Sewing a hem on a knit skirt is easier than hemming a skirt made from woven fabric because you don't have to finish the raw edge to keep it from raveling. When woven fabrics are cut, the weave of the threads is disturbed, resulting in threads that will work free and dangle. Because of the way knits are manufactured, this does not happen. If you were hemming a skirt made from woven fabric such as linen, you would first have to turn and stitch, zigzag, pink or serge the raw edge. You can skip that step on a knit skirt.
Instructions
1. Try on the skirt. Fold under the hem to the desired finished length. Pin in place. Remove the skirt.
2. Make a series of dashes with tailor's chalk 1½ inches away from the pins. Cut along this line.
3. Use a steam iron to lightly press the hem in place. If the skirt is flared, gently gather the excess fabric and hold a steam iron over the hem to coax the fabric flat.
4. Thread a needle with an approximately 18-inch length of thread. At a skirt seam, secure the thread by making several small stitches in one place.
5. Sew around the edge of the hem using a catch stitch. Insert the needle under a few threads of the skirt ? inch above the raw hem edge and ½ inch away from the starting point where you secured the thread. Move the thread another ½ inch and catch the top edge of the hem. Move the needle ½ inch again and catch a few threads of the skirt. Repeat. You will be making a zigzag pattern with the thread.
6. When you have about 4 inches of thread remaining, secure the thread on the hem and snip off excess thread. Re-thread the needle and secure the new thread where the old thread ended. Catch a few threads of the skirt at this point. Move the needle ½ inch away from your stopping point and catch the edge of the hem. Continue hemming around the entire skirt. When you reach your starting point at the skirt seam, secure the thread and snip it off.
Tags: secure thread, away from, threads skirt, catch edge, from woven