What ?!?!?
03-20-2014, 05:52 PM
#44
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 577
When my aunt saw my quilting, she was impressed and couldn't stop exclaiming on how I "taught myself to sew". I tried to explain to her that I "quilt", I don't really "sew". She, of course, got a kick out of it. But it's true - I don't know how to hem pants or make or fix clothes, but give me some blocks and I'm all over that scant 1/4 inch seam!
03-20-2014, 05:56 PM
#45
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Dallas area, Texas, USA
Posts: 3,042
If I'm forced to hem anything for myself, I opt for the Stitch Witchery (iron on hem fusible web). It works for me! Last summer my DH noticed that all his shorts were worn, torn and/or faded so he went out and bought I think 6 pairs when they were on sale. He's very picky about the length because if they hit the back of his knee a certain way they will mess up his golf swing. By the time I got the last pair hemmed (all by machine, of course) I was getting pretty proficient at it, but if it's for me, I'll still probably go for the Stitch Witchery. I have a lifetime supply of the stuff, some of it inherited from my mom in 1986, and luckily it keeps.
Edited to add that when I do hem pants, I have the person put them on inside out so that I can pin them to the outside. This makes it quite a bit simpler for me and they're less likely to get stuck with a pin. This does put the pant legs on the wrong leg, so if there's any possibility that the person's legs are not the same length, don't do it. This process easily illustrates why doing our own is a greater pain than doing someone else's. For mine, I'm forced to measure the inseam, pin and then try on before sewing, and might have to do that more than once because of the way different ones fit.
A lot of us quilters don't use free arm machines, and that's another reason not to hem pants.
Edited to add that when I do hem pants, I have the person put them on inside out so that I can pin them to the outside. This makes it quite a bit simpler for me and they're less likely to get stuck with a pin. This does put the pant legs on the wrong leg, so if there's any possibility that the person's legs are not the same length, don't do it. This process easily illustrates why doing our own is a greater pain than doing someone else's. For mine, I'm forced to measure the inseam, pin and then try on before sewing, and might have to do that more than once because of the way different ones fit.
A lot of us quilters don't use free arm machines, and that's another reason not to hem pants.
Last edited by Rose_P; 03-20-2014 at 06:12 PM.
03-21-2014, 01:04 PM
#48
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: New England
Posts: 865
I've really enjoyed the responses here. We have some very witty people on this list! Not to mention some husbands with a sense of humor.
I sewed only clothing from the time I was a kid (under Grandma's watchful eye) until I discovered quilting in 1991. Since then, I've done very little with clothing, less with mending, and not a week has gone by that I haven't quilted. I confess, I have two pairs of nice dress pants in my sewing room that I've never worn and guess why? Because they need to be hemmed! And I know how to hem!
Here's a funny story: As a quilter who seldom worked on clothes anymore, I once made a pair of tailored grey slacks with zipper, seam pockets, and pleats, and they fit perfectly. I was pleased with them and thought what a nice addition they would be to my wardrobe. I started to hem them, and I remember how confident I was that my measurement was correct. I did NOT measure twice and then cut once as I always did before I started to quilt. I just took that rotary cutter, put the ruler on them, and cut. Well, I didn't like the results at all but did hem and wear them -- my new pair of short cropped capri pants! LOL
Cricket
I sewed only clothing from the time I was a kid (under Grandma's watchful eye) until I discovered quilting in 1991. Since then, I've done very little with clothing, less with mending, and not a week has gone by that I haven't quilted. I confess, I have two pairs of nice dress pants in my sewing room that I've never worn and guess why? Because they need to be hemmed! And I know how to hem!
Here's a funny story: As a quilter who seldom worked on clothes anymore, I once made a pair of tailored grey slacks with zipper, seam pockets, and pleats, and they fit perfectly. I was pleased with them and thought what a nice addition they would be to my wardrobe. I started to hem them, and I remember how confident I was that my measurement was correct. I did NOT measure twice and then cut once as I always did before I started to quilt. I just took that rotary cutter, put the ruler on them, and cut. Well, I didn't like the results at all but did hem and wear them -- my new pair of short cropped capri pants! LOL
Cricket
03-21-2014, 04:44 PM
#49
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 673
conversation at work led to "what are you doing the weekend?" in the operating room. the surgeon was flying down to florida. the circulating nurse was going to the cabin for the weekend. the assistant was going to a writer's workshop with his wife. the doc asked me what i was doing, and i replied, "i'm sewing curtains for my daughter's kitchen." and he stopped his work, he looked straight at me, and asked, "are you nuts? life is too short for sewing curtains." he finally stopped looking at me, and went back to work. it's four years later, and i still haven't sewn the curtains. life apparently IS too short...
