Oh, crap. Emergency hemming assistance. (Need answer fast!)

In My Humble Opinion
1

My fancy sewing machine with the awesome hem stitch is not here. I can’t get to it tonight. Himself needs to be in a wedding tomorrow with shorter pants. I don’t have ANY of my sewing stuff. I’ve never done hand-done hems, anyway. (He’s like a little child, like “I need a two man horse costume. Tomorrow. I forgot to tell you.”)

It’s a pair of tuxedo pants (they won’t be wearing jackets - it’s pants and vests. It’s not really the wedding anyway, it’s the “we got married at the courthouse and are exchanging vows and partying now”. It seems fairly casual.) and I don’t have them handy to see what the fabric is. He’s bringing them over. I will have time tomorrow while I sit around with my thumb up my butt since it’s an out of town wedding and I don’t know anybody but the groom, and I only know him because he once threw up in my bathroom when the paint was brand new and it never quite came out.

What do I do? Press and safety pin? Double sided tape? I could probably get to Wal-Mart and grab some needles and thread if need be, but I’ve NEVER done a hand hem. I do excellent cross stitch but never any hand sewing at all. Is this the time for all those “no-sew” things they always have at the fabric store? We’ll have to leave in the morning before the real fabric stores open, so if I don’t have it at home (safety pins, masking tape) or can’t get it at Wal-Mart, we may be SOL.

2

I’d go the stitch witchery or spray adhesive route, myself. I can’t hand sew to save my life, and the hem stitch is…daunting. You don’t need a perfectly tailored hem here, you need something that looks good from about 6 feet away at the closest. Wal-Mart will have both of those things in the fabric section - I’d do Stitch Witchery (aka “fusible webbing” or “fusible hem tape”) if you have an iron, as it’s a little sturdier, but spray adhesive for fabric is quick and fairly sturdy, and doesn’t require ironing.

Did he rent the pants? If so, the rental place prob’ly has a little old lady on hand for last minute alterations. Might be easiest to pawn the job off on a professional.

3

Tape probably won’t hold. Pins will show on the outside. Maybe fusible web would work, or iron-on patches (on the inside of the pants, of course). Will you have access to an iron?

My husband’s done the same thing to me. I always ask him to try on his dress pants a couple days before the event, and he never does, and the pants are either too tight around the waist or too big. His weight yo-yo’s like a, like a – yo-yo!

4

No, they’re his groomsman’s gift. They’re from Men’s Wearhouse, and I TOLD him to call them and see if they’d hem them last week. Guess who just remembered that he’s not seven feet tall?

Since he does own them, will using the fusible stuff ruin them for a real hem? I intend to go back and make a real job of it at some point when I have my machine handy.

ETA - I can bring an iron - probably a smart idea anyway, seems nobody ever thinks about that at a wedding and somebody usually needs one.

ETAA - I’m a little worried about iron-on, though, as I assume the pants are wool and I don’t want shiny hems. Everybody will know he didn’t do it so it must be my work.

5

Since he owns them I’d go with the stitch witchery. That’s my favourite cheat in the world and it works if you buy the heavy duty stuff they sell at WalMart. Do it neatly enough and you won’t even need to worry about doing a “real” hem job later.

6

Well…it’s not supposed to be removed, but it can be if you’re determined. I think I’d just hem right through it, to be honest. But I’m a costumer, not a tailor, so I’m used to doing things odd and quick, to look good from 10+ feet away, but maybe not close up! :smiley:

Some spray adhesives are designed to wash out with water:

but of course this makes them less than ideal for holding a hem. One of the uses for them is temporarily holding a hem while doing a fitting, but, depending on his activity level and the humidity in the room, it may or may not hold a hem all night. I’ve had fairly good luck with it on my own costumes, but I remember to be gentle with it.

7

Stitch Witchery for sure. I use it on my karate pants and they’re made out of some heavy fabric, plus I do more moving around than one would ever do in a tux, and that stuff holds like nobody’s business.

Plus, I’m an idiot and can’t sew, but I can iron a hem. So that works.

8

Meh. Cuff his pants up like a five year old. Not your problem he can’t get his clothes together in time.

kidding of course. kinda

9

I do own a stapler.

10

We were supposed to leave at 8. I’ve got all my stuff ready, he’s supposed to have the car cleaned out - I don’t know what the hell he’s been doing, but cleaning the car out ain’t it. I swear, I cannot believe I’m doing this to go to the wedding of some guy who threw up on my bathroom wall.

11

I don’t have any idea’s for your hemming emergency . But I feel you deserve a night out with dinner, dancing and maybe even flowers from ‘Himself’ for getting him ready for “some guy who threw up on your bathroom wall” wedding. :slight_smile:

12

Duct tape. I’ve used it often and it holds quite well.

It’s weird, I’m not at all crafty but a hand hem is one of the few things I can do with no problem. It must have been the one day in Home Ec that I was paying attention…

13

The fusible tape is what I would use. I’ve seen duct tape used on the cuff of the husband of someone being buried. They were given a suit to wear hours before the service. Nobody really noticed, not that hem was perfect.

14

Oh, god, y’all. The hem was a nightmare! Of course he didn’t bring it over the night before, so we had to just take the iron and pants and everything to the wedding and worry about it there. They were NOT wool. They were the most ungodly difficult polyester known to man. Duct tape did not hold them. Pinning them was a nightmare - they kept slipping when I tried to press them. Also, they didn’t want to press, and when they did press they wanted to shine. I finally got a serviceable fusible hem on them and they didn’t fall down for the service.

The whole day was crazy. We were late leaving because he couldn’t find the collar to his tuxedo shirt. So we decided we’d worry about it when we got there and left. Then he forgot his pants. At his office. We turned around. Five minutes later I got a Mom Ephipany and said “DO YOU HAVE YOUR SHOES?” Turned around.

So we were late picking up their high school teacher, who was doing the ceremony. Of course he forgot his wallet so we had to turn around again. Second time at his house he says, “Oh, by the wall, do you guys drink? I’ll bring a little cooler.” Well, okay… so he runs out again and says “Do you guys, uh, do anything besides drink?” Did you know, I am 28 years old and have never been offered pot before in my life? I should have taken it.

So we get to the wedding and nobody has told me it’s a Mormon wedding. (Thank god for that cooler with the beer!) So I have this incredibly difficult hem to worry about, and no ironing board (grabbed my tailor’s ham at the last minute, which is hardly the perfect tool but I don’t think I could have done without it) and I kept getting kicked for mumbling bad words under my breath. There weren’t even any sodas!

It was a very nice wedding, though, and I’m glad we went. This is that guy everybody knows who took a wrong turn in college, went kind of crazy, flunked out, etc., and is trying to get his life back together, and one of the ladies saw me and said “Oh, I’m so glad some of ___'s friends could come! We sent out so many invitations…” and then I felt absolutely awful that I had complained about going, because Himself and I were the only ones there for him who weren’t family.

And I’m sorry I thought bad things about it being a Mormon wedding, because I’d forgotten how non-judgmental every Mormon I’ve met is. We had our beer on the porch (I mean, we got permission) and didn’t even get any bad looks. (The mother of the groom even showed us her little flask.)

So it all went well in the end, although I was seriously about to kill a good twenty or thirty people just out of pants-related fury. I’m glad we went and pissed that none of his other friends could be bothered.

15

Can I offer thoughts on emergency hawing, instead?

16

That’s what you do when your adult boyfriend’s high school debate coach offers you a joint.