Help! I know nothing... (sewing question)

[suzikettles]

Well, I thought I did know how to hem trousers, but I'm trying to take up ds's first pair of school trousers and they're about 4 inches too long.

I wanted to leave the length and just do a really deep hem in case he had a big growth spurt, but when I folded them under and tried to hem they wouldn't lie flat - I suppose it's because there's 2 inches where there's 3 layers of fabric.

Is there a maximum length of fabric you can leave folded under? Should I just cut off most of the excess (given that he'll probably have the knees out of them after a week anyway)?

I was feeling all good-housekeeperish ready to watch Harry Potter and sew tonight, but I'm beaten already and reaching for the

Whaddaya mean you've got a life and aren't thinking about hemming school trousers on a Saturday night?

can you rip out the original hem then fold up and hem, so you haven't got 3 layers, only 2?

Try some wondaweb stuff in the crease plus sew them?

Ooh a reply! Thanks mm.

Yes, I think the three layers might be the problem. I've folded the 4 inches of excess material in half and then under so that the hem doesn't end up being halfway to his knees, so I guess with the actual original hem it's actually 4 layers at the top. Maybe I should try cutting off the first 2 inches and hemming the rest up inside. It still gives a bit of leeway if there's a growth spurt.

Is the problem that the trousers are slightly wider at the bottom (like bootcut style) than they are at the point to which you are trying to take them up IYSWIM? If that is the case, I would think you'd have to cut some off from the bottom or take apart the seams to make the leg straight rather than flared (but I'm no sewing expert!)

Yes you will need to cut some off otherwise they will look weird. When you sew them you will need to do this stitch (herringbone) this is to stop them yanking the hem back down when they put their foot through www.bramblestitches.com/blog/2007/10/herringbone-stitch-hem/

(basically you do a small stitch on hem, go backwards and diagonally down to trouser, another small stitch across and diagonally back up and repeat - hope it makes sense!)

Thanks all.

I've now finished one pair of trousers. I left about 2 inches so they could be let down a bit, but quite frankly the chances of being arsed after all this are fairly slim .

Even with the smaller turn up it was really difficult to stop the hem puckering. They're slightly tapered which presumably is what's causing the problem.

Just two more pairs to go [sigh].