Hemming Thrifted Items

One of my favorite things to do is going thrifting!  I love that you are recycling someone else's clothing and making it your own, and it's so darn cheap. I recently got this adorable checked pair of shorts that are pleated and have pockets - my dream shorts! I didn't realize, however, that these shorts had a raw hem and someone had cut them rather haphazardly. But, never fear, the serger is here!

I went ahead and started hemming at the in-seam where no one could see where I started. Go ahead and serge around the whole opening of the leg. You can also use this as an opportunity to correct the crooked job that the previous owner did when they cut these shorts. I'm sewing about 1/4" from the edge since the shorts are pretty short to begin with. 

The serger is pretty cool because it's the only machine that can sew on nothing at all. Once you're finished with the first leg, go ahead and repeat all the steps to the second leg. Use a seam sealant to seal the ends of the hem to make sure they don't fray. Make sure you wait until the sealant dries before you trim the excess off. If you wanted, you could take a double eyed needle and weave the excess hem on the underside instead. 

I was originally going to hem these shorts, but since they were already pretty short I decided to just leave them at this step. I love how it turned out! It was so easy to do, and now my shorts look polished and like I bought them at the store. 


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