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From: misty60820
Date: 03-18-2006, 06:34 PM (1 of 8)
I have just finished a pair of pants and they called for a hem. I hemmed the legs but they have these curls in them that look waves in water. It did not ask for me to press them before hemming them. Any advice on how to solve the problem? I have tried to press them after the wave pattern went on but the waves are still there... 
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User: misty60820
Member since: 11-22-2005 Total posts: 23 |
From: kameline
Date: 03-18-2006, 08:01 PM (2 of 8)
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I think I have seen this before... it happened to me when I gave my pants too wide of a hem... for instance, it called for a 1" hem, but I tried to hem it 2". it happened because the legs tapered, getting narrower and narrower down the leg... so when I tried to hem it, the raw edge of the pants was too narrow to fit the wider ankle area... so the hem had a wavy look that wouldn't iron out... the first thing I would try is to trim some of the raw fabric from the bottom and make a smaller rolled hem. Am I making sense???  It's kinda hard to explain... Hope this helps!!! Do all to the glory of God!
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User: kameline
Member since: 03-09-2006 Total posts: 41 
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From: paroper
Date: 03-18-2006, 08:44 PM (3 of 8)
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What kind of fabric is it? Is it curling just on the seamline like it is stretched or is it buckling in the hem like it is off-grain (makes a wrinkle from the fold and the wrinkle points at an angle or is it puckered like, as kameline suggests the bottom is smaller than the top? How did you finish the edge of the fabric? Did you turn, stitch and then machine stitch again? Did you hand stitch it in place? Did you just double fold the hem and machine stitch? Did you serge and single or double stitch it in place, please give us the details. 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: misty60820
Date: 03-19-2006, 01:38 AM (4 of 8)
| the material was stetch terry. The way in which I hemmed it was the traditional way in which you fold the fabric under and then I stitched in place. The design calls for 3/4" inch hems. Oh, I just looked at the instructions and it did say to press and pin. Will not pressing the design still cause the wave design? |
User: misty60820
Member since: 11-22-2005 Total posts: 23 |
From: misty60820
Date: 03-19-2006, 01:39 AM (5 of 8)
| oh and yes it is curling in the seamline at the very bottom... |
User: misty60820
Member since: 11-22-2005 Total posts: 23 |
From: paroper
Date: 03-19-2006, 06:49 AM (6 of 8)
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The material is stretching as you sew across the grainline. It doesn't have much to do with pressing in this case. I would fold the seamline and then fold again (in half) that should give you roughly a 3/8 inch stitchline (which is probably what you are doing). Lengthen your stitches, you may need to adjust your top tension slightly, and you can use a slight zig zag...like 1 or less on my machine (0 is straight with mine). Some machines have a stretch stitch which will help with this. It takes 2 stitches forward and one back, 2 forward. This allows the fabric to stretch and makes a very strong seam that will give when you wear the garment. If yours shows the stitches to be selected, this usually shows as 3 straight lines of stitching. If you have a presser foot adjustment, you might try lessening the pressure. If it were not stretch I would tell you to put stabilizer in your hem...but it is and putting stabilizer in the hem will take away the advantages of the stretch. This is where sergers shine. Most have a differential feed that will help with stretch fabrics and allow you to adjust the stitches for the feed. Your problem is one of my least favorite. The problem is that when this happens I just monkey around with it until I'm happy so it is hard to tell you exactly all the things that you can do. I'm sure others will have something to say on this subject. 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: DorothyL
Date: 03-19-2006, 08:43 AM (7 of 8)
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If worse comes to worse, you could do it by hand. Dorothy |
User: DorothyL
Member since: 12-09-2002 Total posts: 3883 |
From: misty60820
Date: 03-19-2006, 09:55 AM (8 of 8)
thanks!! I will try lengthening the stitches and also loosen the tension a little. I hope this will solve the problem. 
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User: misty60820
Member since: 11-22-2005 Total posts: 23 |
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