Taking up clothes if you’re short?

[TheRedHen2]

What do you do if you need to alter clothes?

The fashion for skinny jeans and trousers has meant I haven’t had to alter them (just tucked them under) but I’ve bought a pair of loose trousers this week and just spent ages taking them up with “Wunderweb” with a result I’m not really happy with. I can ask a local dressmaker to do it but she takes over a week each time and it’s just hassle when you want to just wear something!

I’ve never used a sewing machine in my life. Could I master one if I bought a basic one just for re-hemming clothes?

I'm ok at sewing and I struggle taking up hems so rarely bother. Its just a case of keeping a straight line which I never seem to be able to do.

Yes, get a machine and you can get a little magnet tool which ensures your hems are even. Singer sewing machine online shop is always trying to tempt me with offers.

(Or you could use cellotape or safety pins)

My dry cleaner does mine - I love long palazzo pants and I'm nearly 5'8. Most of them still need taking up or I'd be forever tripping over them. She charges £7.

I buy petite trousers or get them altered. Most dry cleaners do it.

Back in my late teens and early 20s, I did alter my own trousers with a needle and thread. But then I just decided to only buy petite.

Petite are generally a bit too short but regular is just too long and not everywhere has a petite range. Why do men’s trousers come in lots of lengths as standard but women’s don’t?!

I might have a look at sewing machines

I mostly do my own alterations now and I'm largely self taught, although I had used a sewing machine before, albeit a couple of decades ago.

So yes I think you could learn.

However if it was something I was really fond of or / and that I'd paid a lot of money for, I'd still use a seamstress. As with any new skill, it takes practice and you can bodge things up (although the beauty of sewing is that, as long as you haven't cut, you can always unpick it!)

I hand sew a new hem with invisible stitches that don’t show at all on the right side of the garment

So many times I've read on S and B about people having problems finding clothes that fit and flatter them, and I think "just buy a sewing machine". Then I remember that's easy to say when you've been using them for over 50 years, and people would probably just want to punch me . So thank you OP for asking this question.

I would advise getting a basic machine that will sew both woven and stretch fabric, possibly a second hand refurbished. Read the manual and practice on some plain cotton ie an old sheet (woven) and an old t shirt (stretchy). It really is easy. Once you get the hang of it you can:

take up hems
make a loose top semi-fitted by taking in the side seams at the waist, or fitted if you also put darts in at the waist
add a modesty panel to a plunging v-neck
shorten a too long bodice at the waist
make a too wide top fit by sewing a seam taking in the excess from front hem to back hem with a tuck at the shoulder seam, like an imitation princess seam. A lot less complicated than it sounds.

Take in baggy leggings and mend damaged seams
M ake an ordinary garment special by adding trimmings

Like anything start simple and gradually build your skills.

Pin and tack things at first to get the fit right,

In the case of wide-legged trousers, an amateur with a sewing machine would get much worse results than hand sewing. If you look up 'slip hemming' or invisible hemming it'll show you how to get a much neater result.
I have a sewing machine but to be honest, taking up hems on skirts and tops or shortening shoulder straps seem to come out very well by hand and really doesn't take long.

And Wonderweb is easy enough to undo and reapply, which is why it's not so great for clothes that are washed often

I have a rolled hem foot for floaty fabrics. I haven’t mastered this properly and get wobbly bits but it still looks better than a dress that’s 4 inches too long and (I think) you can’t tell on a floaty hem. Get decent sewing scissors too and don’t let anyone use them on paper.

It's always worth a try when it comes to alterations. Remember to measure twice, cut once. I'd suggest having a go on something small first (similar fabric) before trying the real thing. If it goes wrong you can take it to a professional later.

Hand sewing is much better than wunderweb

1. Pin up to required length on the wrong side of each trouser leg
2. Iron the crease, this will now be the bottom of the trouser leg
3. Unpin, and if there is more than 3cm between your ironed line and the bottom of the fabric, cut off the excess- I go round with a tape measure and make a pen dot at regular intervals at 3cm from the crease to make sure the cut is straight
4. Fold up at the crease again and slightly turn over the cut edge to make a hem of around 1.5 cm. Pin this up, continue all the way round
5. Sew the new hem, pick up a tiny piece of fabric from the trouser leg with the needle then pass through the new hem you have created, stitch about every 1-2 cm

You might want to practice on a piece of fabric before you start chopping up new trousers but honestly once you’ve done it you will never look back!

am in the difficult 5.3 range a.k.a. normal trousers are too long while the petite ranges are too long. i just get them altered at the dry cleaners. i now just cost it in when buying clothes. it makes it a lot easier buying thing - i now only have to worry about widths and thats not too hard.

the petite ranges are too short

damn the lack of edit button

I brought a mini hand held sewing machine form asda £20. I think, it works OK on thinner fabrics like floaty trousers/ skirts but not so good on jeans.

I agree that hand sewing is better. Invisible stitches on the right side of the fabric.

I pin the hem, iron in a crease, cut surplus with pinking shears, then hand sew.

I have a machine which I've had for over 20 years, I'm sure it came with a good manual with lots of tips. Perhaps there are evening classes you can book too. Well....covid permitting.

Do it by hand.

I've done jeans with a machine and it's easy enough but doesn't take long to hem a pair of trousers. VanCA upthread's instructions are good. I used to shorten XP's trousers and jeans

I 'm too tall for petite but usually am ok with a regular leg length. When heels are fashionable then I need to hem trousesr.

Invisible hand sewn stitches. Iron the fold and secure with masking tape to keep straight.

A useable sewing machine is about £100, so probably five or six alterations' worth. Then a sewing reference book on how to do the simple alterations mentioned, and a few sewing tools: pins, scissors etc.
For hems you need to zigzag over the cut edge, then either machine sew neatly or hand-sew with small stitches for an invisible look - basically however the original hem was done. Google "how to shorten..." and you'll find a video of instructions.
I'm short too and have to take up almost everything I buy, hems and often sleeves. It's often a late-night effort for something to wear the following day!

Hemming is best done by hand so save yourself some money and just buy some pins, needles and thread in a few basic colours (black, white and grey is a good start).

It is much easier than wonder web!

I would rather buy fewer things and pay to have them professionally altered. It probably works out cheaper than my DIY attempts would, as this way, nothing is ruined.

For hems you need to zigzag over the cut edge

I zig zag before I make the cut, then cut up to it. Mainly because my machine tends to runkle the edge if I do it afterwards.

@Etulosba absolutely there are obviously variations depends on the fabric.

Don't assume just because you have done something yourself it will be a botched/ obvious/DIY effort. Until recent years most people routinely made or mended their clothes. It's not that hard.

I'm self taught but have been doing it since I was a kid. I've always been small and topped out at 4'11
Petite ranges have always been scarce and a bit random so it's a skill that just takes practice.
When I was younger (teens/twenties) I made lots of clothes too as I was a size 4/6 but with big boobs that coupled with being short meant clothes were impossible to buy.
I have a sewing machine but often if it's something small will do it by hand with invisible stitching
It's all about practice or doing what my short friend does and pay somebody else to alter everything.