Sew What’s Up Presents
The Sew What’s New Archive
This archived content is from Mary Wilkins’ sewing and
quilting message board “Sew What’s New,” which was
retired in August 2007. It is being provided by
“Sew What’s Up,”
which serves as the new home for many members of “Sew What’s New.”
From: ruralgal71
Date: 05-07-2004, 02:04 PM (1 of 10)
|
Okay, I have just gotten back into garment sewing the last month since home ec 15 years ago. I do fine until I get to the hem and when I sew the hem my seams (side seam, back seam) don't match up. Now, I press the hem and I've made sure the hem is even before sewing. The material is cotton. You can't tell on the front of the garment but on the inside there is fullness and some pleating at the hem. What am I doing wrong? heather |
User: ruralgal71
Member since: 05-07-2004 Total posts: 34 
|
From: DorothyL
Date: 05-08-2004, 09:18 AM (2 of 10)
|
The skirt is cut at an angle like an A-line. The bottom is the widest part. It's hard to use a machine (blind hem) to hem these styles. I guess I don't know the right way to do it but I line up the seams and hand hem easing out the fullness by taking a stitch then running the needle in the fold of the hem and leaving it a little slack then take the next stitch into the garment. Than spreads the fullness out around the skirt. Hit it hard with steam when you are finished and it will lay flat. Libby or Marty or someone else can probably tell us the "right way" but this always works for me. Dorothy |
User: DorothyL
Member since: 12-09-2002 Total posts: 3883 |
From: LeapFrog Libby
Date: 05-08-2004, 11:20 AM (3 of 10)
That is exactly the way I was taught and still do it.. Everything else I ever tried makes it look 'homemade' not hand made..Sometimes i stitch hem lace on but I gather the hem edge with my fingers as I do that..
Sew With Love
Libby |
User: LeapFrog Libby
Member since: 05-01-2002 Total posts: 2022 
|
From: paroper
Date: 05-08-2004, 11:54 AM (4 of 10)
|
Exactly. You can also machine baste and ease the fabric as well. The main thing to watch is that you take the fabric straight up from the hem...if you pull it to the right or left too much it will sag or roll in your hemline. After you have eased the fullness in and hemmed the garment, you should steam the hem. Not only does this set the hemline but it also will often shrink the fullness even more. If you use a machine baste and get the edge stable and worked in, then machine baste the entire hem into place, you can still use a blind stitch hemmer on the garment..just depends on how bad you want to do it. You may not be able to sucessfully use a blind hemmer on a really full circular skirt, or one that doesn't have much of a hemline because of the fullness. When I was sewing for a living, I used a blind hemmer on about 90% of my garments. pam
Bernina 200e, Artista V5 Designer Plus, Explorations, Magic Box, Bernina 2000DE & 335 Bernette Serger, Bernina 1530 Sewing Machine, Bernina 1300 DC Overlock (with coverstitch) |
User: paroper
Member since: 02-03-2004 Total posts: 3775 |
From: paroper
Date: 05-08-2004, 11:59 AM (5 of 10)
|
As far as the seams not matching...I don't really worry about that too much if as long as seams that were cut at the same time do...like in a seam at the center front or back where the pieces were cut together...if those don't match, I worry if I have stretched or pulled the fabric or mismatched it when I put it together. Often when the pieces don't match exactly, it is really a result of the way they were cut from the fabric. Just be careful not to stretch fabric in places where the fabric is not necessarily on the grainline to keep seams from puckering or sagging. (Be sure and carefully check the grainline of your fabric when you lay your pattern.)
pam
Bernina 200e, Artista V5 Designer Plus, Explorations, Magic Box, Bernina 2000DE & 335 Bernette Serger, Bernina 1530 Sewing Machine, Bernina 1300 DC Overlock (with coverstitch) |
User: paroper
Member since: 02-03-2004 Total posts: 3775 |
From: ruralgal71
Date: 05-08-2004, 08:03 PM (6 of 10)
|
Thank you so much for the replies. I guess I should have realized the bottom of the skirt is fuller. I may try to hand hem it next time. Thanks |
User: ruralgal71
Member since: 05-07-2004 Total posts: 34
|
From: MartySews
Date: 05-08-2004, 10:33 PM (7 of 10)
|
When sewing skirts, it is important to sew in the direction that the skirt will hang (ie: sew from the waistline down on each seam). This keeps the seamlines straight. I always trim the bottom evenly, then fold the hem up. The narrower the skirt, the shorter the hem. For an A-line skirt, a hem should not be wider than 2 inches. Otherwise, one will find puckers and fullness. I try to hem most garments by hand with invisible stitches. It takes practice and more practice. Check out Claire Shaeffer's book "Fabric Sewing Guide" for the hem size needed for your fabric. This is an invaluable resource to keep next to your sewing machine. Happy Stitching! Marty -
It takes one moment to change a life.
|
User: MartySews
Member since: 02-23-2003 Total posts: 504
|
From: K8_Dog
Date: 05-09-2004, 12:49 PM (8 of 10)
|
This all seems like such good advice! I hope nobody will mind clarifying for me. I don't quite understand "hand hem easing out the fullness by taking a stitch then running the needle in the fold of the hem and leaving it a little slack then take the next stitch into the garment." I get the idea that you do it by hand and you gather a little of the extra material in each stitch, very gradually, so the fullness doesn't show on the outside. It's the actual process I can't visualize. Could you try to explain it again? Thank you for being patient. What about what Paroper said about machine basting and easing? Do you machine baste around the bottom, then fold up the hem and pull the pasting threads to work in the extra fabric? What does "take the fabric straight up from the hem" mean? That the grainlines should match? Hemming has always been my least favourite part of sewing, mainly because I have no idea how to do it. Thanks for your patience. Kate |
User: K8_Dog
Member since: 05-05-2004 Total posts: 26 |
From: paroper
Date: 05-09-2004, 02:02 PM (9 of 10)
|
No problem. There are always a lot of ways to do anything, but there are some rules. When your hem is wider than the bottom of your garment, you are going to have to make adjustments. You don't want to twist the hem to one side or the other, but you will want the hem to fold straight up, that helps keep puckers and "waves" out of your garment on the outside. Often, when I am having problems with a hem, I will make right angles (up and down, not sideways) pinnings about every 2-3 inches, ignoring the fullness, but pinning the fabric straight up from the hemline. Then, I go back and ease in the fullness either with more pins or (the easy way) by pulling basting thread. About using basting thread. I am a big advocate of using the machine where you can, but this can be done by machine or hand. Before you hem, you can run a line of basting around what will become the top edge of your fabric. When you go to adjust your hem, you can use this to ease in the fullness. Since this is very near your stitching line inside the garment, you can remove this after the hem is permanently in place or you can leave it. Since this is not like the gathers in a waistline of a gathered skirt, you can pull from any place on your basting line to pull up the fullness, and later clip off the pulled portions. A habit I have had since high school home ec is that when my hem is in place as I want it, I always use a basting stitch to help hold my hem in place until I finish my hem. I used to always just make a very long running hand baste on my hems, but when I got my Bernina machines, they have an extra extra long baste, so I use that....I don't want anything fancy or hard to get out, but it is so much more dependable than pins which may fall out during the hemming...I leave my pins, but I don't have to worry so much if they fall out. pam
Bernina 200e, Artista V5 Designer Plus, Explorations, Magic Box, Bernina 2000DE & 335 Bernette Serger, Bernina 1530 Sewing Machine, Bernina 1300 DC Overlock (with coverstitch) |
User: paroper
Member since: 02-03-2004 Total posts: 3775 |
From: K8_Dog
Date: 05-11-2004, 11:34 AM (10 of 10)
| Thanks! I shall never hate hemming again! |
User: K8_Dog
Member since: 05-05-2004 Total posts: 26 |
Visit Sew What’s Up for the latest sewing and quilting tips and discussions.
This page was originally located on Sew What’s New (www.sew-whats-new.com) at http://www.sew-whats-new.com/vb/archive/index.php/t-12787.html
Sew What’s Up is hosted by ZenSoft