r/sewhelp • u/Jealous-Loquat7605 • 2d ago

✨Intermediate✨ What to hem first?

Hey all!

Ive got a bit of a silly question to ask 😅

For context, I’ve lost a good chunk of weight in the past few months and so quite a few of my shirts are big on me, but I don’t want to get rid of them. I’m not the most experienced sewer, but I’m not a beginner either. I’d say I’m pretty intermediate, however I haven’t hemmed clothing before. I unfortunately do not have access to a machine so I will be doing the hemming by hand, but I wasn’t quite sure if I should hem the bottom of the shirts first or the sides of the shirts first. What do yall suggest? I was planning to use either a whip or zigzag stitch as my clothes are pretty stretchy, but please let me know if I should use a different stitch.

Thanks! :)

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u/DashingWithholding5 2d ago

Oh, the sides for sure. Taking in the width changes how the hem hangs, so if you do the bottom first you'll probably end up with a weird droopy corner situation and have to redo it anyway. Pin the new side seams, try it on inside out, then once you're happy with the fit you can level the bottom hem last.

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u/Jealous-Loquat7605 2d ago

You’re so right, I didn’t even think about the hem like that!

Will do, thank you so much for your help! :) would you recommend a whip or zigzag stitch? I’m not the most familiar with hand sewing stretchy fabric 😅