hemming a taperd leg

Dear Serge,

The most you can turn in on a tapered hem is 5/8 inch. Fold 5/16 first, then another 5/16 to sew. The alternative is to re-cut the pants by folding up the desired hem, then taper while the hem is folded in. This gives you the extra fabric needed to get a smooth hem. But this isn't always possible, unless you're working with straight leg pants.

Teri

If it is important enough, what I've done is to make a facing from the lower leg that's been cut off. It does have to be pieced because that part is so narrow, but make the facing, attach to the bottom of the new cut, and you're done. On jeans, I tend to cut a new facing from a colorful cotton print. It doesn't show, but I know it's there.

These are all the things the pros do, However, you can also unpick the sideseams just up to where the new hemline will be, stitch up the hem where it sits, then carefully reinforce the part at the bottom where the unstitching stops and you have a v-shaped opening. I generally do a sort of bartack on the inside, just so it doesn't come apart.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.

Thank you, Teri! I appreciate your help, and will follow your instructions! If it gives me trouble, then I think I'll try Olwin Mary's!

You guys are a very nice group!

Thank you, Olwin Mary! If Teri's suggestion won't work for me; I'll try yours - I just don't know how the bar tack reinforcement will look from the outside, which is why I'll try Teri's first. But thank you for answering, and I filed your post away for the future!

You guys are a very nice group!

I appreciate your response, but you've overestimated my skill level. I've only had my machine for three weeks now, and while I can understand what you are saying, I'm not sure that I won't make a mess out of it. I wish I had someone to demo this for me because it sounds like an elegant way to do it.

I'll print out your post and save it for the future when my hands will catch up with my brain!

Thanks again, and I do appreciate your response! This is a great newsgroup!

Dear Serge,

Here's how to make a facing for your hem (and anything else you want to face). Turn your piece inside out, and smooth it flat, so that you can see the seam allowances, as well as the shape. A facing needs to be at least 2 inches wide. Trace around the shape, along the outside edges of the seams, and the exact shape of the raw edge that needs to be faced. Since you are doing pant legs, the back leg is wider than the front leg, so smooth it out and trace from the back, then turn over and smooth the front and trace it. Cut out the pieces. Sew the inseam and outseam of the facing. Match the seams to the pant leg, right sides together. Sew around the bottom edge. Trim one side of the bottom seam, press the raw edges towards the facing, and turn to the inside. Hand sew the top of the facing to the leg with tiny prick stitches. (The reason for trimming one side of the seam is to keep you from getting a ridge when you press.)

Teri

Try stopping the unpicking a quarter inch from the hemline, so the bar tack is on the inside where it doesn't show.

There's also a chance that there will be enough seam allowance to re-sew all or most of the V gap instead of making a bar tack. You'll have to do the re-sewing by hand. Well, theoretically, it's possible to open the seam and re-stitch it exactly enough wider, but it's *much* easier to hand-sew it lying flat where it belongs than to open the seam *precisely* the right amount. Not to mention that when hand-sewing you can re-seam part of the way up, then switch to overcasting the raw edges when you run out of seam allowance.

Joy Beeson