Oh I loved Auntie Em's analogy. Asking a quilter to hem pants is like asking Picasso to paint a house. The first pair went okay. I don't have a serger but I did find a stitch to use on seams. And then I hand sewed the hem cause the "invisible hem" on my machine certainly isn't invisible... well, it could be with the right thread but there would still be little vertical stitches every few inches which I don't like the look of. These pants were a stretchy type fabric.
My daughter liked them. That gave me confidence. So I asked her to bring me a pair that I'd tacked up for her months ago just until she could get to a seamstress with them. She'd washed them a number of times so they needed to be lengthened maybe 1/2" or so to look right with heels. So we undid the tacking and I re-pinned them to a good length.
Yesterday I was oh so careful. I even used a ruler and chalk to mark the cutting line. I had to take off a full 3". She's only 5'1". I guess the problem was I didn't take out the tacking on the second leg and after I did I didn't make sure I'd gotten the hem flattened all the way down. When I was cutting I felt a strange feeling. I should know by now to listen to my intuition. So instead of taking 3" off the second leg I ended up cutting off 5"!! I felt sick, I just wanted to sit down and cry. But I realized if I left them hemmed at the length they had been I'd still have enough for a 1" seam on that leg. Then if she wears them with flats they'll be almost too long.
So she has one leg turned up 1" and the other turned up 2.5" I think my stiching is invisible enough though.. again I hemmed by hand.
What's happened to me? I started sewing my own clothes when I was 14 years old cause if I didn't spend my allowance on fabric then I'd be stuck wearing my sister's hand me downs. And she's 11 years older than me so I was very fasionable - not.
I've been thinking how things have changed. I could swear when I was first sewing that we used to put a ribbon type tape on the hem and sew it that way... is that possible? Does anyone else remember? My mind is a sieve these days. Then it went to just pinking and turning under 1/4" and then turning up to the right length. Now that was easy. Seams in home made clothes were just pinked to keep them from ravelling and they looked pretty good. Of course gabardine fabric always looked good... in the 70's. Now everything is serged. I don't have a serger and don't want a serger... they intimidate me. Plus I seldom sew anything that would need a serger. I sewed a lot of my daughter's clothes when she was little and then the kids hallowe'en outfits.. which didn't need so much attention. And now? Oh my goodness. I'm fine with jeans and sweats but I can't fix dress pants to save my life.
I hope my daughter finds a new seamstress. I gave her the name of a friend who sews clothing for people but she never got around to calling her. Maybe next time she gets new pants she will.
I have 2 more pairs of pants that need hemming that aren't dress pants. One is mine the other my husband's. Get back on the horse I guess.
6 comments:
Here I was feeling guilty about waking around with paper clips on my fallen hems. Now you've scared me off from trying to do more. Thanks! Now I can just concentrate on my quilting! :)
My Father was short, so my Mother had to hem all of his pants. She did one leg and started on the other, OOOPS she began cutting the first leg she had already done. Had to sew it back together and do the correct leg. We still laugh at the pant leg with a seam half way up the calf of his work pants. So glad that did not happen to you. Patricia
I think we have all made this mistake at some time ,don't feel bad your in good company .I just hemmed a pair of my husbands jeans last week ( he insist I do it ,for the second time this year I have knocked my timing out on my machine by doing this .Good thing I have other machines and hubby gets to pay the bill for my machine .
I hate hemming pants, fixing buttons, etc. I do it only when I have to, and only for DH and me. When other family members ask for help, I say, find a seamstress. There is a place in town that will hem a pair of pants for $15.
I think you are referring to "seam binding" that is used for hemming fabric that ravels (like wool) to help stabilize it and also cover up raw threads. At least that's what I remember from Home Ec. But don't ask me how long ago that was.
I remember the seam hemming tape as well and then there is that sticky stuff that you can hem with too. I like that stuff, no sewing. The cutting off part is tricky and it seems they never look even. Don't feel bad it happens to all of us at one time or another.
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