fancy pants (with tutorial)

So I got this pair of pants in a swap. They are Gap Long and Lean jeans, in one size larger than I wore pre-Lyle. So I was stoked to be getting them for this last phase of my weight loss- to hold me over until I can fit back into my old ones (hopefully by the time the cold weather rolls around!)

Problem: the previous owner apparently has legs significantly shorter than mine.


This is not really surprising, since my legs can easily be described as freakishly long. A fact that makes me wonder WHY I did not make sure the pants were the "long" length before engaging in the swap. But I am blaming it on that deceptive name- Long and Lean.

I did not want to embarrass my family members or myself by walking around in high-water flares with that nice worn-in, frayed edge sitting 3 inches off the ground- but the top part of the pants fit me SO well. So I decided something had to be done. This calls for sewing! I will not waste a pair of well-fitting jeans, even if only the top half is well-fitting. **(hey- check out those shoes I got at the thrift shop for a quarter!!)

My original intent was to cut off the very bottom to even them out and get rid of the thickness of the hem, and then to add a fabric band to make the length correct for me. And you could easily use these instructions to do just that, or you could start with a pair of pants that were too long for you too, and make them the correct length.

What I ended up doing here though, is making capri pants. After thinking about it for a few minutes I decided I'd get a lot more use out of them right now (how often do most people wear jeans in June/July in the desert?) because by the time I really need jeans again, I am hoping these won't fit me anyway. So, on to a bunch of pictures and some instructions. I am really pleased with how these came out, and I hope the instructions will be helpful to someone out there!


Step-by-step instructions:

Trim pants to desired length. You can just cut off the hem if you need to lengthen,


or cut off a longer piece if you are shortening. Mark one leg with a pin and trim. Place cut piece on top of other leg and use it as a guide for cutting second leg.

Next, take one of the chopped off leg sections apart using a seam ripper. Really you could trim to the desired length first (which I did in the next few pictures), to avoid ripping any extra. Jeans have very sturdy seams! What you are making are pattern pieces for cutting out your fabric. This photo shows the front and back piece of one leg, with the seam area pressed flat.

Then, working on the top edge of the front and back pieces, trim 5/8" off. This will allow for the overlap in the seam to lay flat when you put the fabric together with the jeans.

Now cut the piece to the length you would like your finished fabric cuff to be, plus 5/8". I made mine 3 and 5/8" to allow for the seam and still have a 3 inch cuff. So here are my pattern pieces, all trimmed and ready to go. These will be different for each pair of jeans, and will ensure that you keep the line of the pant leg flowing properly by substituting the exact shape of the section you cut out of the pants.

Now, pin your pattern pieces with the lower edge along a fold of your fabric, with right sides facing out. Try to keep the grain straight, but don't stress over it too much. You will need to cut 2 pieces of fabric, on the fold, from each pattern piece.

Here you see the front and back fabric section for one leg. The lower edge of each of these is the fold- so the top edge has 2 thicknesses, right side facing out.

Pin the front to the back at both ends, preparing to sew them together.

Stitch, using the same seam allowance used on the original pants. Mine were 1/2".

Press seams open. I know you really don't need a photo to describe that, but here it is. Lookie my ironing board cover! Still going strong!

Next, pin fabric to bottom cut edge of jeans, right sides together, making sure the front and back are in the right position and lining up the side seams.

Stitch, using a 5/8" seam allowance. I remove the extension table on my machine in order to fit the pants leg over the arm.

Almost finished! Press with seam allowance toward fabric cuff, so that the jeans material is laying flat inside the leg.

Top stitch close to seam, through fabric cuff and seam allowance.

And, if you want to make them nice and finished so that your seam allowances won't show when you are out on the town, turn the edges under to form a point and hand stitch in place. To be completely honest with you I only did this on the one for the photos. I was too impatient to do the other 3 because I wanted to take pictures! I'll get back to it soon and finish them up.

Here they are complete! I really really like how they turned out. Oh and I forgot to mention that my fabric is a vintage bedsheet that you might recognize from a few other projects in the past year. And there is a lot more where that came from, so keep watching for it!