If you don’t have a seam ripper you can use a small, sharp knife or a pair of nail scissors to do the job. Be careful not to catch the fabric of your pants as you rip the stitches out.
Try on jeans with sneakers or flats if that’s what you plan to wear with them. Dress pants should be worn with heels of the appropriate height.
Place several straight pins around the cuffs to secure them in place. Walk around the room to determine whether the pants seem like they are cuffed at the right length. Check yourself out in the mirror. Do they ride up and swing? Do they catch on the back of your heels? Make adjustments as necessary.
At this point you may carefully try on the pants once more to ensure that the hem will fall exactly where you want it. Take care not to prick yourself with the straight pins.
Take your time trimming the fabric. Make sure you don’t accidentally dip too close to the hemline. When you’re finished trimming, use straight pins to pin the fabric back in place about 1 inch (2. 5 cm) from the hemline.
This process can also be completed using a sewing machine. To make sure the hem is nearly invisible from the outside of the pants, pick up only one or two fibers at a time on that side of the fabric.
If you don’t have fusible tape, hem tape and other temporary hemming products can be used in its place. These usually fall out after a wash or two. Make sure the tape is completely straight around the bottom of both pant legs.
After you’ve ironed a section, lift the cuff gently to make sure that the tape has fused with the fabric to hold the hem in place before moving on. Make sure your iron is set to a heat that won’t damage the fabric of your pants.
