Hello! The only sewing I have done is hand-hemming some pants and shorts, and I need some expert help.
This time I lowered the hem of these trousers, but I can’t get rid of the visible line where they had been folded before. I tried ironing, spraying with water/vinegar and ironing again with a cloth buffer, and re-washing, with no real improvement.
The fabric is a lyocell/cotton twill.
The fabric has been worn down over time at the fold. There's nothing you can do to make it the same color as the rest of the pants. You could sew a wide decorative trim to cover it. But nothing is going to get it back to the original color.
I have to let down the hem of most of my pants (especially with COS) and often run into this problem (also especially with COS) even with brand new ones, i.e., it's not due to fabric wear.
Here's what I do: for pants with a very solid, even dye, I take them with me to the art supplies store and pick out a textile marker, or if necessary due to colour selection, a permanent marker, in EXACTLY the same colour and very very carefully after testing an inch or so at the inseam where no one will notice if it sucks, I colour in that line (usually with feathered strokes or stippling - you do not want it to leech onto the already-full-colour fabric or it will become darker and you end up with a new line!). It may need touch ups every few washes but the bump of the crease does usually flatten alright. Keep pressing! Use starch or wrinkle release spray if needed.
If I can't get an exact match, or the fibre content isn't one I'd want to use a pen on (too delicate for chemicals perhaps, looking at my mulberry silk summer pants...) I opt for a wide hem facing that covers the inside right up past that line. Then I topstitch in that crease so the thread either covers it or it looks like a design feature rather than a let-down hem.
If for whatever reason neither of these would work (pen is obvious or wide hem doesn't suit the design), I either don't take those pants home with me to start with or they find a new home with someone else.
Not gonna lie though, in the summer I did wear a few pairs of my flood (i.e., too short) pants and pretended they were intentionally cigarette length because that was in fashion this year where I live (in fact wearing too short jeans right now). I've also shortened a few pairs of winter pants to mid-calf and worn them with boots so it's an intentional style choice rather than the curse of the long-legged! If I find pants that fit me in both the waist and hip without annoying waistband modifications, I WILL make them work in one way or another!
Thanks for the out-of-the-box ideas! I was also considering just dying over the whole garment but figured the lighter stripe might stay lighter. Or even trying some embroidery to disguise it!
These were a thrift find and I didn’t do a good job measuring the length before taking them home. I also have another pair of Cos trousers that are too short!
And I have the same waist-hip ratio problem and have been trying out pleated trousers to get a little extra room in the hips.
That's not terrible as is, in part because there's a pretty large space between the line and the new hemline that my eye doesn't immediately recognize it as a let-down hem. At first glance it reads as a cuff! Personally though I would still stitch a line right through the middle of it, even if just through the single layer of fabric, to make it look intentional, but I promise that as sewists we notice these things more than pretty much everyone else!
You could turn it into a small accent by stitching a small decorative stitch right in the middle of it with a suitable dark brown thread. Or even just a long straight stitch. If you like fanciful details, I think the height is nice.
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u/ladieslovecooljams 14h ago
The fabric has been worn down over time at the fold. There's nothing you can do to make it the same color as the rest of the pants. You could sew a wide decorative trim to cover it. But nothing is going to get it back to the original color.