The One Year Stitch...aka a blind hem tutorial wannabe

Last year my cousin brought me this dress and asked me to let the hem down because it was too short for her daughter.  Well, smart as I am, I didn't think to try it on first, and guess what....It was too small in the arm area!  So I took the hem out for nothing because it got passed down to Sophie and I could have just left the hem as is! 

So ever since then, I have been slowly but surely working on re-hemming something that wouldn't have had to be hemmed in the first place!  And since I have been busy, I just set it aside and forget about it, picking it up only every few months...so it's taken me an entire year{actually more than} to finish one blind hem!

I mentioned a while back that I would do a tutorial on a blind hem stitch, and I have taken pics that looked great on my teeny LCD screen on my camera, but once I put them on my computer and looked at them, I had just one that was decent.  So I will attempt to explain it to you....It is a very simple stitch...almost identical to a ladder stitch, but for a hem...So check it out, try it, and as usual, if you have any questions feel free to email me.  And if need be I will take more pics using contrasting solid fabric with contrasting thread...so let me know...

All you have to do is turn up and press your hem as usual...turn up raw edge 1/2" (or whatever you like really, but I suggest 1/2") then turn it up again whatever you like or whatever your pattern calls for.  I like to use 4-6" especially if it is a halter style dress because when it gets too short, you can just let the hem down, and if it's a woman's dress, it  just gives it a much richer feel...

Anyhow, take as long a piece of thread as you can handle, thread your needle and tie a fat knot.  Pass the needle through about 1/4" of the fold of the hem, then pass it through the dress fabric, catching only 2-3 threads.  Continue until you run out of thread, tie off and start again until you have gone all the way around the hem; press again and you're done!