Tips, Tricks & Hacks

added Auguat 2005

I recently had 5 pair of pants hemmed with a cuff by a tailor. The original hem crease shows on my new cuffs. Is it possible to get this crease out? Or are my pants ruined? Help….

Try soaking a pressing cloth with water and white vinegar. Steam press the hem with the cloth. It will smell like salad for a bit but that will go away and so should the crease. If the crease is very old and had been repressed many times, the fabric might be worn from the pressing process and there's no hope to remove the crease. Your tailor should have been able to tell you this before the work was done.  

~Lea

added January 2004

Hi there

I saw on your site that you use a pin type hem marker. I'm searching for one of those. Do you know of a source? I currently work as an alterations seamstress for a bridal shop and I'd like to expand my work to my home and take on private clients so this is definitely something I need to have. Thanks for any help you might be able to offer.

Linda

I got mine from the local JoAnn's. Dritz makes them and you should be able to find them anywhere. 

~Lea

added June 2003

I made an off the shoulder dress and I cut the neckline down too low. Is there anyway to fix this without cutting the entire dress over and raising the neckline.... 

Thanks! 

When you make a mistake like this it is best to make a bigger than you need fix. If you try to fix a small mistake like this with a little patch it will stick out like a sore thumb, but if you make a bigger fix it looks like you designed the fix to be there in the first place. For instance, can you cut the neckline even further until it reaches the bust and then add a piece of fabric (original or contracting) from the bust up to where you wanted the neckline to be? You can even carry it around the shoulders to the back. You could also add a portrait collar over a patch to bring the neckline up to normal.

Not seeing the dress design makes it hard for me to be more specific with suggestions. Hope this helps.

~Lea

added March 2003

I would like to alter the waist from a pair of dress pants that have 3 pleats at the waist, taking the pleats away or maintaining only one. The pants have sliding pockets at side. I would appreciate a suggestion 'cause I don't know where to start...help!!!! I don't need the pockets. Do I have to adjust the side seams also? Thank you VERY much. Atena 

Hi Atena,

It's really hard to give you any advice not being able to see the pants. Why are there 3 pleats and not 4? I've never seen a pant with 3 and I don't think it will look good with only one. And what are sliding pockets? What is it that slides? Is there a waistband? Are you making this bigger or smaller? I really need to see the pants on your body to tell you how to alter them. There are so many different things that can be done it's hard to guess at what you need to do. 

Hi, Leanna! Sorry I did a boo-boo. Better, I'll start again.: 

I have a pair of pants with 3 front pleats in each side, 6 in total. I would like to alter the pants, taking away 2 pleats from each side.( 4 in total ) The pants have 2 side pockets and a waistband. I would like to know what to do with the extra material from the 4 pleats. The waist doesn't need to be altered. Could I transform the pleats in darts or I have to move the entire front panels toward the hips and how.. I 'll appreciate very much your help. Hoping you understand my explanation I thank you. Atena 

I am assuming you don't like all that fabric at your hip area and you are trying to get a closer fit.  Replacing a pleat with a dart might get you what you want, but you might not like a seam sitting right on your hip area either. Plus, it will need to be sewn quite far down the leg to contain all the pleat fabric.

There's a difference in altering clothing for fit and changing a design element. Changing design elements are sometimes not possible or so involved that it's not worth doing. That's where you are. I would not attempt to do what you are proposing. It involves taking almost every seam on the pant apart, re-cutting the front and part of the back pieces and then reassembling the pant. That's too much work in my opinion. For the time you spend, it's cheaper to buy a new pair of pants.

~Lea

added November 2002

I am making a pair of pants/jeans out of 100% cotton canvas. How should I per-shrink the fabric? Will washing in hot and tumble drying do it?

It's recommended that you launder the fabric as you plan to launder the garment once it is made. It's more the way you dry that shrinks things than the washing, so if you dry in hot, you will get more shrinkage than if you were to only wash in hot and hang to dry. The same advice goes for if you were to purchase the pants and only be hemming them.

Personally, I don't see that it's necessary to preshrink any fabric more than necessary, so if you don't plan on always washing and drying in hot than I wouldn't preshrink it that way. Some may differ with me, but it's worked for what I've needed so far. Cotton does normally have a big shrink factor, so you do need to preshrink to some degree. I would wash in warm and dry at medium.

~Lea

added November 2001

HELP!!! I volunteered to make plain old panels for my cousin's new house before the material was purchased. Well, he bought lace and I have discovered - to my horror - that polyester lace and sewing machines don't go well together. Since I will be making 18 panels, I really don't want to tackle the project by hand. I tried to press a hem and it was impossible to make it even - and the weave is too loose to pin it. What can I do? Can you please tell me how to measure and sew the hems and rod pockets so they are nice and even without having the material slip and slide all over the place? I will appreciate any help you can give me - believe me, I'm desperate!

Lace curtains are lovely, but as you've noticed they are mostly holes.  Sew slowly using a 6" ruler to mark the hem or pocket as you go.  Hold down about an inch or two and sew, then measure again.  This will take forever, but you will make your cousin very happy.

Well, I don't do curtain very often. Actually, I avoid them like the plague.

~Lea