how do you hem or take up a pleated skirt?

Question

i found this wonderful hounds tooth pleated skirt at goodwill. the only problem is is that it comes to about my ankle. (way to long for a teen) so what i want to do is take it up to my knees without destroying the pleats. how do i do this. by the way i have a sewing machine and i can hand sew. thnx.

Answer 1

How you handle pleats at the hemline depends on whether the

pleat is folded or has a seam, or seams.



Folded pleats are constructed in the following manner:



Step 1: Fit the garment and establish the hemline.

Step 2: Remove the garment and mark the hemline, using

double tailor tacks for marking it across pleats. Trim the hem to

the desired depth.

Step 3: Remove the pleat tacking and open up the pleat, snipping

the tailor tacks between layers so that the hem tacking line can be seen on all the pleat folds.

Step 4: Turn up the hem, press, and finish.

Step 5: Fold the pleat into position. Work a cross-stitch tack on the right side. Press well.

Step 6: On the wrong side of the garment, edge stitch the pleat fold from hem upward to the full length of pleat. This helps to hold the pleat in position during wear.



Pleats with a seam are constructed in the following manner:



Steps 1 through 3. Follow the instructions for Steps 1 through 3

above.

Step 4: Mark the hem turning depth above the hemline on the pleat. Clip the seam allowances at this point.



Hem Turning Depth Marked and Seam Allowance Clipped



Step 5: Press the seam allowances open below the clip and trim to about 1/4 in.

Step 6: Follow the instructions for Step 5 (folded pleats).

Step 7: On the wrong side, edge stitch the pleat fold in the hem through all thicknesses.

Step 8: Finish the clips with a loop stitch. Completed pleat from the wrong side.

Answer 2

There are 2 basic approaches to shortening a pleated shirt - raising the hem or lowering the waistband.

In many cases, it's going to be easier to lower the waist rather than to raise the hem. If the current pleats are stitched down, you'll have to decide whether you want to re-stitch afterwards or leave them loose. Basically, you remove the waistband and zipper, cut the excess length off at the TOP of the skirt following the original waist curve, then reattach the zipper and the waistband (can be done mostly with sewing machine), and re-stitch pleats if desired. Here's a link which describes the process.

http://www.sewnews.com/library/sewnews/qa/aaqa0200a.htm

To actually raise the hem pretty much requires pressing the pleats out in the area of the new hem (be sure to use a pressing cloth on wool), then cutting and turning and hemming (by hand - looks much better), then re-pleating.

Answer 3

Can you take off the waistband and cut off the top of the skirt, then resew the waistband? That's usually the easiest.



Otherwise, mark the hemline, add the hem allowance, baste in most of the pleat, cut off the extra fabric, turn and stitch the hem, and press in the pleats again. Unless you've got a clapper and tailor's board, it's probably easiest to send it to the dry cleaners for "press only".

Answer 4

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ok. i do this alot since i go to private. pin your skirt evenly and keep it there. put it on an ironing board and iron the bottom hem flat. once your done sew it all around.