Mydressuptrunk question - How to hem?? - Sewing people needed!

[**pixie**]

So I have ordered 4 dresses, the red cloak, and the slip from the ebay store. I should be receiving them any day. I was debating between the size M and L and went for the L.

I know that I will have to hem the dresses. I can use the sticky tape stitchwitchery stuff myself but if they have to be sewn I might have to take them somewhere. I was hoping that as DD grew I could just "unhem" them but I don't know if that sticky tape stuff will ruin the dresses. Or conversely if little pin holes will show in the satiny material if unhemmed. Can you tell that I know very little about sewing?

So my question is ... how did you, or would you, hem these dresses?

 

[NotUrsula]

Depends on the dress design, but if you are going for growth room you might want to try pleating the skirt of the dress horizontally in decorative tucks. The tucks can be let out as the child grows. If you are going to hem to the wrong side, do it by hand with a catchstitch. The sewing thread should not show on the right side because you never push the needle all the way through to the right side of the fabric, you just catch a few of the wrong-side weft threads on your needle. (BTW, fusible web will show through on satin, it won't look too nice.)

Remember that any time you press down a crease you are going to have a wear line when you take the stitching out again, you can either ignore it or use thin matching trim on top to hide it after it appears. (Lace and soutache braids work well for that, but be sure to buy sufficient to hide all the tuck lines at one time, so that you don't end up with mismatched braid or lace.)

Do a google search on "catch stitch" -- you'll find some diagrams to show you how. You'll need to buy some very fine needles and a hem gauge.