Hemming Your Own Clothes - Share tips and tricks !

[softgrey]

i have to hem basically everything...
one- because i am 5'4"...
two-because i am super super picky about the exact length of things....

every once in a great while i will trust a tailor to hem things..
but usually i feel compelled to do it myself...

pants are just so super easy once you get the length right and pinned...

but skirts and dresses give me such a headache...
probably because i have less experience with them...
but also because there is just so much more fabric to deal with!...
it's hard for me to maneuver it as well...


anyone have any tips or tricks that they can share....???
in terms of pinning the shoulders together to keep it all straight or anything like that?...

thanks!

 

[crepebacksatin]

i'm 5'2 and 3/4", so i feel your pain

if you don't have anyone to mark a hem on a skirt or dress for you, the best thing to do is to buy a free-standing chalk hem marker. it sits on the floor and you kind of "puff" the chalk out and directly on to your skirt/dress as you spin around.

with skirts/dresses, you really have to mark the hem all the way around, from the floor, to accommodate your butt/thighs/whatever might protrude, and this is definitely the best way to do if by yourself

image from clotilde.com

 

[Deborah]

Wow I have never seen anything like that!

 

[Avant Garde]

Hemming Jeans With The Original Hem
Originally From Ressycakes
pics courtesy of paradive on MUA.

Original Hem Instructions

Hemmed/Unhemmed Comparison:

step 1:

step 2:

step 3:

step 4:

 

[softgrey]

very interesting..
thanks for the pics...

i think you are right about skirts/dresses crepeback...
when i just pin one part...it doesn't work...
it really needs to be marked or pinned all the way around...

that chalk thing is cool,...
i've seen it at a tailor's ages ago...
but i don't know where i would keep such a thing in my house.....

it would be so great to just be able to dedicate one room or area just for projects...
but i am afraid that isn't really a practical option in my space...

i have never tried to do the jeans hem but i have heard about that...
thanks for the step by step avant...

i actually bought a special needle that is supposed to be just for denim...
adn i got another that is for leather...

 

[fourboltmain]

Make sure those needles are sharp, a lot aren't even out of the box.

And as far as the chalk marker thing, you can tape a fabric marker to a chair and achieve the same thing. Having someone else help mark while you spin around helps too.

 

[iyemstoopid]

the jean thing is cool, but what do you do to the unfinished seam inside? do you just leave it raw?

 

[jun3machina]

/\ i've seen jeans that are hemmed that way, and honestly, if you dont have an overlock machine, it's messy and bulky. even if you steam press it, it still doesn't lay right on the pants. A lot of people do this with designer jeans or old vintage levis, when they're anal about everything being original.

i've also seen this done by not even cutting the pantes, but folding it up to the desired height and stitching, so they can be let down and no original material is lost...

 

[gius]

how about creating frayed edges ????
you would have to fray them and then stabilize it somehow.. so it doesn't continue fraying
maybe just running stitch at the edge?

chloe f.w 06

gettyimages

 

[fourboltmain]

Try an edge stitch about 1/8 of an itch in, like you would on bias material, THEN cut it and leave the stitch in place to catch it. I think a better way to make it last would be to create a bias tape and sew that in. I'm not sure though, these are off the top of my head.

 

[jun3machina]

/\ those sound good to me...alot of the time too, it's just a matter of making sure the garment is properly cut on the grain, and then after sewn together, it can only fray so much.

There's certain fabrics that can be cut this way, more easily with a loose or viasble weave fabric. You find a thread and pull it out of the weave. This will leave an empty space in the weave, which if you follow with scissors, will ensure the cut is straight with the weave of the fabric. Fabric that is cut directly with the weave wont fray ....the fraying in general is caused by the pieces of the garment being cut on an angle with the weave/grain of the fabric..