How to Hand Hem a Skirt the Easy Way

Hemming a skirt or dress is an easy-to-learn skill, even for beginning sewers. A well stitched hem is almost invisible from the outside, helps a skirt to hang properly, and will stay in place. While blind hemstitch is a great alternative for fine finishing of couture garments, I find that sewing a hem in place using a modified whip stitch is faster, provides great looking results, is easier for a beginning sewer and is less likely to tear or rip out. Here is a step by step guide to creating a great looking skirt or dress hem. These hemming directions work well for light and midweight woven cottons and blends.

Prepare the Garment for Hemming

If you're making a garment from scratch, no preparation is necessary. If you're altering a pre-existing garment by changing the hem length, use a seam ripper to carefully rip out the previous hem seams. Press the bottom of the garment flat to eliminate any fold or crease in the fabric.

Mark the Hem

If you are not fortunate enough to own a hem marker, get a friend to help. Put on the shoes you'll be wearing with the dress or skirt. Using a yardstick as a height marker, hold still with your hands by your sides as your friend crawls around you on the floor, holding the yardstick and marking the hem at the desired height with chalk or pins.

Press and Baste the Hem

Fold the hem under at the marked line and press in place, then pin the fold in place around the entire hemline. Try the garment on and make sure the hem looks even. If not, erase all the marks, press the hem flat and try marking it again. If the hem looks even, trim any extra fabric, allowing 1 ½ to 3 inches of fabric to remain between the raw edge and the fold line. Unfold the hem and press ½" from the raw edge, then refold the hem and press again. Baste in place. Try the skirt on one more time just to make sure it's even and hangs well.

Stitch the Hem

The hem is hand stitched. Using a thread color that matches the garment, secure the thread to the hem fabric. Using a whip stitch, stitch deeply through the hem, then through just a few threads of the skirt, working around the hem as you sew. The tiny stitches through the skirt will be almost invisible from the outside, and the deep stitches in the hem fabric will help to hold it securely. This stitch is easier to master and do quickly than a blind hem stitch and looks much better than a machine stitched hem.