HELP! Tuxedo pants hemming problem *Urgent*

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HELP! Tuxedo pants hemming problem *Urgent*

New postby temom on Wed Mar 10, 2010 4:47 pm

My dd needs to wear a pair of tuxedo pants for a show. The pants fit her around the waist, but are 12 inches too long. We are not allowed to cut the pants off, as she will just be wearing them one time (2 times if you count the dress rehersal).

I've tried different things, and they all look crappy. The pants are tapered down to the ankle. So now I'm pondering if one of these two things would work:

Open the pant at the hem line at the inseam (no satin stripe there) for several inches, giving me enough material to work with without bunches.

Baste on the inseam making the pants less wide further up, tapering down to nothing at the hem area.

Do you think one if these would work? If not, what would you suggest?

I can NOT cut any material off, and I need to shorten them 12 inches.

How wide of a turn up do you suggest? 2 six inch turn ups? One 12, and hope it doesn't show at the knee?
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Re: HELP! Tuxedo pants hemming problem *Urgent*

New postby lendube on Wed Mar 10, 2010 5:03 pm

Wow, Theresa. That's a tough one but at least it doesn't have to be a permanent fix just a "make-do". I would open the tapered part and baste it if there's enough to make it wider then turn up 12 inches. I would also use a temp hemming tape, Stitch Witchery, or something similar but in small pieces after testing to see if it will release easily afterward. If there's not enough seam to make a straight leg then you can also use the tape to hold it to the inside of the pant leg. Using that stuff you won't have any stitches showing and I'm willing to bet it'll hold up through two wearings unless there's a lot of acrobatics involved in the performance........... ;) Make sense?
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Re: HELP! Tuxedo pants hemming problem *Urgent*

New postby temom on Wed Mar 10, 2010 9:35 pm

Lennie, I did open up the leg, and that worked well. I don't have anything temp that will hold (except for duct tape, which is too stiff that high up on the leg), so I hand stitched. I have one leg done, and it looks really good. The second leg is opened, and just needs to be stitched. I'm going to stop for the night as I'm a tired tigger.
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Re: HELP! Tuxedo pants hemming problem *Urgent*

New postby Shellymoon on Thu Mar 11, 2010 9:16 pm

I feel your pain! My DD is 4'11" and is in choir and theater. I hate the "no cut" rule. I hemmed a choir dress 9 inches one time. I did a good job for what I had to work with (an A-line skirt) She had to stand on the front row and the choir director complained about how bad the dress looked with that big hem. I told her if she would let me cut if off it would look fabulous and it would still fit the next 4'11" girl that she was sure to get. Nothing doing. My child went through three years at that school with a dress with an 8-inch hem.

Now she sings in the Greater Dallas Youth Chorus and I had to buy the dress. But they have a rule that if you hem the dress it must be 3 inches deep. The original hem on the dress is like half an inch. I do not understand this stupid rule since I bought the dress.

That's my rant and I feel your pain. I think you came up with an excellent solution by the way.
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Re: HELP! Tuxedo pants hemming problem *Urgent*

New postby temom on Thu Mar 11, 2010 10:09 pm

Shelly, thanks for the sympathy.

I think they have the 3 inch hem rule to make sure the dress makes it through the season.
If you have someone that doesn't know better ordering the dresses, they may not notice that on the youth dresses there is a height limit, and it changes depending upon size. So the dress might be perfect in all areas except too short. The remedy is to pay the extra couple of bucks ($3 from our supplier) to get a "long" or "tall" dress. For the adult dresses it is easier, as the size limit for regular sized dresses is 5' 8".
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Re: HELP! Tuxedo pants hemming problem *Urgent*

New postby Shellymoon on Sun Mar 21, 2010 6:40 pm

I don't know who chooses these choir dresses, but they are awful. There are several girls that have to have these huge hems. And DD's school choir dresses are so shabbily made. I've already replaced several zippers on their new dresses. They are the cheap nylon zippers and they have a stess spot right at the waist and these teenage girls just yank and yank until they break. It's not easy to find a zipper that long either.
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Re: HELP! Tuxedo pants hemming problem *Urgent*

New postby temom on Sun Mar 21, 2010 9:09 pm

Shelly, I know just what you are talking about. We try to forewarn the girls about the zippers, and that seems to help.
I wouldn't be brave enough to replace those zippers - they are huge!
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Re: HELP! Tuxedo pants hemming problem *Urgent*

New postby Shellymoon on Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:31 pm

Teresa, the hardest part of replacing the zipper is taking out the broken one. They are invisible zippers so they're a snap to put in a new one. But taking out the stitches up and down the whole 22 inches of that old one is a booger of a job! Thankfully, my daughter is a senior next year and I'll only have to be the wardrobe mom for a few more months!
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