Hemming & cuffing 裾上げ

Soak before you hem

Denim shrinks most in its first soak, mostly in length. Hem a raw pair to the exact inseam you want, soak it, and you can lose a couple of inches you can't get back.

• Unsanforized denim hasn't been pre-shrunk. Expect roughly 1½–3″ off the length on the first soak, about 10%. Soak it, let it dry fully, then hem. Shops such as Rivet & Hide quote the same figures.
• Sanforized denim is pre-shrunk at the mill, but it still loses a little, often ½–1″ in length. Either soak first, or leave about ½″ spare.
• One-washed or rinsed jeans have had most of their shrinkage taken out. Hem to length, adding a quarter-inch of margin if you plan to machine-wash.
• Not sure which you have? The Shrinkage & finish line on every jean page here says what the maker or retailer told us.

Many hemmers won't take unwashed jeans, for hygiene and so the length is final. Wash or soak and dry them before sending.

Measuring your inseam

1. Put the jeans on, after their soak, with the shoes you'll wear most. Boots and trainers need different lengths.
2. Decide on a look:
   • No break: the hem just touches the shoe.
   • Slight break: one soft fold at the front.
   • Stack: 1–3″ extra, bunching above the shoe.
   • Cuff: add the depth of the cuff you want, times the number of folds.
3. Mark the length with chalk or a safety pin, then lay the jeans flat and measure the inseam from the crotch seam to the mark.
4. Cut-and-hem services ask for the finished inseam. Measure twice; nobody can put length back.

Already have a pair with the perfect length? Measure its inseam flat and use that number. It's also one of the measurements you can use in Match my pair.

Chainstitch, lockstitch and roping

• Chainstitch is the traditional denim hem, sewn on machines like the Union Special 43200G. The looped stitch pulls the fabric slightly as it sews, so after washes and wear the hem twists into a rippled, high-contrast roping fade. Most selvedge shops use one.
• Lockstitch, from a regular sewing machine, is flatter and very durable but won't rope. Fine for a quick alteration, not the look most people want on selvedge.
• Original hem, sometimes called a Euro hem: the tailor removes a band above the factory hem and reattaches it, so the original stitching and wear stay. It's handy on jeans that are already faded.
• Chainstitch hems can unravel if the thread end is pulled. Most hemmers lock the end; if yours starts to run, any shop with the machine can fix it in minutes.

Seven ways to cuff

Cuffing lets you adjust length for different shoes and shows off the selvedge line on the outseam. Here are the styles you'll see most:

Where to get it hemmed

Most specialist denim shops hem for free when you buy from them. These also take jeans bought elsewhere, all on chainstitch machines. Prices were checked in November 2026 and can change, so confirm with the shop before you send anything.

Run a chainstitch hemming service, or know a great one we've missed? Tell us.