cleaning Spray, I've test-driven these formulas for over a year, and have tweaked the ratios a bit here and there until satisfied with the results.

Oh and as a bonus, you can copy and paste the following ratios into a Word document and use them to print out nifty little labels for yourself.  (And maybe, just maybe  the formatting will follow and save you some time.)  I put them on with clear packing tape--we'll see if that holds up better than messy sharpie.  And this time (ding ding ding!) I remembered to save them in my documents in my "homemaking" folder.

I had to reign in my OCD tendencies and leave the not-so-beautiful stock labels on as the corner I tested proved that pulling them off would be uglier still.  So my labels went over the top and I had to content myself with making all the sprayer heads point in the same direction.  For now.

FYI--the glass cleaner recipe makes a dynamite wallpaper adhesive remover/softener.  Worked as well or better than Dif and is a whole lot cheaper.

Glass Spray

½  teaspoon dishwashing liquid

3  Tablespoons vinegar

2  cups water

Sanitizing Spray

1 ½ teaspoons bleach

3  cups water

All-Purpose Cleaning Spray

1 ½ Tablespoons dishwashing liquid

3  cups water

15 drops tea tree oil

Giving myself credit for recent simplifying projects

Hemmed four pairs jeans last week using directions given in this tutorial.  So thrilled with the results!

I haven't hemmed jeans in a while because I hated the nerdy homemade-hem look you usually get.  This gets around that by using the original hem and preserving the distressed look.  (Oh and per my usual bargain hunting, each pair of these were less than $20 each.)

Cancel magazines and catalogs

So I successfully canceled 2 magazine subscriptions.  The others were less-than-cooperative online, so I put the other 3 on my "to do" list.

Then I sent requests to cancel 9 catalogs I get in the mail via Catalog Choice.  As catalogs come in, I'll revisit that site and cancel them.  I shop on-line and don't need the temptation, nor the hassle, of paper catalogs cluttering up my house and weighing me down when I go to the recycle center.

Less litter and life simplified.  Day one: check!

I want to live smaller

I need to live smaller.  Simpler.

I don't want or need to change houses to do this and I'm CONVINCED that it won't cost anything to streamline our lives (In fact I'm sure I can save a great deal of money if I simplify.)

So here's my challenge to myself:  Do something every day to downsize, streamline, or simplify our family life.  And then post it here.