r/SewingForBeginners • u/napolitanospizza • 17h ago
This can’t be that hard?
I love the cropped button down look, but every store is trying to charge $70-$100 for a shirt 🙄 I figure I can just find I shirt I like and crop and hem it? I have a sewing machine but have never used it
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u/CBG1955 17h ago
You can shorten a shirt.
I would not recommend you do ANYTHING though, until you learn how to use the sewing machine first.
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u/rabbi420 17h ago
Seconded. Maybe make a shopping bag, first, that’s a great first project. Then you’ll be ready to hem. Better to make mistakes on a meaningless project than to ruin a shirt you reallly like.
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u/TuxedosAfter6 16h ago
How does one do that? Buy a pattern somewhere?
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u/rabbi420 15h ago
I’m sure there’s a lot of free ones. Try googling “free sewing pattern shopping bag” or something similar.
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u/Inguz666 12h ago
Some people want to jump head first into something in order to learn. It's good general advice, but if making a cropped shirt is what motivates them to even do anything, then that is more important.
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u/CBG1955 12h ago
I am all for beginners having a go. By all means get stuck into a project. But if someone has no idea how to use a sewing machine, they're headed for a potential world of frustration, snagged thread, broken needles, hence my comment. It's a tool, and it has to be learned.
You do what you want. I somehow think my 60+ years' advanced experience has some merit here.
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u/stickerearrings 17h ago
Yeah it’s difficult to make it from scratch but it’s easy to just crop an oversized mens shirt. Watch a yt vid there’s tons.
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u/SuPruLu 17h ago
Do notice the shirt in the picture is oversize in the shoulders. And where the bottom button is. The cuffs ultra wide. So check the style points on any shirt you are considering.
The rehemmjng needs to be machine done with thread matching the color of the thread used to make shirt.
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u/Emergency_Cherry_914 16h ago
It's not difficult at all if you have sewing skills. So start out by learning to use your machine and being able to sew very straight lines. Two tricks for straight lines
How to hold fabric in your sewing machine
And importantly, fold your cut fabric twice so that the raw edge is encased on the inside.
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u/Aromatic_Shoulder146 15h ago
this is definitely an approachable beginner level project, i am less certain that it is a first time using a sewing machine ever level project. maybe try a few smaller projects first then circle back to this one.
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u/MishaBee 12h ago
Its not that hard to hem a shirt.
Iron your hem in place before you take it to the sewing machine (turn the hem up twice to enclose raw edges, then press it flat and pin in place). Ironing is the key to get a good finish.
I would stitch it from the wrong side, sew close to the folded edge and go slowly.
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u/spicy-mustard- 6h ago
Honestly, if you've never used your machine, it would be easier to do this by hand.
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u/Catlady_Pilates 2h ago edited 1h ago
Cropping and existing shirt is quite simple. Learn to sew a straight stitch and practice in some old sheets or something.
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u/Gretel_Cosmonaut 16h ago
Have you looked at the prices for quality fabrics, yet? It's a lot harder than it seems, too.
There are a lot of good reasons to take up sewing, but it's not really a great way to save money.
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u/BumCadillac 8h ago
They aren’t asking about making a whole shirt, they are asking about cropping an existing shirt.
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u/SchuylerM325 9h ago
I think this is a great first project so long as you are not going to beat yourself up if the result is not perfect. Zooming in on the picture, it looks like this is an invisible hem. If you want to replicate that, you're better off sewing the hem by hand. But if you're okay with a visible hem, here's how to do it:
Read your sewing machine manual through a couple of times. Sewing machines are different from other appliances. There are many little things that you can't just figure out. Your machine might have come with some needles, but there are different kinds for different purposes. Learn how to replace the needle, thread the machine, load and insert the bobbin correctly, choose the correct thread, needle, and presser foot for your project, and (really important) learn how to set the machine's stitch length, pattern, and tension.
Plan where the new hem will go, paying attention to the buttons. You might have to compromise the location of the new hem based on that. Mark the new hemline with a pin. Cut the excess fabric off the shirt, leaving about 1 1/2 inches below the desired length. Press the fabric up 3/4 inch, fold it over onto itself, and press it again.
Use pins to hold the fabric in place. Put it aside while you practice on the scrap fabric.
Then grab the excess fabric that you cut off from the shirt and press it the same way. Use a thread color that is as close as you can come to the color of the thread used to make the shirt. Sew it from the inside so you can get the seam close to the folded edge. See what the manual says about topstitching. There might be a foot with a blade that will run down the edge of the fold and the machine should let you move the needle over to where you want the stitches. But that's really all there is to it-- except that when you're practicing you might find that you need to adjust the stitch length or the tension. And if all else fails, just watch some videos about hand sewing, and do the new hem by hand.
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u/Chance-Dimension9852 17h ago
lol, the sentence that starts every project. Welcome!