I have a stack of clothes right now that need to be fixed, suffering from hems that have come unraveled, holes in the seams, and buttons that have fallen off. Before I learned some sewing basics, I would have just declared those clothes to be toast, tossed them and had to go purchase new ones. Or I would have set them aside mournfully, waited a year hoping they would magically fix themselves, then finally given up when no miraculous clothes healing occurred and...tossed them.
It turns out all you need is a few basic sewing skills to fix some of these problems, and save yourself some cash and a trip to either the mall or the tailor. I pulled the first item off of my Clothes to Mend pile yesterday, and I'm going to share the process so you may take advantage of the money saved as well.
Today's problem is a dress with a hem that came undone. This is the sort of problem that may be happening when you realize you have a thread dangling from your clothes that just keeps getting longer. The picture below is a portion of the inside of the dress at the hem, right where the part that is still properly attached in place meets the part that has come unraveled.
What has broken are the stitches that you see running from the right side of the fabric (the colorful side) onto the back side of the fabric. A few of these stitches run horizontally (relative to the first photo) right in between my two fingers where the two sides of the fabric meet. They came undone. In fact, if I pulled on this, the stitches that are still attached would also come undone. You can see the damage in the second photo.
When these stitches break, the fabric folded over into the hem will fall down. You end up with a dress or pants or shorts or shirt of an uneven length, or with the raw edge of the fabric showing (usually hidden in the hem), or both.
The good news is that this is not that difficult a problem to fix. What follows is how I fixed my dress. Please note that I was never taught how to do this. I just kind of figured out a way that seemed to work after looking at the dress I had in front of me! I think if I did it again I might try a more official method rather than what I made up here, but what I did here was 1) easy and 2) did work for my dress this time, even if another method might better hold up under a very close examination.
Step One: Gather Materials
What you need:
- A sewing needle
- Perhaps sewing pins- I skipped them because the fabric on my dress wanted to fold back to where it started.
- thread that matches the color of the garment you are working on
Step Two: Prepare Materials
Prepare the hem. If it needs to be pinned to stay in place while you sew, pin the hem back to where its supposed to be. If the hem is only partially unattached, just start where the attached part ends and use it as a guide. If it isn't attached at all, hopefully there is a crease or you can make a good guess.
Measure out and cut your thread. I usually get a few feet at once. If you get too much at once, it will tangle more easily. Thread the needle, then loop one end of the thread around your index finger and push it off with your thumb so that it makes a knot.
Step Three: Sew
The stitch in my dress's hem was barely visible from the outside, and I wanted to keep it that way. There are a few ways to fix this problem, which I can do adequately enough to keep my dress in wearable shape.
I did not read any directions, because I trusted my own knowledge a little too much. If you would like a tutorial, however, a great tutorial on different stitch options can be found here: 5 ways to hand stitch a hem.
I tried to mimic what I saw already on the dress.
I tied my knot as usual (that's what my grandmother taught me, but feel free to follow the other tutorial's method if you like it better) and ran my needle first just barely through the fabric as you see here. I started about an inch into the part of the hem that had not come undone. The needle does not go all the way through the fabric; rather, it goes through just enough to keep the thread in place while not showing or only just showing on the other side. This works with thick fabrics. It won't work with thin fabrics.
I then pulled the needle through the other side, as you see in the photo, moved the needle down, and repeated about a centimeter later.
NOTE: If I did this again, I might have changed a few things. First, I would not have put the needle through so often.
As I went on, the stitch began to look as it looks above. My stitch is the one running diagonally along the meeting point of the right side and the wrong side of the fabric. This is still the inside of the garment. That same spot, from the outside of the dress, looks like this.
The stitch is mostly invisible. My Non-Expert hand at a stitch I seem to have made up, combined with an occasional bit of careless sewing means that the my stitch is, occasionally, visible. But just barely. And at knee height.
When I got all the way around I tied off my last piece of thread and studied my completed work. My assessment? The hem is back in place. It is only minimally visible from the right side. Could I make it less visible with a different stitch and a bit more patience and practice? Yes.
Take a look at my hem and the original hem that is still in place though from the outside, and you may have trouble telling the difference. Mine is slightly more visible if you look closely. That is all.
I do consider this a job well done, though, for an early attempt at mending a hem. I think next time I'll try the first stitch from that tutorial more precisely. For now, though, this will work.
Project Overview:
Time: 1.5 hours for a full skirt (I think I had about 5 feet of hem to sew)
I could have finished faster if I wasn't watching a movie while I worked, I think.
Cost: $0
Savings: I don't remember how much this dress cost, but I'm guessing I saved between $60 and $90 dollars I would have spent before to replace the dress.
The other option would be to take it to a tailor. I don't know how much that would have cost, but I'll estimate based on a little bit of research that it would be about $15-20.
Another alternative I have not explored is hem tape, which can be purchased for about $7.00 and then ironed on. It is, perhaps, a less permanent solution.
The other option would be to take it to a tailor. I don't know how much that would have cost, but I'll estimate based on a little bit of research that it would be about $15-20.
Another alternative I have not explored is hem tape, which can be purchased for about $7.00 and then ironed on. It is, perhaps, a less permanent solution.
Further notes: Next time I'll review the tutorial first (I confess, I don't always read or follow directions!) and then I will use the best stitch selection of stitches that I did not make up myself. But mine did work pretty well! I'm not going to redo it until it falls out again, which hopefully will never happen.
I hope you might try your own mending too!
I hope you might try your own mending too!
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