- I am able to buy new pairs of perfectly serviceable jeans from a local department store for $10.
- Unfortunately, being one of nature’s height-challenged people, they are invariably too long.
- For a professional to take up the hems – $30. Goodbye savings!
- For many years I had therefore persevered with a needle & thread (learning to use a sewing machine is somewhere on my bucket list, but has yet to be achieved).
- Recently, however, I discovered Fabric Glue!
My alteration method now is as follows:
- Turn the jeans inside out and carefully measure the new jeans against an old pair of the correct length.
- Pin the hems in their new locations (I don’t both to cut off the surplus).
- Using a steam iron, carefully crease the bottoms of the hems.
- Ensuring that they are dry (after using the steam iron) carefully apply dabs of fabric glue to the upper area of one side of the hem and weight it down (I use heavy books) for about 10 minutes (the glue dries quickly).
- Glue the other side of the hem.
- Do the same with the other leg.
- Turn the trousers back to the correct way round (i.e. whatever the opposite of inside out is) and you are good to go.
- Yes, you may have to take a little extra care not to catch your toes in the new hem when putting them on, but for a saving of $30 I can live with that!