How to Sew a Euro Hem on Jeans

Tools and materials:

• Pins 
• Scissors
• Seam ripper 
• Needle and thread
• Hammer 
• Iron 
• Ruler
• Sewing machine 

Method 1: Cut, open and resew 

To begin, make sure you are standing in front of a mirror so that you can see what your new hem will look like. Fold up the bottom of your jeans until you reach your desired length. When you are happy with the new hem, pin to mark. 

Next, take off your jeans and use chalk to mark your new hemline. It’s important to also mark a line half an inch up from the hem marking which will be the sewing line. 

Fold the bottom of the jeans and match up the bottom of the original hemstitching with the sewing line you just drew. Pin this vertically so that the pins will be a little easier to remove when sewing. 

To make the new hem easier to sew, cut off the excess fabric. 

When sewing, I suggest using a zipper foot so that you get a really nice, seamless look for the original hem. 

Once you’ve sewed, cut the excess fabric down to half an inch.

Next, carefully open up the original hem. 

Then take a pair of scissors and cut out the thick side seam of the original hem. 

Next, you’ll want to cut the inner seam allowance down to a ¼ inch to help reduce the bulk, but leave the outer seam allowance at half an inch. 

Now, fold the seam allowance into the original hem to hide it. Use a hammer to pound on those thicker areas to help soften the fabric. This will do absolute wonders in making the thick denim sewable. 

Head back to your sewing machine, and slowly and carefully resew the original hem. You’ll want to sew along the original stitch to have a neat hem. Pinning is a great way to ensure straight sewing. 

There you have it! The first Euro hem method. 

Method 2: Don’t cut, just sew

For the second method, start off by repeating what you did at the beginning of the first method. Draw the two lines, match up the hemstitch with the sewing line and then pin vertically.

For this Euro hem method, you don’t need to cut off the excess fabric before sewing. This method is great if you want to temporarily crop a pair of jeans. 

Once you have sewed, fold up the excess fabric and press it flat. 

To hold the fabric in place, you will need to sew a blind stitch. To do this, double thread your needle and then pull it through the side seam of the folded fabric to conceal the knot. Then pull the needle through two or three threads of the outer leg and then back through the fold of the excess fabric. There are machines that come with a blind stitch option, so if you have one of those it could save you a lot of time. 

There you have it, two ways to Euro hem jeans like a pro! Which method would you try first? Let me know in the comments!