Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Altered Hem Second Finish--1st Quarter FAL (Finish-A-Long) 2018

Covering the original hemline with ribbon
Miss J is growing so fast that this dress became a tunic top way too soon!

We spent an afternoon clipping the hem stitches so the stitches would be easier to remove. J liked using the seam ripper; but counting seven stitches and using the tool again became old too fast! She thought that pulling the long bobbin thread was cool though!

Adding lace to the bottom edge lengthened
the dress six inches
The hem was double so we were able to gain about four inches; but, we needed more length. I had a piece of gathered lace that came from the guild free table. I thought it would work. J agreed that she liked it. When I started to pin the trim in place, I found that there were some flaws.  Well, it was "free" so I can't complain too much!

The flaws were that the edge wasn't gathered in a couple spots. The edge finish was missing in several sections and the lace was sliced in two places.

Finished view
Miss J modeling her dress
I decided that I would place the edge of the lace under the hem line which would cover the unfinished area. I also ran a gathering thread along the areas that had been missed and gathered the edge myself. I made sure the "slice" became part of the seam allowance. The fixes took extra time. In the end it worked to use the lace! I like how much interest the lace added to her dress. The lace also extended the hemline an additional two inches. To cover the original hemline, we added a piece of pink ribbon. Miss J loved this part of the alteration! The lace was free as I've had the pink ribbon in my craft stash for 25 years! This alteration didn't cost anything more than thread and time!

I spent about three hours on this alteration. This was goal number 12 on my 1st Quarter FAL list. You can read the list here.

This dress is ready again for Miss J to wear when she is out and about!


6 comments:

Nancy said...

What a stylish way to extend the hem! Love it!

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

Thanks, Nancy. Miss J can keep on growing! :)

BJ said...

adoreable and inventive way to manage the extension.

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

BJ, Thanks. The best part of the extension was it was FREE! :)

Ella said...

That's a fabulous solution to keep a garment in wear! On behalf of the Finish-A-Long crew, congrats on the finish and thank you for joining in!

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

Ella, It's been fun to see her wear it as a dress rather than as a tunic top with tights although that will be coming soon as she is growing like a weed! I too have a Tula Butterfly to quilt. It is great that yours is finished and I loved your Nessie quilt. I hope your wrist is completely healed! Thanks for stopping by!