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A New Life for Pants
Jan. 17th, 2009 02:57 pmI had this pair of pants I liked but I noticed the bottoms were shredded in the back. They fit well and are my only khakis, but they were no longer appropriate for work.
When I took a closer look at the hem, the fold at the bottom could easily be ripped open due to all the wear.
So, I decided to try to make them wearable again. I cut around each pant-leg at that bottom fold. Folding them up twice to make a new hem would make them much too short, so I did something my mom taught me when I was a kid. I got a thing called "Flexi-lace hem tape." You can buy three yards of this stuff wrapped around a cardboard card and encased in plastic at places that sell sewing supplies. (I got three yards for $1.49 at Hobby Lobby.)
I sewed this as close to the bottom as I could without risking having the cloth unravel through the stitching. That had the effect of lengthening the pants. Then I hemmed them using the other side of the hem tape:
Now the pants are about a quarter inch shorter than before, but that turns out to be not too short. Whew! And yea! New pants!
Best guarantee ever - Wright's hem tape has the most amazing guarantee I've ever seen: "This material is colorfast and perfect in workmanship. Should it be found faulty in any way, making the article on which it is applied unusable, we will reimburse you for the reasonable cost of your labor and all the materials used in making the garment. Any claim must be accompanied by the article."
When I took a closer look at the hem, the fold at the bottom could easily be ripped open due to all the wear.
So, I decided to try to make them wearable again. I cut around each pant-leg at that bottom fold. Folding them up twice to make a new hem would make them much too short, so I did something my mom taught me when I was a kid. I got a thing called "Flexi-lace hem tape." You can buy three yards of this stuff wrapped around a cardboard card and encased in plastic at places that sell sewing supplies. (I got three yards for $1.49 at Hobby Lobby.)
I sewed this as close to the bottom as I could without risking having the cloth unravel through the stitching. That had the effect of lengthening the pants. Then I hemmed them using the other side of the hem tape:
Now the pants are about a quarter inch shorter than before, but that turns out to be not too short. Whew! And yea! New pants!
Best guarantee ever - Wright's hem tape has the most amazing guarantee I've ever seen: "This material is colorfast and perfect in workmanship. Should it be found faulty in any way, making the article on which it is applied unusable, we will reimburse you for the reasonable cost of your labor and all the materials used in making the garment. Any claim must be accompanied by the article."