How to Shorten Jeans Without Sewing: Full Guide

Everyone has had that one pair of jeans that sits on them perfectly with the exception of them being too long. For that reason, everyone has at least one pair of jeans or trousers tailored in their life.

Especially if you’re on the shorter side, finding out different ways to shorten your jeans is a daily occurrence. Do you want to shorten your jeans and don’t own a sewing machine? Read on to find out how to shorten your jeans without sewing.

How To Shorten Jeans Without Sewing?

Any pair of jeans that is too long and doesn’t flatter your figure can be altered. Jeans can be shortened in a variety of different ways such as by creating a shorter hem with a sewing machine, by hand, cutting them and fraying them, cuffing them, and even making a hem with hem tape.

Different methods of shortening jeans

Today we are going to look into the methods of shortening jeans that are simple and don’t require you to own a sewing machine and are perfect for you even if you don’t know how to sew. Everyone can create a non-sew hem if they just try. For that reason, let’s get to styling and cutting.

Cuffing your jeans

This one is the easiest solution when it comes to making your jeans look stylish and fit you better. Cuffing your jeans is great because you can just roll them up usually twice and they already look a lot shorter.

This not only helps you look stylish and fashionable but also can be done with baggy or skinny jeans. You can just fold them up twice for a loose look or tighten them to the side and fold them for a tighter look.

Cutting and fraying your jeans

Another great way to make your jeans shorter is just to cut them. Nowadays some if not most jeans don’t even have hems. What this means is that it’s really easy to just cut your jeans comfortably for about an inch above your ankle.

The way you can do this is to put your jeans inside out and mark on the inside how much you should cut off. You can easily do this by getting a pair of pants that are your perfect length and tracing that length over the pair of jeans you’re cutting.

Make sure to leave some extra room when you’re cutting. You can always cut shorter but you can’t add back what you’ve already cut off.

However, cutting them wouldn’t look as stylish and natural without some fray. Make sure to fray the cut to make it look more rugged. The way you do this is by pulling some threads out of the edge of the hem. You can also do this with a seam ripper.

Don’t pull out too many threads as it will naturally fray while wearing or after a couple of times in the washing machine.

Cutting and Washing

Another way to do this is to just cut your jeans and let them wash. You can repeat this process a few times and it’s going to help with shrinking as well.

Just cut the edges off or make a few vertical cuts to get a choppy look and let them wash in the washing machine. This not only shrinks and shortens them but helps with faster fraying as well.

If you don’t want your jeans to fray too much, you could stitch them. However, you’re probably because you don’t want to stitch them you can just add glue at the end of the jeans and it’ll stop them from further fraying.

Use a Fashion Tape

I won’t say a lot about this method, as we’re going to discuss using hem tape which is a little more complicated. Using fashion tape is quite easy.

This is a great and effective way to just stick two fabrics together. If you’re looking for a temporary fix just place the fashion tape at the edge of your jeans and roll them up.

This is a lot lighter way to hold your jeans together, so don’t expect too much. If you want them to stick better use hem tape.

Making a non-sew hem

Making a non-sew hem can be done with the help of hem tape and an iron. This method requires you to flip your jeans inside out and roll them up to your desired length.

After you flip your jeans you can just pin them in the way that you want. Make sure it’s an even line so you can safely place the hem tape. You should then press with the iron to straighten the crease next to the seam.

Place the hem tape as close to the seam as possible right where you’ve folded the edge. Then press onto the fold with the flat iron. Ensure that you’re doing this on an ironing board so you don’t ruin the fabric of your pants or the place you’re using to iron.

You can even use the hem of your jeans folded up so it’s visible. This creates the illusion that your jeans are hemmed and shortened, even though you’re using the original hem.

This is a great way to make a hem without actually cutting your jeans and whether you use the original hem or you just tuck it inside, it still gets the job done. So, do it any way you think looks better and any way you like.

However, this is a temporary fix as the glue can come off after a few washes. If you’re looking for a temporary fix instead of a permanent solution or cutting, using hem tape is the option for you.

Also Read: The Finest Covers for Ironing Board

Final Words

There are countless ways in which you can shorten your jeans without sewing. The only things you need are a pair of scissors, some pins, a flat iron, and an ironing board.

You need to be creative and willing to work with what you have. Even cutting your jeans involves a bit of risk-taking. You can never know how they’re going to turn out unless you try. Happy cutting!