Monday, March 4, 2013

how to tailor a shirt with no sewing

Let me just tell you how much my life is going to be changed now that I've figured out this beyond simple little trick.

I'm in the middle of making curtains that use a temporary "hemming bond" thing, which is basically a strip that you iron between two materials and it bonds them together. When I found a tank top I really enjoyed in F21 clearance that was way too big, I decided to pick up the permanent version of the tape.

Unfortunately I'm stupid and forgot to take a picture of the shirt before, but you should know it was super baggy.

Someone without ADD would probably take the time to measure, maybe do some pinning, or at least figure out how much they should take it in.


Not me. I'm too antsy for all that. I turned the shirt inside out, placed the tape about an inch in from the seam, and put the iron to work.


I did it on both sides before I even checked to see if it worked/looked good. I got really lucky.


Seriously, the entire process took 5 minutes. Even if I added in measuring, it'd take no more than 15 minutes. AND! A roll of 10 yards of the stuff is less than $2. That's a lot of tailoring you can do. Simple tanks and hem jobs are obviously pretty easy/straight... getting fancy might be a little more difficult, but I'll let you know the next time I try!

Here's the finished result/outfit, inspired by last week's What Ya Wearin Wednesday!


[Yeah, I'm a skank with my bra straps showing. Hush it, mother.]


I did add a black blazer when I went out, but that would defeat the purpose of showing off that awesome tank I got for $5. 

 And here's my make-up, just for some s's and g's. 


I just did three different greys on the top with my usual black liquid liner, and a bright teal/aqua liner from Urban Decay on the bottom. My necklaces are from all over the place, and my clutch is from NY&C. 

So next time you're shopping and something is a little too big, stop your fretting and tape it up! Especially if you'll measure everything before fusing. It's totally worth a couple minutes of your time.

love,
elizabethany

*Photography note* I am fully aware my camera settings are totally off and making the quality of them grainy, and the worst part is that I know what's wrong and kinda how to fix it... I just need to stop being lazy and find a better place to start taking these pictures. Turns out the office bathroom isn't so great.


8 comments:

Panty Buns said...

That's amazing! The heat-n-bond hem fusible web tape would be perfect for me because I can't sew for beans and I'm always buying the wrong size.

Stephanie said...

Hey Elizabeth, can you go into a little more detail about where to put the tape? Do you need to put two strips on each side or one? Great post!! Thanks

Elizabeth J. Neal said...

Apologies for the silence at the moment - a combination of a heavy workload, dancing events plus a few sewing projects going awry meant there wasn't much to show right now. sewing machine for beginners

James Gerber said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
James Gerber said...

Great informations on sew. I am currently doing some research and found exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for guide!http://www.mybesthomeespressomachine.net/

Anonymous said...

That's a cool idea. Thanks.

Embroidery&Sewing said...

Great tutorial, you make it look so easy. see here

Nickole Dinardo said...

I just realized that various different thoughts shared on this are post are helpful for the readers. Have a look at John Hao link to my blog page.