Hems and Hemming

Did I enter the sewing room yesterday? Yes, to put a shirt on the cutting table as it needs a snap replaced and then ironed. That was it.

I have almost finished cleaning the upstairs. There is a lot of dust and fine ash on everything due to the wind and fire. It is calm out and we had a good, but short, rain to dampen things down. Safe for a few days.

Carolyn at Diary of a Sewing Fanatic wrote a blog on Hems. Her questions were

So what about you? How are your hemlines? Do you take your time and add a lot of important details? Or do you rush through so that you can wear your garment? Also do you have any special techniques that you use to get a superior finished hem? 

Hemming is usually the final task to do and, like others, I am ready to be finished with the garment and have it out of my hair. I usually have to have a stern talk about not rushing the hem.

When doing rodeo wear, I always serge the hem, turn it up and machine stitch if it is going to be covered with saree trim. If not, I do serge the hem and then carefully, with small stitches, hand stitch in place. Sleeves and top hems get serged and machine stitched in place. Hems are tucked in and sleeves usually have lots of crystals to hide the machine stitching. Linings are turned up and machine stitched. Is that really satisfying hemming this way? No but it is cost effective.

For my own clothes, I want to do better. I need to work on doing better. Or should I say, I need to know what type of hem is best for each item I make. Here are some of the things I really want to learn to take my sewing up a notch:

• When to serge finish a hem
  
• When to use lace tape
  
• When to machine stitch a hem vs. hand sewing a hem
  
• Using interfacing or other fabrics in the hem to give it weight
  
• Different hand stitching techniques for hemming

I guess I am going to have to do a study in hems and make some samples.

Invisible Hem by Sherri at Paper Scissors Cloth is probably the first I will try as I have never mastered that hemming stitch.

I hope to work on the Teal Blue shirt today. Even if only for 2 hours.

Until tomorrow………………..