I tried to ignore the fact that it had shrunk in length and wore it anyway but found myself tugging at the hemline all day to avoid a belly flash. It isn't impossibly short, but short enough to bug me.
Enter: Ruffled Hemline. The answer to my how-to-make-a-short-shirt longer dilemma.
Okay, this is what it looked like before:
And this is what it looks like now:
A simple, yet stylish solution to add length.
No more tugging on my shirt to keep it down.
No belly flashes. Whew!
Have a short shirt that needs a little length? Here's how:
First measure your shirt all the way around. *Write that number down and double it. That's how long you need your strip for the ruffle to be. If needed, you can cut shorter strips and sew them together, like I did.
Decide how much longer you want to make your shirt. That will be your **width.
Cut up an old t-shirt into strips, based on your *Length and **Width measurements. I made my strips 3-1/2 in. wide and 48" long for front and the same for the back.
And P.S.? If you ever feel inferior and think the clothes you sew don't turn out perfectly? Look at this wonky seam. I knew this t-shirt always felt a little twisted. This is the laid flat. Whoever sewed this shirt was on crack.
Anywho, I cut a bunch of pieces for my ruffle, from a clearance rack white t-shirt (light weight)
FYI - for jersey, I use a ball point needle. Regular needles can make holes in your fabric.
After ironing the ruffle pieces I pinned/sewed them together to create one long strip.
And used a zig zag stitch to tack down the seamed edges.
(sorry, I had to improvise with this picture, the zig zag wasn't actually that wide, but you get the idea)
I ruffled the long strip on my machine.
Using the tightest tension
And longest stitch length
It creates the ruffle for you.
And sewed the ruffle on with zig zag stitch (gives jersey a little more movement), right over the gathered stitch.
Here's a close up.
But that's just me. :)
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Thanks for the fun idea to tackle a frustrating problem. My closet is full of too short tops which were actually too short to begin with. It's hard to find tops that are long enough for tall,plus size women. I really appreciate your suggestions! Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comment! I hope this tip helps! :)
DeleteNow you can think of an easy way to make short sleeves longer and my life happier .....:-)!
ReplyDeleteWho knows, maybe you could add a band to you sleeve like I did with my new t-shirt?? :)
Deletehttp://shannonsews.blogspot.com/2013/04/sew-your-own-t-shirt-stripes-for-spring.html