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Shortening a skirt

Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 10:28 am
by Sinned
Well, I've shortened my first skirt. My wife bought it for me from a charity shop and in its bought form I wouldn't wear it because it went down to mid-calf. So I lopped about 10" off the bottom. I didn't find that easy because the skirt is made in panels that sort of swirl to one side and it is very full so the hem was quite long. It is also lined.

Mistake - I thought that scissors were scissors were scissors, especially big ones. But the ones I used weren't proper dressmaking ones and weren't sharp enough so the bottom edge on both the skirt and lining looked a bit ragged.

Not a problem I thought as I could make up for this when I hemmed the lining and skirt. I helped MOH a few years ago, well, more than a few years ago, really, to redo the hems on some skirts of hers so I know how to sew a hem manually ( without a sewing machine ). That's fine, but it took me absolutely ages to get the hems right ( because the bottoms weren't level ) so that they were both level. Now completed and looks fine for me now - just above the knee and looks great. I'm happy eventually with my workmanship.

Re: Shortening a skirt

Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 2:22 pm
by rick401r
I was given a woman's wool kilt that was mid calf length. I took it to a seamstress who shortened it to 24 inches. She did an excellent job and gave me the scraps with which I created beltloops and a pair of flashes to match. Other than the fact that it opens from the left, it looks great.

Re: Shortening a skirt

Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 7:58 pm
by Sinned
I have a seamstress - MOH. She has taught me some elements of sewing and it's a project that was simple enough ( so I thought and would have been easier had I used the right tools ) and I wanted to do it myself. MOH has so many craft skills - can ice cakes to a professional standard, can make crepe flowers and so on that I get a bit jealous. OK, maybe she can't do dovetails for a drawer or skim a wall but then she probably doesn't want to. For my next project I would like to make a utility kilt but not in tartan. I like to learn new skills and not just hand things over to a hexpert.

Re: Shortening a skirt

Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 4:22 am
by skirted_in_SF
The last time I had a skirt to shorten, I took it to an alterations shop in the SF Chinatown. Five dollars later I had my new shorter skirt back and was offered the part that was trimmed off. I had pinned it to the length I wanted before taking it in.

Re: Shortening a skirt

Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 8:51 pm
by Wim Jansma
I don't like long skirts.
I only wear skirts with a length of 30 cm. If I have bought a longer skirt, than my wive shorten it.
My wive likes to see me in a short skirt, but only in the house and in our garden, certainly not in public. Thats for her a bridge too far !
Wim NL

Re: Shortening a skirt

Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2014 10:15 pm
by crfriend
Wim Jansma wrote:I don't like long skirts.
Length is very much a matter of taste, but very generally speaking skirts that hit around knee-length tend to be better accepted by wives and significant others than ones that amount to miniskirts.

There's nothing wrong with minis, mind, but it seems that some guys can't carry them very well (this author included) and that's probably down to body geometry.

Re: Shortening a skirt

Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2014 9:27 pm
by Wim Jansma
crfriend wrote:
Wim Jansma wrote:I don't like long skirts.
There's nothing wrong with minis, mind, but it seems that some guys can't carry them very well (this author included) and that's probably down to body geometry.
My minis are only possibly with good choozen undies.