April 5, 2012

you don't need a sewing machine to hem a skirt

You may be one of the unfortunate people like me who don't have the pleasure of owning a beautiful, handy, wonderful sewing machine (can you tell that I'm jealous?). I was craving an adorable, short, flirty, poofy skirt but wasn't able to find one anywhere that fit the idea that I had in my mind. And then I went to Fabricland when I was on the hunt for cross stitching fabric, and found the wonder-of-all-wonders: hemming tape. I suddenly realized that I could make my own adorable, short, flirty, poofy skirt using an item already in my closet, and only spend....ready for it?...$5.00!!

Here's how I hemmed a skirt without sewing a stitch!


This is the skirt that I used. I've had this in my closet for over a year and have only worn it maybe 3 or 4 times. It's an amazing vintage piece that was clearly handmade and the pattern is so lovely, but I never loved the shape for some reason.


I measured 20 inches all the way around the skirt (since it's a circle skirt it should be the same length). Anything below the 20 inches, I cut off. I knew I wanted the skirt to be 18 inches, so I left 2 extra inches for the hem line.


After cutting the skirt, the hemming process actually began. Only three materials needed to complete this!


The first, and very important step, is to fold up your hem and pin it in place, always making sure that the hem line remains the same length all the way around. I used the iron on the hem, just to solidify my line.


Next, start in one section by opening up the hem line you just made and laying your hemming tape on the inside of your hem, as close to the seam as possible. The rough side should face down, but your hemming tape should come with instructions on how to use the brand. 


Last step, fold the hem back up and begin the ironing process! I held the iron on the folded hem for about 3 to 5 seconds, but some sections needed a bit longer. I found it easiest to do the skirt in sections by slowly removing pins, placing a new section of the hemming tape in the seam of the hem, and then ironing that section. It took a bit of patience, but was well worth it!

In the end I didn't need to sew anything, only spent about $5.00 on hemming tape, and spent about an hour on the whole project! This was my first time EVER hemming a skirt, and it was so easy, so I feel fairly confident that any one of you can do this too!

And what was the end result? Well, my friends, you will have to stay tuned for a lovely outfit post tomorrow featuring my little "no sew" skirt!

3 comments:

  1. I love this! I just bought two skirts from the thrift store that need a little help!

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  2. LOVE this! I've hemmed curtains with hem tape but not clothes. I have MULTIPLE things that could use hemming, including a really cute maxi dress that is WAY too long for me. Totally going to give this a try! By the way, your photos are looking BEAUTIFUL!
    xoxo

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  3. fun post! i'll need to re-think some of my little-worns. can't wait to see the finished product!

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