How do I hem tracksuit pants legs? They have a zip on each side and no elastic around the ankles. I would of course prefer to leave the zips the length they are now and the pants have to be taken up approximately ten centimetres (four inches).
I'm not a seamstress, but would it be feasible to cut out a section above the zipper and sew the leg bottoms back on to keep from having to mess with the zipper at all? Just a thought.
I just finished this project. I removed the zipper and cut the desired amount up the side of the leg, and reinstalled the zipper. This was not an easy task, and took me two days. Then I rehemed the bottom.
It's an easy thing to shorten a zipper. Unzip past the point where you want to shorten it (the new hem line). Cut off the extra teeth, then take a heavy needle and thread and whip stitch a stop where you want the zipper to end. This will keep the zipper from going any further, since it can't get past your stitching. I stitch both sides of the zipper, separately of course.
I would start by removing the zipper using a seam ripper to cut the threads holding it in place, then remove the excess fabric, probabally 3 inches or so if you want to shorten about 4 inches and hem the bottoms. Then trim the opening for the zipper and reinstall it. Or you could just cut the zipper out, finish the edges of where the zipper was with a simple hem and then hem the ends leaving a triangle cutout on each leg like they have on some athletic pants!
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