Hem a bulky jeans hem - ready for any growing child!

The other day was tasked with taking up these jeans, which were brand new but far too long for the growing owner.  I needed to not cut off the bulk of the hem, so it could be let down later.  While this isn't such a big deal with a small amount of fabric, and a lighterweight fabric than denim, this task had the double whammy - how to disappear a fabric that was not only thick, but a fair amount of it too?

So here you go - a quick tutorial for you.

1.  Measure the amount of turn up you need to 'vanish'. One of these seam gauges is a nifty tool for this!

2. Halve the amount of the turn up, and then fold your hem to this measurement - do NOT take the original hem into account, measure from just below.

3.  Pin into place, being careful to match up the seams.

4.  Sew, just underneath the original hem, using a zipper foot so you can get nice and close.  I use a slightly larger stitch to help unpick later.

5. Use a hump jumper/ bulky seam aid to help you navigate over those bulky seams.

6.  It should now look like this!

7.  Press so that the hem is now the right way, and the bulk of the fabric is laying up inside the leg.  Arrange your leg so it is inside out.

8.  This next step might seem a little confusing, but just go with it!  Pinch the fold of the bulky excess and the leg immediately below it together at the point where the fold of the bulk lies. 

9.  Then arrange these fabrics so that the hem is pushed inside the leg, and the folds you are pinching are at the bottom of the leg.

10.  Lay your layers as flat as possible, and neaten up so you can see approximately 2mm of the bottom layer poking out.   Arrange so this is even, and then pin.

11. It should look something like this. 

12.  Put a blind hem foot on your machine, and sew with a blind hem (again using a longer stitch).  It should stitch a couple of stitches normally on the bottom layer (right hand side) and then one zig zag catching the top (left side) layer which won't be seen from the right side.  You could mimic this by hand if you don't have this function on your machine!

13.  The bulk should now be attached to the leg - visible from the wrong side (if you zoom in you may be able to see, but of course I used matching thread), but completely invisible from the right side.

14.  See? Give it a good old press, and you're done.  If you look closely you can see where it's been sewn right by the original hem, but I promise you when you're at head height and those hems are at foot level - there isn't a single soul that will notice. 

 And when that kiddo grows? Those hems are ready to be unstitched for longer lasting jeans.

What do you think - will you try this?