On dressy khaki's like Bills, I prefer a hidden stich and a 3" inside hem. I have had to fight tailors on the 3" issue, but trust me, once you see someone whose pant bottoms are flapping in the wind due to too short a hem, you will understand. Insist on the hemming being done with cotton thread and BY HAND. No machines!

 

Insist on the hemming being done with cotton thread and BY HAND. No machines!

And what do you feel is the advantage to that?

 

Top stitch. As for machine vs. hand-stitched...it's a long, straight line. A machine will always do a better job.

 

Top-stitched vs. hidden: what are the advantages and disadvantages of each? Is it mainly aesthetics?

 

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Yes. And there are machines also that are capable of doing a blind stitch, that is, one that doesn't show on the face of the fabric. My little machine can do that, the manual says, but I've never bothered to figure out how. I hem my pants by hand, not so much for the aesthetics, I just don't mind doing it and I'm fairly fast.

 

So hidden looks better with dressier fabric, I take it, and top might be more appropriate for a heavier fabric?

 

Aesthetically, I don't think a machined top-stitch is ever appropriate no matter what the fabric, save Levis.

 

On dressy khaki's like Bills, I prefer a hidden stich and a 3" inside hem. I have had to fight tailors on the 3" issue, but trust me, once you see someone whose pant bottoms are flapping in the wind due to too short a hem, you will understand. Insist on the hemming being done with cotton thread and BY HAND. No machines!

Thanks for your comments, but I'm not sure I consider the original twill Bills to be "dressy khakis". Also, one of my pair is the Bullard Filed Pant and I can assure you that, at 10.2 oz, there ain't gonna be any flapping in the wind. They could practically stand up without me in them!

 

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Nor do I understand his comment about the 3" hem. Or the cotton vs. a blended thread. Or the hemming by hand thing. So I guess I didn't understand anything he said.

 

I'm leaning toward a top stitch 1.5" from the bottom....similar to what you find with OTR PRL khakis.

 

Whatever gets you through the night.

 

I'm leaning toward a top stitch 1.5" from the bottom....similar to what you find with OTR PRL khakis.

I've always found a blind-stitch on khakis to be somewhat of an odd choice. I mean, they aren't dress pants, even though some people wear them as such.

That being said, I have a couple pair of thrifted Bills with blind-stitched hems...and I'm not too fond of them. But, for five bucks or whatever, it wasn't worth passing them up over that.

 

And what do you feel is the advantage to that?

The machine stitching is far more likely to be visible from the exterior when you are wearing the pants.

 

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Nor do I understand his comment about the 3" hem. Or the cotton vs. a blended thread. Or the hemming by hand thing. So I guess I didn't understand anything he said.

I am incredibly picky about alterations. The 3" hem gives the trouser bottom some weight. The hand requirement, I answered above and as for blended thread, it's just plain NO on principle.