Do you ever wonder how much money you end up spending each year just to hem those super long premium denim jeans sitting in your closet?  I do. Hemming those expensive things, especially with their original hems, can be also be COSTLY, and I don't like it.  Well, I used to not, until I discovered the wonders of fabric glue and how it has helped me hem my own jeans WITH THEIR ORIGINAL HEMS - no, make that WITHOUT HAVING TO CUT OFF THE HEMS. Since then, I've saved so much money on hemming, and I'd to love share my sticky luck with all of you.  So, here I go! 

What you'll need:

1) Measuring tape

2) Jeans (duh)

3) fabric marking pencil (for marking fabric...duh =P )

4) fabric glue (permanent, or washable if you'd like to practice first)

5) safety pins

6) 30 minutes of time

Steps:

1) lay out your jeans on the floor and fold in half (vertically, as shown) and measure the inseam:

2) Using your measuring tape, note the length to which you want the jeans hemmed. Then, draw a straight vertical line (use ruler/straight edge if needed) on both sides of the leg with the fabric pencil 1/4 inch above the desired length (e.g., if desired length is 32 inches, draw line at 31.75 inches).

3) Then, fold the hem inside the jeans at the line you've just drawn.

4) Secure the fold in place with safety pins, placing the pins as far down as possible without compromising their function of securing the fold.

5) (now here comes the hardest part...) Fold and pull down the top half of the original hem (top half because the hem is pointing up, inside the jeans) so that just the edge of the hem with the original stitching sticks out from the fold. Thus, the hem should be folded up and into the jeans, then back down and out of the jeans.

6) Next, without re-positioning the folded hem, carefully dab fabric glue onto the jeans in between the two folds so that the hem does not undo. (i know, i'm explaining this terribly...please see pics...worth a million words here)

7) Using your dexterous hands, firmly press down on the hems to flatten the folds and spread out the glue. Be sure to put glue at the very bottom near the edge, last. That is, put glue at the topmost portion of the hem, press with hands, and then repeat gluing/hand-pressing, working your way down. The glue at the edge will make the jeans look unhemmed, so be sure to put glue there!

8 ) lastly, put glue in between the folds on the inside of the jeans, as pictured, dispersing the glue all around (but not too much that the jeans are soaking wet!) Then, press with hands.

9) Repeat above steps for the other leg's hem. Then, let the glue dry according to manufacturer's instructions.

Voila!

To take out the hemming (in case you want to resell or have grown taller...need to re-hem...or whatever), saturate the glued hems with an adhesive remover. This can be purchased at your local craft store (e.g. Micheal's) or sometimes at supermarkets in the detergent aisle.  Or better yet, have them dry cleaned at your local dry cleaner (the easiest and fastest!).