How to create
an emergency hem
on a pants leg

As life is often rife with annoyances, you may one day find yourself called upon to hem your pants at the last minute. And do to so without having mastered any sewing skills Panic not! This operation is actually child’s play. And requires very little hardware.

1 / Put on your pants and determine the correct length for the leg. Naturally, the measurement will be most accurate if you are wearing your shoes and standing upright.

2 / Mark the correct hem length on one leg using two pins, one in front, one in back. What is the “right” length? Most traditions have it that pants should fall to the top of the shoe, breaking one or two centimetres over the shoe. But, for a less conventional look, the hem can also be slightly “too short”, landing just above the shoe. Leading-edge dressers even dare to wear the inelegantly dubbed “highwaters” (also known as “clam-diggers”), with a hem landing at the malleolus (the bony part of the ankle that sticks out): this can be super chic, especially for slim-legged designs (bottom opening of 18-20 cm). In any case, you must absolutely let the shoes be visible, otherwise all your efforts will be lost in the fabric mire of too-long pants!