About those Hemlines!

Last week I had to do a second fitting on one of my clients to check the hemline.  I momentarily panicked seeing a front hem 1" shorter than what was measured at the previous fitting.  I spent a good 45 minutes at the previous fitting checking and rechecking my hemline pins.  It was perfect that day.  I knew there were no miscalculations on my end, then it dawned on me:

It was a "Perfect Posture" issue.   

Two things will "change" a hemline length:

1. Perfect Posture
2. Gaining or losing weight

My client was looking in the mirror as I was checking her hem and was assuming a perfect posture stance throwing her shoulders back which can sometimes elongate the torso, thus raising the hemline.  Today's teens tend to have the rolled, forward shoulder stance due to a combination of factors like computer work, sitting at a school desk during the day, and constantly being slumped over while texting.  Attaining the perfect posture stance lasts for maybe a minute.  Then that stance becomes uncomfortable, they become more comfortable, and their "normal stance" takes over. 

One thing I will NOT tell my clients to do is, "Stand up straight!"  It doesn't work.  They will not maintain that posture during the entire prom event.  Their normal posture takes right over.  And that is what I want--normal posture when I'm fitting prom dresses.  Sometimes perfect posture will "cure" some other appearance issue which needs to be brought up, but perfect posture doesn't help me at all when I'm working on a hemline.  I need to hem a gown with normal posture.

The second thing that will change a hemline once the gown has been altered is weight.  How is this so?  I'll use balloons as my example, but one could use a baseball, softball, and basketball instead of balloons for this example as well.  Blow up a balloon about halfway, seal it, then put it on the floor.  Now cut a square of fabric to cover the balloon so some of the edges hit the floor.  Blow up a second balloon twice the size of the first balloon, place it on the floor, and cover the balloon with the SAME PIECE OF FABRIC.  Do the fabric edges touch the floor?  NO!  Because the balloon has grown in size.  Now you tell me, what would happen to the fabric edges if the second balloon was smaller than the original balloon?

Another example would be to examine dress or top hemlines.  See my rough-sketch hand drawing:

What happens to pregnant ladies as their tummies expand?  Their front hemline rises (assuming it's not a maternity top or dress), and if you look at a pregnant woman from a side angle wearing a regular (non-pregnancy) shirt, you will notice their front hemline is higher than the back because it takes more fabric to cover their expanding bellies.  It not only happens on pregnant women, it also happens on women who carry a lot of excess weight in their belly area and/or large-busted women.  Men are not immune from this problem either.

That is exactly what happens with body bulges from gaining weight.  The hemline will rise.  This has given me pause to consider bringing a scale along to my fittings to check for weight gain/loss.  I don't control someone else's weight, but the dress I alter is a reflection of my work and their weight gain has a direct bearing on the appearance of my work. 

The reverse is also true.  If a girl loses the weight, the dress hemline may appear longer.  The example I give for this is one most of us women are familiar with--snug jeans.  Snug jeans have a crotch seam that hugs the body.  If weight is lost, less fabric is needed to mold around booty, hip, and tummy curves.  Thus, the jeans become looser, the crotch seam is not as snug and begins to drop away from the body and hang lower, and the hemline of the pants suddenly seem to grow longer.  (No, sorry to say you did not get taller, but your tummy and tush did get smaller lol.)

Bumps and bulges are also a reason why many gowns cannot be altered the same hemline amount all the way around the dress.  Some areas of the hemline will have deeper hem allowance than others depending on where body fullness occurs.  This is why I need to hem a gown while on a body. Most girls have curves and the dress needs to be hemmed to accommodate their curves wherever they may be. 

So, to wrap things up for this post, two things that can have an impact on altered hemlines are posture and weight gain or loss.  Give me normal, relaxed posture and maintain the weight.  Anything more than 5 lbs. can affect the altered hemline depending on body type and where a girl tends to put on weight.  Follow those two basic rules for a perfect prom-day look, and both of us will be very happy :) !

Chloe's Dress

If there was ever a girl with an ethereal look, it would definitely be Chloe!  She's so naturally pretty and looks heavenly in this light, mint-colored dress.

She needed a few alterations to perfect the fit before prom day:

• Shorten the single shoulder strap
• Tighten the side seams above the waist
• Hem the dress and lining

Note her dress has a beautiful, decorative panel.  Performing alterations on heavily beaded and sequined areas typically run above the standard price for an alteration.  It's not just simple stitching, but removing beads and sequins in the areas to be altered, reinforcing the beads and sequins that aren't going to be removed, performing the alteration, then reattaching beads and sequins in the altered areas.  This is tedious work that takes time, and remember, time = $.

The dress lining was hemmed a little shorter than the new dress hem for ease in walking.  This is one of those dresses where I wouldn't hem the lining any more than a 1" difference from the dress due to the sheer outside fabric.  It's all about the heels though.  Heel height and dressy shoes will help a girl decide an appropriate hemline.

Speaking of hemlines, there are two basic hemlines I will perform on prom dresses.  One is the narrow hem using the narrow hemmer foot on a conventional sewing machine (sometimes a finicky task especially on pesky bias curves) and the other is using a serger with regular or decorative threads for a rolled hem.  Which is easy peasy?  The serged rolled hem, of course!  The much pickier of the two is using the narrow hemmer.   Last year (for the first time), I used my coverstitch machine on a prom dress made out of a knit which I have yet to review.  Sometimes I explain what type of hem I plan on using based on certain circumstances, although sometimes I'm not sure at the initial consult.  My intentions are to keep the look of the original hem if possible.  I'm fairly sure I used both types of hems on this dress.

Take another look at Chloe on the day of the prom.  She is an ethereal beauty in a dress that is perfectly suited for her.  She has a fabulous figure, is well proportioned, and is one of those girls who could rock virtually any prom dress style.  She has an elegant dress fitted to her figure and looks amazing!  She's just gorgeous.

Karly's Dress (No. 2)

Karly attended two proms, two different years, requiring two different dresses.  I say "require" because this is something some dads do not understand.  Most teenage girls will tell you it is unacceptable to wear the same prom dress two years in a row.  It's just not going to happen ;) .  Moms understand.  They don't like it (for monetary reasons), but they completely understand about the wearing-the-same-dress-twice rule.

I already reviewed her second prom dress, but this was the first one she purchased for the prom she attended during her Junior year of high school.

Here she is in her lovely dress:

The was the first prom dress I altered several years ago, and I can't remember if I had to alter the straps, however, the dress needed hemming and a bustle.  It also had another issue that needs to be discussed in a bit.

The dress hem had two layers: the lining and the dress fabric which is typical.  Lucky for me, both were free hanging meaning they were not attached with the exception of a couple of swing tacks that could be easily clipped to separate the two.  Her heels were about 3" high, and she opted for a floor-skimming hem length for the dress.  The lining, however, was hemmed a good 4" higher than the dress hem.  Rather than have two hems that could get caught in a heel, the only concern was the dress itself.

This shouldn't be done for every dress particularly if the dress fabric is somewhat sheer and delicate.  That's when I would hem the lining just a smidge shorter (1/4-1/2") than the dress.  Sheer fabric needs the protection of the lining.  The dress fabric for Karly's dress was a medium-weight knit fabric which wouldn't be excessively damaged by a heel.  So, to recap the hemline length, the dress hem skimmed the floor, the lining was hemmed 4" shorter than the dress.

Once the dress was hemmed, we could tackle the bustle.  We experimented with a few options, and she chose this lovely bustle style which added further emphasis to the beautiful beaded, crystal design right above her bum.  The photos don't do the bustle style justice.  The fabric had beautiful drape and fell in soft folds which produced a very elegant look.  She received several compliments on her bustle, and this was the dress that inspired Kristin to ask me to bustle her dress.

There is one issue I'd like to discuss regarding this dress bustle.  The bustle design we used produced side seams that swing to the back.  On a perfectly fitted dress, side seams should hang straight.  Is anyone going to notice and tell her, "Gee Karly.  Your side seams are swinging backward."?  NO!   Not unless they're an Alterations Specialist or a home sewer that knows a thing or two about the fundamentals of fit ;) .  Is it going to matter?  Let's see.  Does the side seam issue affect walking?  No.  Does it affect the overall design and silhouette of the dress?  No.  Is it noticeable?  No.  Now that we both know this is happening, does she care?  No.  Now I'm going to ask you readers--did you notice the side seam issue right away, or did you pick up on it after I mentioned it?  'Nuf said.

The bustle alteration verdict:  the side seam swinging backward did not matter to the wearer and did not affect the overall fit, silhouette, and movement in the dress.  Therefore, it was a non-issue. 
 
There is yet another issue with this dress, and I'm not sure if anyone picked up on it right away.  The bust cups do not match the shape of her breasts.  She decided to tape everything in place with body tape, but in retrospect I should have padded the cups to angle the girls inward to fill out dress or take in a seam for a closer fit.  This was the first dress I altered and at the time, and when we discussed taping to fit it should have been as a test during a fitting.  It wasn't, and looking at these pics post prom, I see the cups would have benefited from additional padding.  It was further confirmed when she told me the tape became itchy while she was at the prom so she was ripped it off and discarded the tape in the trash.  This was a learning moment for me.  If it doesn't look right during a fitting, address it during the fitting and do the alteration.  Don't assume tape will produce the right look on prom day.  Leave nothing to chance.

Overall, the dress looked lovely, and Karly looked beautiful the day of the prom.