From: CARLA LOPEZ

Subject: hems

To do hems...you have to ease the stitching so it will fit the place you
will be bringing it up to. To do this you either can do it by machine.
Stitch a long stitch and pull it up to fit. You then press it so as to
shrink some of the extra fabric.

When I'm going to hem something I hang it with cloths pins around the
edge to get the stretch out of the fabric. This way it will stay
straight and not hang out unevenly after it's finished. I hate to see
those wavey hems on anything I make. Then after all the extra stretch is
out mark the hem. Cut off the extra fabric and turn mark the depth of
the fold you want and pin it in place at wide intervals. Then ease the
fabric by pulling the threads you stitched in. It is easier if you make
several ease stitches. This way you won't have a long thread to risk
breaking as you pull it up. Of course, if it's only a yard it's not a
big problem, but hems can be yards and yards. I have done some that were
10 yards.

There is a device with chalk you can use to mark your
own hems. Just squeeze the rubber ball & it leaves a mark.

Like on a curved hem if you just turn it up it won't fit. First ease the
hem to fit. Then you can do a hand stitch ....like a slip stitch or a
kind of X stitch catching first the hem then the garment. Or....a
sneaky and fast way is to use something like a fusible thread to fuse
it in place. I know some who use Stitch Witchery to do hems.

If you want to do it by machine your machine will have to have a
blindhem stitch. There is a foot that goes with it. You fold the whole
thing so the hem edge juts out a little catch the body of the item with
the zig. It's a little tricky to do. Or you could just do a straight
stitch. The crucial thing is to ease the fabric to fit.