Sometimes finding ski gear that perfectly fits your body can be a challenge.
You may find a pair of ski pants that fit perfectly around your waist, yet they are too long in length.
This is a very common issue for children.
However, you will notice that a lot of ski pants are quite long and if you are a naturally small person, then you may struggle to find a pair of ski pants that fit you correctly.
As a result, you may wonder if you can hem your ski pants? Or how much it would cost if you asked a professional to do it. Find out more in this guide.
Do You Need To Adjust Your Ski Pants
Ski pants are an essential piece of equipment for any skier or snowboarder. They protect your legs from the cold mountain air and help keep you warm while riding down the hill.
They also provide a comfortable place to sit when you stop to catch your breath or take in some fresh air.
The problem is, not all ski pants are created equal. Some ski pants simply don’t fit well at all, which leads to discomfort, chafing, and even skin irritation.
Others are too big, making them feel bulky and uncomfortable.
Sometimes you can’t always find the perfect pair of ski pants, so you may need to adjust the ones you have got.
However, there are a lot of styles out there. Therefore, make sure you try a lot of ski pants before you settle on a pair that you think is too long and will require you to hem them.
As ski pants are quite expensive, you want to make sure that you are happy with them and have to make as few adjustments as possible.
It is important to remember that your ski pants should be around 4 to 5 inches longer than the regular pants that you wear. However, you don’t want to purchase extra-long ski pants for no reason.
How Do Know That Your Ski Pants Are Too Long
When you first try your ski pants on, you should remember that these ought to not fit like typical trousers.
You also need to remember that you will be wearing ski boots with these pants, thus the length of these pants will change once you have your ski boots on as well.
As a result, before trying to hem your ski pants because you think they are too long, try them on with your ski boots on as well.
Once your boots are on, and you find that your ski pants are still touching the ground, then you know that you need to hem your ski pants.
Hemming Ski Pants
If you know how to sew, then there is no need to go to a professional tailor. However, hemming ski pants isn’t easy.
This is due to most pairs of ski pants having an elastic gaiter around the foot of the pants and a Velcro strap or zipper by the ankle.
As a result, this can make it almost impossible to hem the ski pants around the bottom cuff like you would with any other style of pants.
Therefore, when it comes to hemming ski pants, you have to make the alteration further up the leg of the garment.
We would suggest somewhere around the knee area of the ski pants.
However, if your ski pants don’t have this, then you can hem it at the bottom like a normal pair of pairs.
You can either fold the bottom part of the pants and then hem the bottom. Or you can cut the excess off and seam the bottom up.
However, you need to be really careful with your measurements. You need to make sure that they are accurate. Otherwise, you could make them too short.
However, you also need to keep in mind the special materials that make up your ski pants.
Typically, the materials used are designed to be waterproof to keep you dry from the snow.
Therefore, when hemming your ski pants, you want to use small and thin needles and pins because you want to make as small of holes in your garment as possible.
Otherwise, you could damage the material and make it less waterproof.
Likewise, the seams used are supposed to be waterproof, so you will want to try to recreate these seams in the seams that you create while hemming.
Paying A Tailor
As you can see, a lot of work goes into hemming your own ski pants.
You need to be confident and understand what you are doing. As a result, you may think that you can’t do it yourself, as you don’t want to ruin your ski pants.
Therefore, you will need to think about hiring a professional tailor to do this job for you instead.
Now it comes down to money. How much it costs a tailor to hem your ski pants can vary on a couple of things.
The price can differ from tailor to tailor and the type of ski pants that you have. Also, how long this job will take can determine the price as well.
If we break it down, we would suspect a pair of ski pants to take a couple of hours to complete. Thus, you could be asked to pay between $15 to $40 an hour.
Therefore, you could be looking to pay anywhere between $30 to $80 for those couple hours of work to get your ski pants hemmed professionally.
Hem Gems
If you don’t want to sew, then you could use gems. These offer you a temporary solution if you don’t want to sew your ski pants.
They are essentially a pin that you push through the material and keep the hem up to the length that you require.
However, these are only a temporary fix, they could easily fall out while you are skiing. Also, as they use a pin, you will be poking a hole into your ski pants, which could leave a small hole afterward.
As a result, over time you could be poking various holes into your ski pants, which could then decrease the waterproof ability of your ski pants.
Therefore, we would advise against using gems. Instead, you should look into sewing your ski pants or hire a professional tailor.
Takeaway
Sewing your own ski pants is not impossible, but it does require some practice.
If you are new to sewing, you might find it difficult to sew your ski pants, however, once you know how to sew, you’ll be able to sew your ski pants in no time.
You can learn how to sew by watching YouTube videos, reading books, or even asking people who already sewed their own ski pants.
However, you can ask a professional tailor or seamstress to do this job for you. Although they will require a certain amount of money to complete the job.
Hence, if you have a budget then hiring a professional may be a bit difficult, but they may do a better job than you if you are new to sewing.
Overall, it is your choice whether you use a professional tailor to hem your ski pants or not. It is possible for you to do it yourself if you have the skills and confidence to do it.
