how to make a wrinkled denim hem, after shortening a pair of jeans

They do it by banging them out at about 100 pairs and hour! Carelessly...

To imitate the look, chop the hems off about an inch longer than you want them, turn them up twice, and sew round with the right colour topstitching thread - only don't be too fussy about it! Then when you wash them a couple of times, it just goes like that...

I must admit that I have trouble making a hem that badly!

I did this many, many times :)

I'd hem them as usual (fold over then stitch) trying to match the stitch on the hem both in color and in stitch length to the other stitching on the jeans.

Then, I'd take a hammer to the hem!! Put a 2x4 under the jeans and wack the hem with a hammer over and over. No kidding.... it replicates wear and really does make the hem 'fit in' with the rest of the jeans.=20

-Irene

-------------- You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.=20

--Mae West=20

--------------

I took mine to the tailor and they left the hem intact but somehow shortened from the inside bottom (folded it up 1.2 inch??!!). It cost me 2.00 extra (12.00 total). I don't have the jeans in front of me (at the cleaners) but it looks great.

You WHAT?!?!?!?!?

You got robbed. (BTW, this is a NG about *sewing*, that is, people who do their own sewing. HTH)

It had dang well better for that price!!!

(Your JEANS are at the CLEANERS?!?!? Cotton is a washable fabric, last time I checked.)

--Karen M. buys jeans at GoodWill for $5, and would never consider owning anything that's Dry Clean Only

In article , Mary of uttered

You dry clean jeans???? That is too weird!

In article , Karen M. of

uttered>--Karen M.>buys jeans at GoodWill for $5, and would never consider owning anything >that's Dry Clean Only If it can't be washed, it doesn't deserve to live ...

able to find an answer to my problem yet.

I have seen a magazine suggest that you take a sandpaper block and distress the jean hems that way. I have never tried it, but it could work also.

Really? I guess I missed that part in the FAQs. I thought this NG was about anything related to fashion, which most certainly does not mean everyone here does their own sewing. I don't sew much of anything besides buttons or loose hems. Why criticize someone who brings his/her clothing to a tailor--for whatever reason?

And for the record I--and others here, I'm sure--own many, many clothing items that are absolutely not machine washable. Would you machine wash a good wool skirt or pants or a blazer? Something velvet? Leather? Silk satin?

Be nice.

I was kind of confused by all this until I saw that the OP cross posted to alt.sewing.

Smokey, who most assuredly does not do her own sewing

It's called alt.sewing after all...

Here we do, that's why it's called alt.SEWING

Stay and learn! :) It's ever so easy. I learned when I was about 7, and my son is learning now, aged seven. If kids can di it, surely you can?

Some of us ARE professional tailors!

Yup, all of those! Depends on the construction/fibre content/type of fabric, but all those types of clothing can be washed if made of the right stuff.

Something velvet?

Oh yes! Cotton velvet is VERY washable - and doesn't usually need ironing.

Yup - there are leather soaps available. saddles and bridles get washed with saddle soap after all!

Oh yes - most silk is VERY washable. But wash it first before you make the garment, because sometimes the hand and appearance can change on washing.

We are - but we, like all sorts of sections of this world wide community, reserve the right to have a gentle giggle at what amuses us. Here in the sewing world the very idea of taking jeans to the cleaners... Well, expect guffaws! Jeans are washable - and we don't waste dry cleaning on stuff like that! Dry cleaning is for hand beaded silk wedding dresses, military uniforms of the dress variety, and historical costumes covered with jewels!

Actually, it's called *cross-posting* I may not be able to replace a missing button, but I am able to check my headers.

Deliberately cross-posted, so you'll see it.

Barbara

This reminds me of a woman I knew years ago, who took her children to the beach in her Mercedes. Well, when she got back home, she looked in the backseat, and the very next day she took the car down and traded it in for a new one. How else would she ever be able to get all that sand out of the backseat?

Some of us live in different worlds. I avoid anything that needs dry cleaning because the chemical solvents don't play nicely.

Actually, back in the early days when jeans started to cost as much or more than the clothes we wore to work, a lot of us took our jeans to the dry cleaners. At least, a lot of us in my circle did. And some of these women even tailored their own clothes. And were good at it. Washing wears clothes out a lot faster than dry cleaning. That lint you pull out of the dryer doesn't just appear by magic, ya know!

Seriously, something that made my butt look THAT good deserved to be dry cleaned.

Cindy

The thread is cross-posted to alt.fashion. :)

A

This NG is alt.fashion, not alt.sewing. I may be able to replace a missing button but for those of us reading a.f. via Google, it's not immediately apparent that somebody is cross posting--there *aren't* any visible headers.

That having been said, I'll continue to bring my lined wool skirts, pants and blazers to the dry cleaner, thankyouverymuch. And probably my higher-end jeans, too, although the ones from Gap do go right into the wash.

Then why am I reading it from alt.sewing?

On Sat, 13 Aug 2005 21:15:28 GMT, "Angrie.Woman" choked out these words:

no, it's cross-posted to alt.sewing. :P

david

Well, fancy seeing you here! :)

A

Yet another reason that Google as a newsreader is terrible, I guess.

A, not crossposting. :)