How to Hem Without Sewing

A few weeks ago I was in desperate need of jeans. I found a great sale on Levi’s online and decided to order. Buying clothes online is difficult and I rarely do it. However, the Levi’s were under $10 and since I am between sizes the price was right. I am hoping to fit back into the several pairs of jeans that currently occupy my closet!

When the jeans arrived there was a problem- they were way too long. To ship them back it would cost me $7. Not worth returning them! So, I called my mom who is an expert seamstress. I told her about my dilemma. My mom knows me too well and knows that I am a horrible seamstress! She gave me several lessons when I was a teen which resulted in the projects being dumped in the trash.

My mom’s suggestion was to use Heat-n-Bond.

Steps for Using an Iron-on Adhesive

Wash and dry the clothing without fabric softener.
Put the pants on while wearing shoes. Tuck the pant leg under to find the right length. Use a straight pin to mark the new hem.
Take the pants off and turn them inside out. Measure the new hem making sure to get both pant legs the same length.
Preheat iron to medium heat with the steam off.
Press new hem into the pants.

Place the Heat-n-Bond inside the new folded hem. Make sure to place down into the crease.

Place and hold iron on the fabric for 3 seconds. Repeat along the whole edge of the hem until bonded.
Turn pant legs right side out and iron for another 3 seconds in each area.

Tips

Turn the heat up on the iron for thicker fabric. It took longer to bond the areas along the existing hem of the jeans.
After the pressed seam has cooled, gently tug on the new seam to make sure the bind is set. If there are areas that did not bond, iron again for a few seconds.
When washing the bonded item of clothing, use cold water and low heat in the dryer.
Use Super Strength Heat-n-Bond for jeans and heavy fabric.

I found that the Heat-n-Bond also worked well for placing patches on Capt. M’s Lowes Build and Grow apron! He has been asking me to sew the patches on for a long time. When he saw the iron out today it reminded him of the sewing project (I think the last time the iron was out was when my Mom was visiting almost 2 years ago. She was doing sewing projects for me then!)

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Renae Chiovaro

Renae is a married working mom of two handsome boys. She works as a registered dental hygienist by day and blogs here at How to Have it All by night. She enjoys cooking from scratch, working in her vegetable garden and functional training.