We are no longer used to shortening purchased denim trousers. However, the opposite phenomenon is also not uncommon, when the legs are missing a few centimeters at the bottom. Not only women's and men's trousers are lengthened. More often, such alterations are required for children's jeans, since boys and girls quickly gain height. The question arises of how to lengthen jeans without damaging their appearance. There are options - take the item to a studio or try to cope with the problem yourself.
Basic methods
Let's look at the main ways to lengthen jeans at home
By soaking
The method of making jeans longer without sewing is suitable for those who do not have a sewing machine or do not want to touch the tailor's tool once again.To decide how to lengthen short jeans, you first need to wash them.
To give the required length, use water and soap solution. You just need to use the existing algorithm. What you will need:
- shampoo for children;
- a spacious container (a bath, a capacious basin, a bucket);
- terry towel (more than one) or sheet.
Fill a home reservoir with warm (not hot!) water, add 1 cap of shampoo and stir lightly. Completely immerse washed and dried jeans in the solution and leave for at least 30 minutes. After the time has elapsed, pull the pants out of the container, wait until the water drains, but do not wring them out.
When the water has finished draining, wrap the jeans in a terry bath towel so that a tight roll is formed along the length of the trousers. At the same time, you need to press on them to absorb the water into the towel. As soon as it becomes damp, you need to replace the wet towel with a dry one and repeat the procedure. And do this several times.
Once you have made sure that the new towel is no longer absorbing liquid, lay the still damp jeans unfolded on a dry terry sheet. When laying out the denim trousers, pull the legs along the entire length with gentle, gradual movements from the waist down.
After making sure that the maximum stretch of the material has been achieved, hang the jeans on a rope to dry completely. Children's shampoo acts on denim delicately and carefully, preventing denim from fading.
With the help of finishing
Trousers can be made longer using trim. This is especially true if you are wondering how to lengthen women's jeans. To do this, use:
- lace or lace ribbon;
- bright stripes of plain, printed fabric in a checkered, striped, floral or polka dot pattern;
- wide tape;
- fringe;
- frill.
It is easy to choose a trim to match the denim or a contrasting one to add “height” to the legs, turning the pants into spectacular and stylish ones. Moreover, the first 3 types of trim can be used at the bottom with a factory hem of jeans, but then the seam turns out thick. The connection of the trim strip with the embroidered hem of the bottom of the pants allows you to achieve a neat joint. In addition to fringe and frill, the rest of the trim is also inserted into the legs in the area of their cut below or above the knee. The method is suitable for those who are wondering how to lengthen children's jeans for a girl. However, it is important that the width of the trim matches the width of the leg.
It is worth getting rid of the threads used when sewing the hem with small scissors with sharp ends. Otherwise, the stitching will end up with unplanned holes.
Adjusting the edge length
The method will allow you to lengthen jeans by using the hem fabric. This way, you can make the legs a maximum of 2.5 cm longer. The work is carried out on washed and dried trousers. It is permissible to rip the edge before washing the trousers or after this process. The threads from the seam are carefully removed. The entire process consists of the following stages:
- dampen the trousers at the bottom and iron them so that the fold is invisible;
- cut out 2 strips 4 cm wide from the fabric along the cross thread;
- Combine the elements with the upper sides together, place the long section of the tape on the bottom of the trouser leg, and stitch after basting. Bend back and iron the seam;
- Turn back the sewn-on tape as you would for normal hem finishing. Baste the formed hem, sew it by hand so that the seam is not visible from the outside of the garment.
Adding fabric to the cuffs
Lengthening with cuffs is the best option for solving the problem of how to lengthen men's jeans at the bottom and trousers for boys. This method allows you to make a cuff of different acceptable widths. A fabric similar to the material from which the item is made is suitable for this detail. Printed material is used to lengthen jeans for teenagers or young people who prefer to stand out from the crowd.
Add 2 cm to the measured circumference of the bottom of the trouser leg for seams and calculate the length of the cuff (usually 5-6 cm), then duplicate the element with interlining. Having sewn one edge of the detail to the inside of the trouser leg, make piping stitching along the cuff. Iron the second edge by 0.5-1 cm, place it on the face of the base material, sew it. Finish with heat treatment.
When choosing a material for lengthening, you should avoid using knitwear. It does not stretch equally to denim. Also, fabric that sheds is not suitable for work.
Common mistakes
Before you start lengthening jeans, it would be a good idea to study some recommendations. They will help you avoid mistakes and get a product “without blots”:
- jeans must be washed and ironed before work;
- if the lengthening occurs with the unsewing of the factory hem of the legs and wetting them, the trousers are ironed until the fold line is no longer visible;
- You cannot ignore the basting of the details to lengthen the fabric of jeans in order to avoid wrinkles at the junction of the fabrics for the elements and the denim of the trousers;
- If the machine cannot handle stitching at the seam joints due to the thickness of the material, you should do the extension manually;
- the color of the threads for the outer seams must match the color of the fabric used;
- You should start lengthening after trying on the trousers with shoes to create the look. This will help you choose a new length for the trousers.
The result of lengthening jeans will please those who have patience and accuracy. The quality of work should be at its best, then you will not be ashamed to appear in front of others in new-old jeans.
Video
https://youtu.be/6Om6WvGR85Y
