Because I said sew...Keeping the original hem

One of the more frustrating things about being so short, is the problem of clothing not fitting properly, in particular pants. I do have to say, for being only 4'10" I usually do have pretty good luck finding jeans that fit, but sometimes, I have to do a little leg work (haha, I like my little pun). Typically if I find a really nice fitting pair of jeans that are too long, I pay a seamstress about $20 per pair to have them altered with the original hem of the pant. This can get expensive, but it's worth it to not look ridiculous in a cheap-looking, cheesy, unmatched hem.

I found this pair of jeggings, [why yes, I said jeggings] at JC Penny last year, for about $12.00 in the junior department. I bought them because I figured they would be perfect for tucking into boots. I truly didn't know how much use I'd get out of them, and they have proven to be a great purchase! The only problem was they were 6 inches too long, so I would just roll them about 3 times before putting on my boots. This became annoying because they would gather too tightly around my ankles and it would be uncomfortable. I thought about taking them into the seamstress, but certainly wasn't going to pay more money than the price of the jeans, just to have them fit a little bit better! So this morning I decided to take full advantage of the cold and dreary day, and bust out the sewing machine for a little project. And now that boot season is in full force, I need my jeggings!

I measured my jeans to ankle length, & decided that 5.5" needed to come off.

I divided that measurement in half and pinned my jeans at 2.75" 

(Do not include the original hem of the pants in the measurement)

I tried to find a good matching thread in my box without having to go to the store, and I decided on black. It was far less noticeable than the blue thread. You can use a good quality jean-thread, but I'm too cheap and lazy to head out into the cold for that. So I'll see how this holds up!

This little project required some modifications to my sewing machine...because these jeans were so tight, I had to remove the front cover of the machine in order for the jeans to fit around. Keeping to the right of the hem, sew a line as closely as you can get to the original hem.

Ooooops.

I made a boo-boo. Because these jeans are so damn tight and skinny, I had a rather difficult time moving the fabric through the machine. After I completed the first leg, I realized that my alignment was completely off....Thank goodness for seam rippers! When I started over,  I added more pins to the top of the hem to help keep everything in place, and used the side-ends as a guide.

After I the sewing was complete, I cut off the excess fabric inside the jean.

 I steam ironed the new hem a few times to get a good flat line.

And just like that: new jeans that fit! It's not the best job in the world, but it saved me $20 dollars and these will probably only ever be worn tucked into boots! I'll be less embarrassed of a slightly off-hem when I take off my boots, than a half-foot of bunched up material around my ankles!

 -just me and my thoughts.

blessings&love.