I am not the tallest girl (only 5' 9.5"--yes, that half inch counts!), but my legs are 36"-38" inseam! That means that finding long enough pants in my size is rarely going to happen without spending a good chunk of change.

Just recently, I Googled "how to lengthen jeans." The sad idea on the internet is that without sewing them or ironing on a silly cuff, you supposedly "can't" lengthen them.

Well, I'm here today to challenge that incorrect idea, and to show you just how easy it is to lengthen your jeans (and pants)!

This hack uses: NO sewing, NO ironing, NO gluing...and it doesn't leave your pants with a funky added cuff.

My mom taught me this life hack when I was a little girl, and I've used it ever since. It lengthens short pants by a couple inches, and keeps pants long when you wash and dry them (aka: NO MORE having to air dry your jeans...hooray!). I guess Momma knows best ;)

Step 1: Wash Your Jeans

Wash your jeans like you normally would.

Here are a couple of great tips for washing jeans:

1. If you want to keep the darker color in your jeans longer, wash them inside out

2. In addition to washing them inside-out, wash them in COLD water so the color doesn't bleed

Wait!? No other "tips"? No, because like I said in the introduction, this hack will keep your jeans from shrinking, even when drying them FULLY (at regular HIGH heat) in the dryer! :)

Step 2: Stretch Your Jeans

After they're done washing, but BEFORE you put them in the dryer, do the following:

1. Fold your jeans in half

2. Hold your jeans tightly with one hand at the waistband side and one hand at the end-of-the-leg hemmed side

3. Bring your hands together, then...

4. Pull them apart to stretch the pants lengthwise

5. Repeat numbers three through four at least 3-5 times, pulling hard (but NOT so hard that you pull your arm out of socket, lol. Just quick, hard pulls will do)

NOTE: This will NOT stretch out your waist area, your thigh area, or any other area of the pants. It will literally only lengthen them. If you need your too-tight jeans/pants to loosen up in the waist as well, you can certainly apply this principle to stretch out your waist specifically, too.

Step 3: Dry Your Jeans & You're Done!

1. Dry your jeans in the dryer FOR THE ENTIRE TIME until they are dried completely. (NO air drying needed...hooray!)

NOTE: It's not necessary, but you can give them another tug after they come out of the dryer, too.

2. Put on your jeans and enjoy their new length and fit :)

Here are the before and after pictures again to show you just how long this hack will make your jeans.

TIP: Do this with EVERY wash and dry of your jeans or pants and it will keep them nice and long for as long as you own the jeans/pants.

Author's Note: The lighting in my living room from my windows changed throughout the day (as the sun moved across the sky...go figure, lol), creating the different brighter and lighter effects. Sorry about that.