Sewing Thread

I have a skirt that is now slightly too big that I’d like to save but I’m not sure how to go about it. The skirt part is just one piece of cloth with one seam, but the waistband is an actual yoke with two seams and a zipper. There is zero stretch. It was made by a tailor in Kenya so hopefully it’s hand made enough I can alter it. It needs to come in about an inch. I’m happy to take better/different photos if that helps!

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If you’re hesitant to alter the zipper area you could do two little symmetrical tuck-dart things along the sides, just nipping in enough on each side?

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I’m nervous about darts because the yoke has two side seams (one along the zipper) but the skirt itself only has one. Would that look weird?

I think potentially taking it in along the zipper is the best way, I’m just intimidated.

I guess (and truly this is a guess) I should rip out the zipper and then reset it with 1” less at the top and the same seam allowance at the bottom? To make it a steeper triangle?

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This should work. You just want to stay true to the shape of the current seam at the zipper. If it’s curved keep the curve, etc. it’s the zipper at center back or the side?

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I wear it at the side (since there’s a matching seam on the other side) and it’s pretty straight. It seems well sewed, so ripping it out might take a while.

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If it was machine sewn, the bobbin thread will pull out easier, tug on both and see which slides.

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Ok trying this out will be my weekend project! Thank you!

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Has anyone tried sewing shirring/ smocking lines with elastic in the bobbin of their sewing machine? I’m intrigued as I’ve never tried it but my favourite shorts use it as the waistband and I don’t want to spend $70 on another pair…

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:scream: never considered it ! Sorry, I’m useless haha!

It is definitely possible to use elasticized thread in the bobbin to essentially make shirring. You use regular thread in the needle. I’ve never done it (sorry) but have seen it talked about quite a bit, so I would google around a bit and find some videos (there must be videos, there’s videos of everything these days). I have done shirring with non elasticized thread, but that was using a shirring foot on my 221 Featherweight. A shirring foot basically gathers the the fabric as you go. But I think with elasticized thread you don’t need it? Maybe?

I think I know the kind of waist you mean, I have a pair of running shorts (from a million years ago when I did that sort of thing) that have this sort of waistband - it is about 2" tall and has 4 lines of stitching.

Alternately, if the shirred area on the shorts is relatively narrow and can function as a casing, or you were willing to remove it and cut it down to, say, 1", and then reinsert it (which at first thought sounds like a lot of work but I think it could be done pretty piecemeal if you didn’t need the shorts immediately and were willing to work on it for just a little bit of time each day, because the steps aren’t that hard, per se, just potentially time consuming), you can easily insert some small-ish width no-roll elastic. I just did it for the baselayer “leggings”, it was easy, you can make it as “loose” as you like (fitting before you sew the ends together to your liking). For me (a relatively small-waisted individual), it took approximately 1 yard (~1 meter, approximately) of 3/4" no-roll elastic, which at the sort of “big box” fabric/craft store (JoAnn Fabric here in the US) costs about $5.50 per 3 yard package, so a cost of ~$1.75. (You should also be able to buy by the yard if you don’t want to buy an entire package, but that is extra effort if you don’t want to go to a store to get it but just order online.) You need the length of your waist (wherever the garment waist will sit on you) plus a few inches for fitting, then sew down securely an overlapping area and close up the casing where you inserted. You’ll likely end up having a few inches of additional waste since you’ll probably want it ultimately slightly smaller than your actual waist. It’s a bit more bulk, but doesn’t have to be that constricting, and possibly exactly your waist (just need elastic to get over the hips etc). However, this won’t work if the waistband area is really wide and you don’t want to do the whole cutting down the waistband casing thing.

Honestly I’d just google a bit and give it a go! But try on scrap fabric first, of similar weight and type as the shorts, if possible, to see how it will go (or even just using some scrap cotton if you had it, as I suspect your shorts are synthetic? but of similar weight). And then report back because I am curious about the use of elasticized thread for this purpose!!! If it didn’t go well, you could try with inserting an elastic. I personally would definitely be willing to try multiple things if the shorts are otherwise in good condition (because $70 is not insignificant, plus waste not want not, and all that jazz, and I might learn a new thing in the process). :slight_smile:

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Hm, an additional difficulty I thought of - the amount of gather will be dependent upon the stitch settings of the machine. I’m not sure you will be able to deduce that without just testing various stitch lengths and tensions (I believe you want to loosen the tension of the bobbin and also that the bobbin will need to be hand wound, but how tightly I don’t know), because you’ll want to match it as exactly as possible because you will be constrained by the amount of material that currently exists in the waistband.

I think… I would still try it but it would be “easier” (???) to remove the waistband piece from the rest of the shorts, shirr it, and then reattach it with like a whipstitch or invisible hem and maybe topstitch just at (above/below/not sure) the seam between the waistband and the rest of the shorts.

HOWEVER however, looking at my own pair, it looks like the waistband is not actually a separate piece but a continuation of the front (right side) of the fabric which is folded over and shirred and then sewn together on the inside (with overlocked edge) with the sort of lining piece. (Since mine are running shorts they actually have like a bathingsuit-type-lining, so it’s a bit odd, but I can clearly see what is happening). Because it is one continuous piece, you couldn’t just remove it as though it were separate. SO, it actually depends on the construction of yours what I would (personally) do. Shirring might still be preferable, but if it is one piece, you’d have to do it in place, and risk getting the amount of gathering right to match the original. Since mine is continuous along the front I probably would in this case pick out the seam on the inside that attaches it to the lining, remove all the shirring, possibly cut it down so that it is a narrower waistband, and insert no roll elastic, for the sake of sanity, and then use like a blind hem to reattach the new, smaller waistband to the inside lining with an invisible hem.

How is your waistband and lining (if there is one) constructed?

/novel

That is a big essay I will need time to digest and comprehend :slight_smile:
I will clarify though that I want to try the technique so I have a second pair of shorts for when these are in the wash, and to maybe make some skirts and bra-type-objects as they don’t seem to dig in the way other elastic does, and I’m a fussy clothes person.

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I’m hoping it works for you! Please let us know how it goes bc I’m very curious lol

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I will! First problem is getting some elastic thread.

This is the shorts. It looks like they folded over the piece of fabric, overlocker it together and then sewed several rows of elastic, before attaching to the legs

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If it is attached to the legs last, it looks like you would have to pick out the seam that attaches it to the legs, then pick out the individual gathering seams from the band. Because it is a separate piece from the legs it might be a lot easier than expected!!! It would be a lot easier to do the gathers unattached to the pants legs, I think?, and then reattach to the legs at the end.

If there is any gathering on the leg pieces, you might want to mark on them (on the leg pieces) where the sides fall, because it’s possible (???) once you remove the waistband it won’t be obvious anymore. (I’m assuming leg seams are on the inside of the legs but not the outside, but if there are leg seams on the outside also that’s a moot point, it will be obvious.)

I think she’s making all new shorts, not deconstructing existing ones? She just wants the new ones to look/act like the existing ones pictured.

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my curtains lost about 4 inch of the seam I used for the curtain rod, so I fixed that this evening. It’s been about fourteen years since I sewed them, which is pretty good lifespan for $20 fabric from a local sari shop. Apparently I did them with a running stitch the first time, but I decided to use a backstitch this time. Also, not sure where that orange thread ended up, but the cream works fine since it is mostly the border.

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lol oh oops. derity derp. :upside_down_face:

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I saw these for sale and they appeal to me greatly because I hate wrapping gifts and I hate the mess of all the unwrapped gifts that then have to be picked up after our gift-opening extravaganza on Christmas day. But the price did not appeal to me and then I thought, I could make that! Should not be hard to make a bag even for a beginning sewer like me. So that’s the plan, after I finish all the *%&# work required of me for my two grad school classes in a couple weeks.

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Yay! :smiley:

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