Letting Out Hems on Clothing

Sometimes your clothes just need to be a bit longer than they currently are. Sometimes your pants get too short and you look like a nerd or your skirt gets too short and you don't feel comfortable in that getup. A simple solution is to let down the hem, not toss the garment completely! No way! There are definitely easier ways than that to make your clothes still wearable.

The first thing you have to do in letting out a hem is to grab a stitch remover. These are available at any fabric or notions store, and make removing the hem's stitching easy. (Don't try removing the stitching with scissors; it is too easy to damage the actual fabric.) Make sure that all the stitches are removed, and that all the pieces of thread used for the stitching are completely gone.

After you remove the stitching, the fabric can be folded back to its full length. Of course, this means that you will have a crease—what used to be the fold for the hem—that you need to remove. This isn't always as easy as it may seem. Make sure you check out our tip on removing stubborn creases for full information on things you can try.

Removing those creases after letting down a hem isn't impossible by any means—it's completely within your power to take that crease mark out and enjoy your clothes for a little longer. Just because you grow out of that skirt of pair of pants doesn't mean you can't alter it to wear it still!