jean hemming and tailors

Can anyone suggest a great place or recommend someone who has alot of experience in hemming expensive jeans? I just picked up a pair of designer jeans at a thrift shop but they need to be shortened and I want the same yellow stitching on the hem. THanks.

Someone started a thread about this a while ago but it got merged into another thread about alterations and got lost. I hope this won't get merged because I think it's a topic of its own!

I like the tailor at Golden Touch on Flatbush.

A friend reccommended a dry cleaner place on 6th Avenue & 5th St (or 6th?) and they did a great job.... not exactly sure how they did it, but it was some complicated thing where they seemed to re-attach the hem (I've looked at it closely and still can't work it out). Couldn't tell they had been altered and they still have that worn-in look at the bottom.

Now if only I had been patient enough to wash them first - they shrank lengthwise and are now ankle-swingers. Oh well, that was an expensive lesson.

Thanks for the tip. I would have forgotten to wash them.
Diane

I'm petite so I always get my (expensive) jeans hemmed at 12 st and 8th ave.
So far so good, I have yet to have any problems in 3 years.

there's a posting on the Crown Heights board about a dressmaking shop over there, if the special thread is more than the regular tailors can bear...

the old tailor threads on this board, for Rose
http://brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5052
http://brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=31805
http://brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5524
now *this* is the definative hemming/tailor thread...
(the mods have been working on updating the FAQs with this kind of stuff, btw)

The thing is, my dry cleaner can do basic alterations, but hemming jeans with the original hem is a whole different skill level, I think. I mean, aren't there places in LA that just do jeans hems? Why do they make jeans so long anyway? Who really needs a 36" inseam??

Sorry to be a pain.

That's the thing, I usually take my jeans to the dry cleaner and they do an acceptable job but it's never as good as the way they look new. There is a relatively new jean store off 7th ave. (in the center slope) that just sells premium jeans and they said they are hiring someone who will hem jeans for them if you buy the jeans in their store.

seven24 wrote: I'm petite so I always get my (expensive) jeans hemmed at 12 st and 8th ave.
So far so good, I have yet to have any problems in 3 years.

Plus these people only charge like $5. They also fixed a down jacket that had had an incident with a candle--I can't see the work and still $5 - 7 bucks.

wow, I was going to ask this very topic. this board is infinitely helpful.

Rose wrote: Why do they make jeans so long anyway? Who really needs a 36" inseam??

Me! I'm super tall and can never get pants/jeans long enough!

And it bugs me that stores which will take up your pants for free when you buy them there (think Banana) won't let them down for free. A very height-ist policy me-thinks.

(Just in case you were wondering, you can let the hem down by unstitching the original hem, adding a ribbon of fabric to the bottom and using the ribbon to make the hem - thus the get the whole length of the pant fabric.)

Anyway slightly off topic. I'm always keen to know of a good tailor so I might check out some of these options!

I take all my jeans to be hemmed to my dry cleaners on 5th ave. I haven't had a problem with them. I've had them hem everything from $100 jeans from Lucky, to some one of a kind jeans from a sample sale, to a bunch of jeans I picked up at TJ Maxx. They always match the thread and it looks fine. I can't remember the cross street for my dry cleaners. I think they're near the Key Food at Sterling.... Weird that I can't remember.

seven24 wrote: I'm petite so I always get my (expensive) jeans hemmed at 12 st and 8th ave.
So far so good, I have yet to have any problems in 3 years.

The Green Cleaners? I took a pair of my daughter's jeans there a couple of weeks ago but the hem doesn't look so great. They definitely did not reattach the original hem; they didn't even match the thread on the rest of the jeans. But it was cheap.

I don't know where to get jeans hemmed, but I do know this:

Jean Hemming and the Tailors would be an awesome band name.

I want to hear Jean Hemming and the Tailors. I bet they would play at Joe's.

Subject: alterations

I've never actually taken anything in somewhere for alterations--how does it work? Will they have me try it on there or do I need to make a decision at home so I can just say "I want these 3 inches shorter" or "I want these pants to have a 28 inch inseem"?

I think I'm going to try the 12St/8th Ave place.

Thanks.

quiddity wrote: I take all my jeans to be hemmed to my dry cleaners on 5th ave. I haven't had a problem with them. I've had them hem everything from $100 jeans from Lucky, to some one of a kind jeans from a sample sale, to a bunch of jeans I picked up at TJ Maxx. They always match the thread and it looks fine. I can't remember the cross street for my dry cleaners. I think they're near the Key Food at Sterling.... Weird that I can't remember.

I would suggest this tailor (I think it might be called DUNrite..It is right on the corner and hard to mis..
It is Korean run and it looks like the momma in the family is the seamster. I have not only had hems done there but had curtains made out of this crocet fabric that involved complicated addition of material sewn just right to accomodate the rod.
There is a dressing room so you try the jeans on and they pin them up to length you want.. try on with shoes you would be likely to wear with the jeans to see where the hem falls.

Rose wrote: Why do they make jeans so long anyway? Who really needs a 36" inseam??

Sorry to be a pain.

Who? My wife. A 36" inseam would be HEAVEN. When you're petite you can always find a tailor to take in. When you're tall the fabric simply isn't there. We go through racks and racks of clothes and nothing is ever long enough.

veets wrote: [quote=quiddity]I take all my jeans to be hemmed to my dry cleaners on 5th ave. I haven't had a problem with them. I've had them hem everything from $100 jeans from Lucky, to some one of a kind jeans from a sample sale, to a bunch of jeans I picked up at TJ Maxx. They always match the thread and it looks fine. I can't remember the cross street for my dry cleaners. I think they're near the Key Food at Sterling.... Weird that I can't remember.

I would suggest this tailor (I think it might be called DUNrite..It is right on the corner and hard to mis..
It is Korean run and it looks like the momma in the family is the seamster. I have not only had hems done there but had curtains made out of this crocet fabric that involved complicated addition of material sewn just right to accomodate the rod.
There is a dressing room so you try the jeans on and they pin them up to length you want.. try on with shoes you would be likely to wear with the jeans to see where the hem falls.


I set out with a bag of clothes looking for Dunrite near 5th and Sterling. I did not remember the corner ref! I walked a few blocks down 5th both ways from Sterling and the only place that advertised tailoring and had a changing booth was Economy cleaners between Sterling and St. Johns. They couldn't replace my snap button but I left two pairs of pants to be hemmed...will report the results next week. $11 per pair of pants for hemming.

bluecat wrote: [quote=Rose] Why do they make jeans so long anyway? Who really needs a 36" inseam??

Sorry to be a pain.

Who? My wife. A 36" inseam would be HEAVEN. When you're petite you can always find a tailor to take in. When you're tall the fabric simply isn't there. We go through racks and racks of clothes and nothing is ever long enough.

Out of curiosity, how tall is your wife? Like pro basketball tall, or does she just have really long legs? I'm a bit over 6', and my inseam is 32".

daver wrote: Out of curiosity, how tall is your wife? Like pro basketball tall, or does she just have really long legs? I'm a bit over 6', and my inseam is 32".

No pro basketball, she's just a bit over 6'-0".

bluecat wrote: [quote=daver]Out of curiosity, how tall is your wife? Like pro basketball tall, or does she just have really long legs? I'm a bit over 6', and my inseam is 32".

No pro basketball, she's just a bit over 6'-0".
Well, shit. That makes her about my height, with 4" longer legs. Now I wonder if I just have short little legs. Or if she has long legs. Or a combination of both.

And then I wonder how I get myself into wondering these things. And I wonder, if curiosity really DOES kill the cat, then how am I still living? Arg. I'm going to walk my short little legs over to the water cooler and get some water and put this all behind me already. Never mind.

Women sometimes want a longer pant if they wear them with heels.

bluecat wrote: [quote=daver]Out of curiosity, how tall is your wife? Like pro basketball tall, or does she just have really long legs? I'm a bit over 6', and my inseam is 32".

No pro basketball, she's just a bit over 6'-0".

I need a 36 inseam too, and I'm just a bit over 6 feet also. What I wonder about is who needs a size 36 inseam on a size 2 pair of pants? Anorexic women? Or women with exceptionally narrow hips? It always scares me to think of those size 2, 36 inseam jeans. I mean, I hope people aren't starving themselves to get into them just because stores offer them.

mylkshayk wrote: I need a 36 inseam too, and I'm just a bit over 6 feet also.

Well, shit. I hate you all. No wonder I walk so slow.

mylkshayk wrote: What I wonder about is who needs a size 36 inseam on a size 2 pair of pants? Anorexic women? Or women with exceptionally narrow hips? It always scares me to think of those size 2, 36 inseam jeans. I mean, I hope people aren't starving themselves to get into them just because stores offer them.

How tall is Twiggy? And what is her inseam?

What about those boutiques on 5th ave. Are any of them designer owned, do you think they could cut clothes to any specification at an affordable price?

http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/7104625

Subject: Campos & Campos is first rate

I got to Campos & Campos for my expensive jeans hemming--they're in the city on 14th St. at 8th Ave.

http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/7104625

The can either keep the original hem for $25 or create a new hem using matching thread for $18. I've always been pleased, and no one is more anal about their jeans than me. I realize you'll just have to take my word for it.

OpossumQueen

so sorry this Cleaner is on 5th Ave at the corner of 6th street or so...Hope where u brought then does a great job in alteration and hemming.

Too many key foods!

I started with two pair of pants (not jeans) that should be pretty easy--the hem line isn't very noticeable. The lady who helped me seemed like she knows her way around a needle and thread so I'm optimistic.

I've had terrible experiences with jean hemming in the past. They always end up shorter than requested and the hem never looks as nice as the original.

I was going to try some of these suggested places on this thread, but instead I happened upon an amazingly simple tutorial online. This method enables you to hem your jeans yourself (with or without a sewing machine) and still keep the original jean hem intact. Check out this tutorial below. I tried it this week and it worked perfectly! No more money spent on tailors and no more worrying about finding short people jeans. Thought you all should know since this subject has come up so often.

http://daciaray.com/?p=38