It always inevitably happens to one of my favorite skirts. The hem of the skirt comes apart in a small section which I continue to ignore until it unravels so badly that I’m left with a “fashion don’t.” Don’t ask me why I wait so long. Maybe I imagine the hem will heal itself.
I rarely take clothes to the dry cleaners to get fixed. I mean, $10–$20 for hemming here and there adds up! To fix my skirt situation, I simply need to hand-sew a blind hem, sometimes also referred to as an invisible hem. (Yes, you can do this on your sewing machine but sometimes there’s nothing more satisfying and soothing than doing a quick fix by hand, no?) I learned this hand-sewing technique from my mom, who was constantly hemming my Catholic school uniform from too much play or to extend the length of my jumper as I grew taller. Now you can use this same quick-fix technique for your skirts and dresses!
Materials
Sewing needle
Thread to match skirt or dress
Scissors
Pins
Here’s how to hand-sew a blind hem:
1. Pin down your hem area to keep it secure. You can also use Wonder Tape to secure the hem. (I love it because it saves me from pinning, and it completely dissolves in the first washing of the garment.)
2. Thread your needle with thread that’s the closest match in color to your skirt. For purposes of this tutorial, I’m using red thread so you can see the stitches.
3. Start your hem from the side seam of your skirt. Place the needle under and up through the top seam of the skirt.
4. Now, with the tip of the needle, grab only a tiny part of the back fabric (which is the front of the skirt) and pull through the thread.
5. Go about ½" and grab a small part of the hem and a tiny part of the back fabric.
6. Pull the needle and thread through slowly so that the stitch is secure. Don’t pull it too tight or else your fabric will pucker.
7. Repeat this across the skirt until you reach the other side seam. Make a knot and cut any excess thread.
Now let’s turn over the skirt. You can see the blind hem through all the very tiny red dots on the front. In fact, you can’t even really see most of the red dots. By using a thread color that matches your skirt or dress, your hem will be completely invisible! So here it is, an instant skirt fix that’s fun to do!
47 thoughts on “How To: Hand-Sew a Blind Hem”
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i think this is a great way to sew a hem line, thanks for posting
Thanks for the great info. I used this stitch to repair the hem on my pants. The photos and instructions you gave were really clear and helpful. I have only done a small amount of sewing and was able to do this easily on my first try. Thanks again!
It is 10:30 at night and my daughter needs her pants hemmed. I have no idea how to do this without it looking ridiculous. Thanks to this post I have completed one pant leg and my daughter is quite impresses. On the next one! Thanks for the help.
thank you for sharing these instructions. i am going to put them to use later on today!
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Thanks for posting this. I used your tutorial a few months ago to hem some pants and everything turned out great. I had to hem some more pants today, but had forgotten how. I found your tutorial again by searching “skirt blind hem hand sew red thread.” I’m glad I found it again – this page is now bookmarked. Thanks!
This is so handy! Now I can go hem my pants with confidence! Thanks for posting. :-)
I’ve done some hand mending and machine sewing, but this was my first time hemming my own pants. Thanks for posting such easy to follow steps and photos! My blind stitch turned out great!
Thanks so much!!! Since I absolutely hate sewing….I do not have a machine and must now hem a skirt….so….I will give this a try (I’m sure this method will work)! The photos are MOST HELPFUL!!!! Again..thanks so much!
Thank you thank you thank you! I’ve never sewn, and my husband approached me and kindly-but-totally-seriously asked, ‘Think you could learn how to fix my pants?’ He wears the same pair of nice slacks every day and the hem busted. Now, I can present him with fixed pants when he comes home!! Thanks for helping me save the day!!
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!
If this was a CORRECT blind hem stitch, you would not see stitches on the front. This is the problem with the internet, everyone poses as an expert and people end up doing things very sloppily or incorrect. This is INCORRECT.
So where’s your tutorial on how to do it CORRECTLY?
Great pictures and instructions were simply enough, thank you!
[…] it straight in your brain, and you'll wonder why you've never used the blind hem stitch HowTo: HandSew a Blind Hem | MAKE 6 Mar 2009 To fix my skirt situation, I simply need to handsew a blind hem, Pull the needle and […]
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