How to Hem pants easily

Pants too long or too short? Skip the cost of a tailor – hemming your own pants is "sew" easy.

You Will Need

* A pair of pants

* Scissors or a seam ripper

* Shoes

* A friend

* Pins

* An ironing board

* Measuring tape

* An iron

* Thread

* A needle

* A dry or damp cloth (optional)

Step 1: Let hem out

Let out the existing hem with a pair of scissors or a seam ripper.

Step 2: Try pants on

Try the pants on with the shoes you'll wear them with. Have a friend help determine the right length and pin the pant legs at your new hemline.

Step 3: Fold at pin line

Take the pants off, turn them inside out, place them on an ironing board, and fold the bottom at the pin line.

Step 4: Measure new hem

Measure from the pin to the bottom of the pants; then measure your fold all the way around each leg to make sure it's the same.

Trim excess material if the hem allowance is more than an inch and a half.

Step 5: Iron in new hemline

Iron each leg at the pin line and fold the hem allowance in half so the raw end is tucked into the new hem for a more finished look; then iron them again.

Use a dry or damp cloth between the iron and material to protect your pants from a too-hot iron.

Step 6: Hem pants

Pick a matching thread color and sew an invisible hem by using a loop-type stitch between the hem allowance and pant leg, being careful not to stitch all the way through the pant leg or pull the thread too tight.

Step 7: Try pants back on

Turn the pants right side out and iron a final time. Double check your hem length by trying on the pants and shoes.

Fact: The earliest known sewing needles were made of iron and date to the third century B.C.E.