Does anyone else have a problem with finding skinny jeans (and maybe pants in general) that fit?? I do. :p I can never find skinny jeans that are:

A. The right length
B. The right skinniness

This may be because I have unusually short legs (I’m just under 5 feet, but with an almost same height of torso as the average person). Basically I’m mis-proportioned. ;P

Hopefully this will inspire other people who have the same problem (there is a solution!) and also those of you who just want a more custom fit. ;D

On the left is a pair of skinny jeans that I purchased last year.. and next to it on the right is the same pair!

I’m going to post guidelines rather than a step-by-step tutorial, since every pair of jeans is different and it’d be difficult to describe everything. :]

Helpful Tips:

-Wash the jeans before changing anything if they’re new! From my experience clothing shrinks the most vertically, so there will be a difference in pant length.

-You will generally only work with the seam of the pant leg that is on the outside of your leg and not the seam on the inside of the leg. This is because the seam on the inside leg is often a “flat felled seam,” which is when the extra fabric of the seam is sewn against the garment with an extra line of stitching.

-If both the inside and outside seams are flat felled seams, the whole process is less simple. I haven’t myself tried adjusting pants that has only flat felled seams, but I’m guessing it may be possible if you seam rip the stitching holding the seam down. If anyone tries/has tried this please let me know how it works! :]

-For the length: I like to leave around 1 1/2 to 2 inches extra when cutting the pants to the preferred length, then folding it twice and stitching it. Do this after the next steps.

-The easiest way to find out how much you want to adjust your jeans, I’ve found, is to put them on inside out. :P This is my general order of operations xD

1. After I put the jeans on inside out, pin them to size and shape (making sure you are pinning so that the fabric on each side of the outside seam is pinned the same amount)
2. Remove the jeans and and draw a chalk line through the pins
3. Stitch (preferably with a machine), following the chalk line
4. Try the jeans on and repeat steps 1-3 as necessary (don’t make the jeans skin tight when trying them on inside out as the extra fabric of the seam will take up a little room)
5. When you’ve found a seam that you’re happy with, stitch over it 1 or two more times
6. Trim the seam to the right width (usually it’s a little over a 1/4 of an inch on jeans)
7. Optional: Serge the edge of the seam

I hope this helps! If anyone tries this and/or has any questions, comments or suggestions, please send me an email at szmoon @ gmail . com . :]