How do I take up trousers or a hem?

A hem is the alteration most worth learning, because trousers are sold in three lengths and legs come in more than three. It is also genuinely easy.

Safety

What you'll need

• Pins, tailor's chalk or a fabric pencil
• Needle and thread matching the fabric
• Scissors, tape measure, iron and ironing board
• Optional: hemming web for a no-sew version

Step by step

1. Try them on with the right shoes.Heel height changes the finished length by a surprising amount. Stand normally on a hard floor — not a thick carpet, which lifts the hem visually.
2. Get someone else to pin if you can.Bending down to pin your own hem shortens it unevenly. If you must do it alone, work in front of a mirror and check by standing up straight afterwards.
3. Fold up and pin at the finished length.Fold the excess to the inside and pin all round. This is the length you are committing to, so check it in a mirror before going further.
4. Check both legs match.Measure from the floor up to the fold on each leg, at several points. Legs are commonly slightly different lengths and the trousers should account for it.
5. Mark the fold before unpinning.Chalk along the fold line all the way round. That mark is your reference for everything after this.
6. Add turn-up allowance and cut.Measure down from the chalk line — usually 4 to 5cm for a double fold — and cut there. Cut once, and only after checking both legs.
7. Press as you go.Press the fold at every stage. Pressing is what makes a home hem look professional, more than the stitching does.
8. Fold twice to hide the raw edge.Turn up about 1cm, press, then turn up again to the finished line and press. The raw edge is then enclosed and cannot fray.
9. Slip stitch by hand for an invisible finish.Catch one or two threads of the outer fabric, then run the needle inside the fold for about a centimetre, and repeat. Barely visible from the front and it is the classic hem stitch.
10. Do not pull the thread tight.Tight stitches dimple the outside of the trouser leg. Snug but relaxed is what keeps the outside smooth.
11. Consider hemming web for a quick version.Iron-on adhesive tape between the folds. Genuinely holds for casual clothes, though it stiffens the hem and does not survive endless hot washes. Not for tailoring or anything valuable.
12. Keep the original hem on jeans if you can.Cutting off a jeans hem removes the distinctive stitching. Shortening from above and reattaching the original hem keeps the look, and is worth the extra step.
13. Press it properly at the end.A final press on the right side with a cloth between the iron and the fabric. That last press is what makes it look bought rather than altered.

Tips

• Right shoes, hard floor, someone else pinning. Those three get the length right, which is the only part that cannot be undone.
• Press at every stage. It matters more to the finish than the stitching does.
• On jeans, keep the original hem and shorten from above it.

Common mistakes

• Cutting before checking both legs — Legs are often slightly different lengths, and fabric cannot be put back. Pin, check standing up, then cut.
• Pulling the slip stitch tight — It dimples the outside of the fabric in a line all round, which is visible from across a room.

If it doesn't work