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Scary Sewing

August 13, 2010 By crafterhours 24 Comments

Today a friend brought over her $170 pair of Seven Citizens for Paper, Cloth, Rock & Republic Jeans.  Or something like that.  You know, the jeans you only read about in the magazines?
And she wanted me to hem them.  As in, cut into them.  As in, irreversibly change them for all time.
I used a method my mom taught me, to keep the existing hem.  This is a great tutorial if you’re not familiar with it.  The good thing is that you can sew the new hem without actually committing to anything.  But even when we were sure the hem was perfect, and the new seam invisible, I had a hard time cutting off the excess.  A heart pounding, hand shaking hard time.
My very trusting and generous friend (who along with her jeans, also brought a graham cracker, sweetened condensed milk, marshmallow, m&m, and drizzled chocolate concoction which should be illegal) let me keep the excess fabric from her jeans.  
Considering the cost of these jeans, I figure I’m sitting on about $20 worth of denim here.  What should I do with it?

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Comments

  1. Megan @ Bug Creator-Crafts and Life says

    August 13, 2010 at 9:30 am

    make $20 cuff bracelets! lol

    Reply
  2. MandiCoulter says

    August 13, 2010 at 9:47 am

    looks like you did a great job! thanks for the tutorial, i have jeans of my husbands to hem right now and was a little worried!

    Reply
  3. Bethany says

    August 13, 2010 at 9:51 am

    Frame it :)

    Reply
  4. Nancy says

    August 13, 2010 at 9:56 am

    You are brave! However, your friend just knows how talented you are and she probably wasn’t worried at all.

    Reply
  5. Sara says

    August 13, 2010 at 10:08 am

    Don’t sit on it! I think you should make a tassel. use a couple other fabrics, cut the strips you have into really thin lengths and make a $20 tassel.

    Reply
  6. nancy from mass says

    August 13, 2010 at 10:52 am

    I see them as fashionable straps for a tank top!

    Reply
  7. A Girl says

    August 13, 2010 at 11:05 am

    Thanks for the link. I have a pile of Back to School pants to hem for my kids. I think this will also save me time.

    Reply
  8. Mrs. Sassy Crafter says

    August 13, 2010 at 11:40 am

    aww I know that feeling of “heart pounding and hand shaking” with scissors just about to cut a fabric, haha, it has happened to me so many times…but you are very brave!!! I would have said “no”…you did a great job!

    Reply
  9. ProcraftinatingPA says

    August 13, 2010 at 11:41 am

    Fabric headband!! Denim with white lace flowers/ruffle and elastic in the back for the perfect fit!

    Reply
  10. Nicole says

    August 13, 2010 at 12:56 pm

    how did you finish off the rough edge? serger? or a certain kind of stitch?

    Reply
  11. crafterhours says

    August 13, 2010 at 1:28 pm

    Yes, I used a serger. You could also use a zig-zag or faux overlock stitch on your sewing machine, or pink the edges. Denim will fray, but I think after one wash and dry it doesn’t fray more, so whatever way you chose to finish your seam allowance should work fine.

    Reply
  12. Kim says

    August 13, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    Great! Just what I needed yesterday…… when I hemmed my husbands jeans….if only I knew…..LOL That’s ok, there will be more in the future and I will use this technique for sure! Oh, and the strips: add more fabric and make a little purse/pouch !

    Reply
  13. Dawn says

    August 13, 2010 at 2:05 pm

    make rosettes and a headband! great job on hemming-don’t know if I would have attempted that

    Reply
  14. Beatrix from Kindershop says

    August 13, 2010 at 3:23 pm

    Nice job. Ruffle the excess strips and attach them to a super bright pink/orange/yellow/turquoise/etc. zipper pouch. I think that would look cute.

    Reply
  15. abbey says

    August 13, 2010 at 6:08 pm

    I was going to say make the little spinny flower rosette things out of them and add them to a head band but Beatrix’s idea sounds waaay cuter!

    Reply
  16. Cheryl says

    August 13, 2010 at 11:02 pm

    OMG this just cracked me up!! I so relate. I make bears but can’t possibly afford mohair. I did buy a couple of small pieces SEVERAL years ago. They are still whole….no bear. I am terrified to cut into it. This was so funny and so true, I’m still chuckling.

    Reply
  17. Neassa says

    August 14, 2010 at 3:58 am

    My first thought agrees with Megan – these are bracelet blanks just waiting for Stuff.

    Reply
  18. hipchic~cynde says

    August 14, 2010 at 10:36 am

    awesome, thanks for sharing the

    Reply
  19. Florence says

    August 15, 2010 at 10:54 am

    Having shortened my own For All Mankind jeans so that they’re only wearable with completely flat shoes, when a friend brought hers round for me to shorten, I said no (feeling slightly Selfish Seamstress about the whole thing – do you read that blog?). My mistake wasn’t actually the way that I’d shortened them, more that they shrank the first time that I washed them – it’s something that I always remember now before shortening any trousers. Cutting into such expensive fabric is just terrifying. You are very brave.

    Enjoy your remnants – I’m thinking just framing them as priceless works of art may do them justice (possibly along with a stitching and bravery certificate…although you’d need to wipe the chocolate concoction from your paws before you went about mounting it).

    Florence x

    Reply
  20. ~Jenna's Baggs says

    August 15, 2010 at 9:02 pm

    can’t believe this post…i just cut into seven jeans for a customer too, YIKES!! but she was happy with them and i was just happy she didn’t sue me ;) great work!

    Reply
  21. theteo5 says

    August 17, 2010 at 3:41 pm

    Just found your post after someone on my blog told me that she had seen another post about hemming jeans this week. Hope you don’t think I copied. Great minds must think alike.

    Reply
  22. Michael & Sarah says

    August 18, 2010 at 10:55 am

    Did you just hear my chin hit the desk? ‘Cause it did. I am eternally too short to do any good and HATE buying pants because they’re always *drumroll* TOO LONG! Oh, Redemption… Thy Name is Crafterhours. :)

    Reply
  23. Melissa says

    August 25, 2010 at 1:22 am

    Purse handles for a girl-size purse.

    Reply
  24. Vicky says

    August 26, 2010 at 11:19 am

    just seen this.

    http://threadandneedles.fr/blog/4192-denim-que-faire-avec-les-chutes/

    Its in french but the images may give you some inspiration for using up those expensive ends.

    Reply

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