Comments on: How to work with Strechy Fabric?

Question: How to work with Strechy Fabric?

cmchap — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:04:24 -0800

For a friend: What kind of thread do you use to hem stretchy pants? Any pointers on this would help.

My friend is a glorious 5-foot 1-inch tall, and has to hem her jeans. Are there special sewing skills/materials/tools that go along with hemming/sewing stretchy fabric?

By: sulaine

sulaine — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:14:54 -0800

You want to use a longer stitch length than normal. But since the hem of the pants is unlikely to stretch that much, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

By: oneirodynia

oneirodynia — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:34:54 -0800

It depends- does the hem need to stretch to fit over her foot because they are super skin tight jeans? If not, use a catchstitch (shown at the bottom of the page). It has a bit of give and works well for all types of hems. If they really do need to stretch, I would probably use a machine stretch stitch like zigzag or blind hem. If that's not possible, fold a deep cuff to the inside, iron, and tack at the two seams.

By: amyms

amyms — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:57:42 -0800

She could try using fusible web instead of sewing.

By: peggynature

peggynature — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:59:45 -0800

You use regular thread, but you use a zig-zag stitch for stretchy fabrics.

That said, I have to hem my jeans all the time, and even though most of them are stretchy denim, they're not really stretchy enough to justify the zig-zag stitch. What I do is cut off the extra fabric, and then use golden-coloured thread to mimic the original hemming of the jeans. In this case, I just use a plain old straight stitch, maybe a bit longer and looser than usual. (Personally, I think jeans look weird when someone hems them up with an invisible hem. It's just not how they'd ever be sold in the store.)

If she's hemming on a sewing machine, she should use a denim needle (I often don't, but do so at your own risk) to prevent it breaking.

By: nicwolff

nicwolff — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:10:39 -0800

Ideally you'd use a serger and a cover stitch. The problem with doing this on an ordinary sewing machine with a wide zig-zag stitch is that the stitch will be visible on the outside of the leg. You can do this by hand with a stitch that takes a short visible straight stitch in the leg and then a long zig-zag to catch the edge but it'll take a while.

[On preview, peggynature's answer makes good points - jeans should have an obvious hem or they'll look pretty '70s!]

By: jacquilynne

jacquilynne — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:31:32 -0800

If I'm sewing something stretchy, I often use wooly nylon or a triple stitch, but those don't really apply to hemming jeans, even stretch denim.

What you do want for denim, though, is YLI topstitching thread (that's just a random link, I don't recommend that particular site). It's bulkier and available in jean-like colours so you can match the original threads on the jeans.

By: cucumberfresh

cucumberfresh — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:34:56 -0800

I've used this awesome tutorial to maintain the original hem on jeans. It really works.

By: AV

AV — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:06:55 -0800

I do it the way cucumberfresh recommends. It works well for stretch denim, too. (Stretchier fabrics, like yoga pants, you'll want to do with a serger or a zigzag stitch on a regular machine.)