Hey everyone. Today we're talking about why I wouldn't hem a garment without trying it on in the exact shoes you'll wear with it, and how five minutes in those shoes saves a hem you'll love.
I know why folks skip it. I really do. The garment is almost done. The table is right there. You lay it flat, measure up the same amount all around, and pin it. Clean. Quick. Done. Trying it on feels like one more trip to the mirror when you're ready to sew.
Here is the problem. A table does not stand like you stand. It has no heels. It has no posture. A flat shoe and a boot can change your hem by an inch or more. A 1-inch flat and a 2-and-a-half-inch heel do not put that hem in the same place. Not even close.
The story — level on the table, crooked in real life
I watched this lesson land in the sewing room. A sewist finished a pretty skirt. She marked the hem flat, nice and even. She measured twice, y'all. Every measurement matched. She stitched it, pressed it, and felt good about it.
Then she put it on with the boots she planned to wear. The front looked fine. The back dipped. One side sat visibly longer than the other. Nothing was wrong with her stitching. Her body just did not hang that skirt the way a flat table did. Her stance, her hips, and those boot heels told a different story.
That is exactly the trap. A hem marked flat, or marked in flat shoes, hangs at a different length in heels or boots. She had to let that hem out and start the marking over. More unpicking. More pressing. More time than the fitting would have taken in the first place.
I have rushed a hem myself. We are not reinventing the wheel here. Put the shoes on first. Learn the true length while you can still move a pin.
What I do instead
Here is my routine, step by step. It is completely up to you on the details, but this order works.
1. Put on the exact shoes. Not shoes that are close. Not socks. The exact heels, boots, or flats you plan to wear. If a belt goes with it, put the belt on too. Everything that changes how the garment hangs needs to be there.
2. Stand naturally, and stand still. Feet flat. Weight even. No stretching up tall. No leaning to see better. Let a friend pin for you if you can. If you're marking your own hem, use a full-length mirror and take your time.
3. Pin the hem level from the floor up. This is the key move. Do not measure down from the waist. Measure up from the floor at the front, both sides, and the back, so every point sits the same distance from the floor. Pin every 2 to 3 inches around a skirt. For pants, pin the front crease line and check the break over the shoe.
4. Walk, sit, and check before you cut. Take a few normal steps. Sit down once. Stand back up. Watch the mirror. A hem that only works standing perfectly still is not done yet. Move a pin now if you need to. A pin is cheap. Cut fabric is not.
5. Only then take it off and even it up. Lay it flat now — this is when the table helps. Smooth the pinned line, check your hem allowance is even, and keep a generous allowance: about 1-and-a-half to 2 inches for a skirt or dress, and about 1-and-a-quarter to 1-and-a-half inches for pants. Press the fold, then stitch.
One more option, folks. If you wear the same garment with two very different shoes, hem for the taller shoe. You can always wear the longer hem with heels. You cannot add length back for a hem cut short for flats. Completely up to you, but that is my preference.
And listen, it does not have to be perfect. You're your own worst critic at that mirror. A hem that hangs level in real life, on your real body, beats a hem that measured perfect on a table. Take your time. It is not a race. If I can do this, y'all can do it.
Don't take my word for it — read this: Hemming Skills, from Oregon State University Extension, says the best way to mark a hemline is while you're wearing the garment, in the same shoes you will wear with it, and that a finished hem should hang level with the floor.
Shop the Hot Hemmer at Linda's Electric Quilters.
Thanks so much for sewing with me today, folks. Put those shoes on before you pin, and that hem will hang right the first time you wear it out.
We'll see you next time. Bye.
— Corey, Chief Quilter, Linda's Electric Quilters
