I have, before now , decided to cut the bottom off my skirt with just 10 mins spare before my taxi was due to beep beep !

My mum is an amazing dress maker and would strongly advice against this reckless behaviour lol especially if you………..

•  really like the skirt
•  it cost a lot of money
•  only have 10mins

Truthfully though ……

All you will need is

Note : You will only need the chalk if its a dark fabric and your pen is not showing up , you could just use your pins but I find it’s harder to cut when it’s pinned .

A needle and cotton (to match as best you can with the skirt colour) in case your going to hem.

I sound like I know what Im doing lol !

 May be get some plasters if your left handed ;o)

Extra cash for a new skirt if it all goes Pete Tong

and a one way ticket out of here if its your friends skirt !

Now , either measure a skirt that you already know you like the length of , from waist to hem or put the skirt on that you want to shorten and ask someone to pin it roughly where you want it to end up .

I think its best to stand on a chair in front of a long mirror, rather than attempting to gauge the length by balancing precariously on the up stairs banister.

Especially after a particularly nasty premenstrual week!

My daughter came out of her bedroom and thought I was about to launch myself down the stairs instead of realising I was straining to see the bottom in our landing mirror !

Thankfully she didn’t give me a gentle nudge over the edge , tempting as it might have been ,after all she could easily have blamed the exceedingly long skirt lol!

:o) :o) ;0) 

Its best to try on with the shoes you are planning on wearing with the said skirt,  this is the reason why I had decided to cut my skirt last minute . I had intended on wearing a wedge but it had started to rain so I needed to wear my trainers but this meant my skirt was now dragging on the floor !

Once roughly pinned and sure of your new length, take off the skirt and lay it on a table . Some fabrics do not need hemming as they won’t fray .

Generally though , if it originally had a hem you will need too re-hem.

IF YOUR NOT HEMMING

• measure from where you have placed your pin to the hem (we cut 8inches off of Donna’s skirt and we decided not to hem.
• carefully put a dot with your pen or chalk where your pin is placed.
• 
• repeat this all the way around the skirt , measuring from the bottom up (in our case 8inches) placing another dot and so on until you have gone all the way around the skirt  , the closer your dots are the easier it is to cut a straight line dot to dot , time spent dotting definitely helps you stay straight  when cutting .
• to be extra safe , before cutting , you could measure from the top of the skirt -( the waistband) down to the dots all the way around, checking the distance is the same .
• make sure your scissors are sharp

the fabric of the skirt Donna is wearing is crinkly so its best if you get someone to pull it tight as you cut along your dots .

B e f o r e       A n d        A f t e r 

Donna was convinced she couldn’t wear a midi skirt because she is only 5’1″ but its all about getting everything in proportion .

If you wear a long skirt and a long top you obviously make your legs look even shorter . I suggest wearing a crop top SHOCK HORRER !!!

Well , what I suggest is to wear a black body or long fitted vest top tucked in with a shorter top over it , that just covers the elastic on the waist , so that as you move nothing drops out lol PHEW, relief , you can breath out!

By adding a shaped crop faux leather jacket it gives Donna a great silhouette.

You could swop the leather for a crop denim Jacket , white t-shirt and white trainers. 

link for skirt = Peachy Pink Maxi Skirt £6.99 size 8-22  https://janesstall.co.uk/product/peachy-pink-pleated-skirt

AFTER      BEFORE

IF YOUR HEMMING 

This is still easy but you need a little practice before letting loose on your new skirt. So grab some old scraps of fabric or an old tea-towel even and practise whilst watching Love Island or Netflix .

I promise it will save you lots of money , its really simple and actually quiet therapeutic well thats if your not about to jump in a taxi lol

• Add an inch to the length to allow for your hem
• So in our case we would measure 7inches from the hem up and that’s where we would put our dots .
• If you are hand sewing the hem click below on the blue link to learn catch stitch on You Tube with Dawn Anderson (I watched about 10 others and I liked Dawn best . Its really easy and I fly round a hem a lot quicker than if I have to drag my sewing machine out from the loft .
• Im a lefty too so there’s no excuse .
•  catch stitch
• Or you could wonder web your hem up . I actually get in a right mess with this stuff but loads of customers swear by it.
•  Most commonly used option is to fly around your mums or nans and ask her to machine your hem up !

I say all the time to the young girls that come into the unit , if you can learn how to drive a car you can hem a skirt !

I hope some of you give it a go , without any dramas and loss of limbs.

My mum is going to crack up at me writing a blog on shortening a skirt !

T h i s  W e e k s

  F a v 

Snake Print Tapered Leg Store Trousers £6.99 size 8-20 elastic waist https://janesstall.co.uk/product/snake-tapered-leg-trousers/

Have a great week girls

Leave me any comments below

xxxx J a n e xxxx

F o r e v e r  T o g e t h e r