Experienced sewers - Question

[eminenz2]

Hi!

I have quite a few really neat T-shirts, but unfortunately because they are basically men's t-shirts, they are too long to wear comfortably.

How can I hem them so they are more practical to wear?

I'm not a great sewer but I'm pretty good at following directions (the ones I like anyway - heehee).

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Juliebeth]

Do you have a sewing machine??

I have used "Stitch Witchery" in the past. It is an iron-on hem tape; you can get it at WalMart or any fabric store. All you'll have to do it cut your shirt off about a half inch longer than you want it, measure that 1/2 inch and iron it under, then use the hem tape in between the shirt and the hem and iron the hem down. It lasts well, but I like to sew them on the machine afterwards. (My machine won't sew knits well unless there is a bit of heaviness to them.} I think there are directions on the package.

The only problem with using this kind of hem tape is you lose a bit of the stretch at the bottom of the shirt.

HTH, Julie

 

[eminenz2]

Thanks Julie, I do have a sewing machine, and I've used Stitch Witchery before. I don't know why I didn't think of it before now.

I thought maybe if I used a zigzag stitch too, that would help, but knits can be a pain. Getting the ease just right is tricky. keeping the cut edge from rolling up is a problem too. Plus, you want to keep the stretchiness, but you don't want to make those icky ripples in the fabric that scream, "Yeah, I tried sewing this myself, but I screwed up!" - haha!

 

[kathryn]

Man, what's going on with my brain? Some dendrites must be firing wrong: the first thing that came to my mind when I saw "sewers" was "waste-water passageways"!

Though I guess no one here would be a "sewer" in that sense. ;-)

 

[L Sass]

I thought exactly the same thing Kathryn! I think we should start a Cathe thread game with experienced sewers and burning the fat people, etc.

Lorrie