Thread: How do you hem a rounded lycra skirt bottom?

I have this beautiful costume that is about 3" longer than I can dance in...
Is it possible to hem this without cutting off the extra?
How do you hem this type of rounded lycra bottom?

When I hem rounded edges, sometimes it's easier to hem before sewing the seams together. This helps prevent the fabric from rolling or buckling or whatever you would use to describe that mushy, messy hem that sometimes happens on skirts. Could you try ripping out the seams, hemming, and then sewing the seams back together?

I've only done this once and it probably wasn't "correct" technique. I cut a piece of paper the width of the amount I was cutting off and tried to give it the same arc as the skirt. Then used it as a template to add little dots with a fine tipped wash proof pen on the inside of the skirt. It took ages to mark the dots but when I cut along them it worked. You would have to use a paint marker on dark fabric though. Would love to know the correct technique if anyone has one. Good luck.

Here is my other suggestion: The skirt is clearly too long for you and you should give it to me!

LOL!!! Karnak, I have had that thought myself at times!

Thanks ladies...Good ideas I did not think of before...

Anybody else have another way I should mull over?

It is often difficult to put a wide hem in a garment with a rounded or heavily tapered edge. Sometimes you can fudge a shallower hem with a flexible hem facing (like hemming lace), but the better solution is to take the bottom's taper or flare into account when the pieces are cut out. Once a garment is sewn, you've got what you've got.

If you don't want to cut the excess off of the bottom of this skirt, you're probably going to have a very bulky edge. It might be possible under other circumstances to hem on the outside in a way that turned the excess fabric into a ruffled hem, but I don't think that would work so well in this case. You probably also can't try to approach things from the other end here, either by cutting it shorter at the waist or wearing it higher. The options look pretty limited: hack off the excess, sell it to a taller dancer, or dance in heels.

Originally Posted by xochitl

I've only done this once and it probably wasn't "correct" technique. I cut a piece of paper the width of the amount I was cutting off and tried to give it the same arc as the skirt. Then used it as a template to add little dots with a fine tipped wash proof pen on the inside of the skirt. It took ages to mark the dots but when I cut along them it worked. You would have to use a paint marker on dark fabric though. Would love to know the correct technique if anyone has one. Good luck.

The only methods I know of are to measure very carefully and frequently up from the hem (basically what you did) or radially down from the waistband, or to put the skirt on and measure up from the floor. The latter is hard to do alone (when you bend over, you change the way the skirt hangs), so you'd need to own one of those hemming devices that puffs chalk dust at a prescribed height or a reasonably anatomically correct dressmaker's dummy (i.e., one that accounts for the fact that your body takes up more of the skirt in the back than the front), or you'd have to find a patient friend to measure for you while you wore it.

BTW, I probably wouldn't have used a wash-proof marker, because if you make a mistake and mark too high, you're stuck with the evidence. You can buy tailoring markers whose marks can be removed with water or tailor's chalk that can be brushed off, but if you are really afraid of leaving a chemical residue, you can use tailor's tacks (basically basting threads in a contrasting color).

Oops, I didn't read your post properly and wandered off on my own direction. Apologies.

Originally Posted by Tourbeau

If you don't want to cut the excess off of the bottom of this skirt, you're probably going to have a very bulky edge. It might be possible under other circumstances to hem on the outside in a way that turned the excess fabric into a ruffled hem, but I don't think that would work so well in this case. You probably also can't try to approach things from the other end here, either by cutting it shorter at the waist or wearing it higher. The options look pretty limited: hack off the excess, sell it to a taller dancer, or dance in heels.

What Tourbeau said. If you just turn this under and hem it, the skirt will not hang or flow nicely. If we cannot dissuade you, go buy some low-tack painters' tape, the kind for masking woodwork. Turn the skirt up all around underneath and use several pieces of tape to "tack" it up. Put the skirt on and look in the mirror -- then you'll see the effect we mean.

Oh, I know what a mess it will look like if I tried to hem it the way I know how, LOL!
I was shooting for a seamstress secret here...
Guess there's not one...
Thanks everyone...I think I will try a new pair of shoes...

Sounds good to me!

Originally Posted by Tourbeau

The options look pretty limited: hack off the excess, sell it to a taller dancer, or dance in heels.

I know a tall dancer who is eager for a new costume and would look completely fabulous in this one!
*coff*kiyaana*coffcoffcoff*

Use a gathering stitch on a single layer , gently gather the edge and turn it up, the gathers are very slight, it takes a lot of the fullness out and allows the hem to sit flatter.

Julsie, just out of curiosity, have you measured all the way around the bottom? I had the same set in purple, and I remember it as having a LOT of hem. Am I right that each of those three tall godets (inserts) in the back is at least a half-circle, and then the rest of the skirt amounts to another half-circle?

Suzana: Yep, same as purple one you had...3 full inserts...I did not measure them, why do you ask?

I am sorry, Kiyaana...I should not have put it back on for the body pic- (I have done this before- such a tease!) It is just so COMFORTABLE on me I think I should keep it & sell something else...I will contact you with another costume when I get measurements done before I post it here, ok?

Mosaika- I think I know what you mean...It will be a job!

Seamstress here I come!

Originally Posted by Julsie

Thanks everyone...I think I will try a new pair of shoes...

This is my favorite approach- too long? oh, I needed new heels anyway! much easier to learn to dance in heels than hem lycra
... especially after hemming 12 circle skirts recently! If you are going to keep it, I really would just whack it off instead of hemming- I'd think the extra weight and bulk would be a pain, and there does seem to be a *ton* of yardage there (which for me translates to a million places for me to screw up a hem)

gorgeous skirt, tho!

I have taken up a few skirts like this, I start by pinning on the seams so that they line up, then halfway between each seam, and halfway again, until the pins are about 3" apart all the way round. Then sew by hand using a herringbone stitch. There will be small gathers on the inside, but they should be fairly evenly spaced out. After the hem is pressed it looks neat from the outside and hangs nicely.

Lara: You are probably right- a lot of bulk & weight here...I think this type of costume actually would look better or more polished with a pair of heels vs. barefoot...besides, it will make my gams look better & me look tall & thin as well...
NOW I have a new dilemma: What color shoes" Gold or Raspberry??? LOL

firefly5: That is exactly the only way I could think to do it as I was holding it up to where I needed it...
I am going to try it on with a pair of heels today to see if that is enough to get it off the floor, if not- it's getting hemmed up...
Thanks

If you should end up deciding to cut it...

There are instructions on my web site for hemming a rounded edge:

http://www.shira.net/costuming/sewing/hem.htm

I will check it out Shira...

I highly recommend ruching as an alternative to trying to hem all the way around or (heaven forbid) cutting anything off. Here is a link to my phtobucket pics of my Eman Zaki, very similar to yours skirt-style wise, and it was like 40 inches long or some such nonsense, and the longest I can dance in in shoes is 38. So I ruched it up about two inches:

http://s1026.photobucket.com/albums/y322/jboule/

The great thing about ruching is it's less time consuming than hemming the entire bottom edge, it's reversible and you don't necessarily have to ruche from the bottom edge, you could ruche at the hip, 3/4 of the way up, etc., let me know if you want some basic instructions on how to do it, although you could probably find better directions than I can write on the web.

Just curious -- I was considering another similar one here a while back and wondering if they all had the same expansive hems. I passed because I would have had to shorten that one, too, and I'm not any kind of a seamstress. Good luck with yours! The color is gorgeous.

JoLynn: I love your Eman- When you are ready to sell girl- look me up!
AND...I think ruching up around the hipline is lovely I will look to see if that option will work here...Thanks for the reminder- I did do it to a different style skirt once, just in the back where it needed it- I ruched it right in the center of the buttocks- it looked cute.

Suzana: I love the expansive hemline of this Eman- it really flares out with great purposeful movement when turning...reminds me of the Paso Doble (cape)

Well, now, technically, it's not my Eman anymore, I did sell it a few months ago, but it will always be my Eman in my heart. I miss it terribly, those Eman skirts with the godets really make butts look so great and just do such a bang up job of emphasizing the hourglass shape, I totally understand why you want to keep yours!