2 Easy Ways to Hem Cut-offs

How to Hem Cut-offs
Cut-offs don’t have to look sloppy. Here are two easy ways to hem cut-offs that look finished and professional.

How to Hem Cut-offs

Mind you, I don’t care what you look like, but at this point in the summer, most of my kids’ wardrobes consist of cut-offs, mostly of the pants that they’re not going to fit into come winter. That’s fine most of the time, but occasionally, sigh, we do have to look a little more put together. And of course I don’t want to spend a bunch of time doing it, because come on–they’re cut-offs!

So if you, too, are looking for a way to make your wardrobe look a little neater, here are two quick and easy ways to hem cut-offs to tidy them up.

Method #1: Bias Tape

If you do much sewing, you’ve probably got some leftover bias tape lying around your stash. Just about any stash bias tape looks fine on just about any pair of cut-offs, and if you’re trying to hem cut-offs for a little kid, you can even use different bias tape for each leg–anything looks cute on a little kid!

How to Hem Cut-offs

Measure a length of bias tape that’s about 2″ longer than the circumference of each raw edge, then follow my tutorial for hemming pants using bias tape.

How to Hem Cut-offs

This is how I hem pretty much all of my own pants, although for my own pants I usually make bias tape from the pants fabric that I’ve cut away from the bottom hem, so that you can’t tell that they’ve been hemmed.

And yes, if you really, really want to, you can make your own bias tape from scratch for this project, although do keep in mind that they’re only cut-offs!

Method #2: X Marks the Spot

This method is even quicker and easier than hemming with bias tape, but it sacrifices some of the length of the cut-offs, so it’s not always usable.

For this method, fold the cut-off legs up twice to make a cuff and hide their raw edges, then iron well to crease the folds.

Using thread or embroidery floss, tack the cuffs down at four spots spaced evenly around each hem. I’ve used a contrasting color of embroidery floss and a cross-stitch so that you can see it, but you can also easily do this on the sewing machine using matching thread and a single back-and-forth stitch, and the stitch will be hardly noticeable.

How to Hem Cut-offs

See? Quick, easy, and when you’re done, they look like a pair of store-bought shorts, not last year’s winter pants with holes in the knees.

Cut-offs don't have to look sloppy. Here are two easy ways to hem cut-offs that look finished and professional.

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