Baby Steps 6 – Marking a hem
I hate measuring and pinning a hem. It’s tedious, takes forever and doesn’t always result in a smooth line. Try this method, it’s simple but effective.
If you need to take up a 2” hem…..
1. place a strip of duct tape on your sewing machine bed, parallel with the needle plate and 2” from the needle.
2. thread your machine with a contrast colour and baste all the way around your garment, keeping the raw edge of the fabric lined up with the duct tape.
3. finish the raw edge as usual. For me, this is usually with an overlocker. It doesn't matter if this is a bit wonky because you've already accurately marked the hem fold.
4. fold the hem up using the basting line as a guide and iron in place.
5. stitch the hem in place.
HINT: Leave the duct tape on your sewing machine so you can use it again next time!
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Thanks for the easy tip. I am just about ready for a 1 1/2 inch hem for a skirt. I agree I hate to hem too. This looks really easy!
10/6/06 10:05 PM
Great tip. I do something similar, only I use a thick elastic band instead, so that I can change its position depending on the depth of my hem.
10/6/06 11:54 PM
Great idea! Thanks Wanda (fatbaby)
10/7/06 7:12 AM
I'm going to try this on the pair of pants I'm working on! You might have noticed a great spike in page views of your Babysteps5 tip just before I wrote my 1st review :) Thank you!
10/7/06 8:49 AM
Just wanted to let you know that this worked great. I no longer dread hemming! Thank you so much.
10/20/06 2:06 PM
That's great Sanibelle, thanks for letting me know.
10/21/06 3:32 AM