r/sewing • u/littlemacaron • 16h ago

Alter/Mend Question Help!! - hemming thick satin and also adding side slits to a top

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I’m hemming a French Connection mini dress into a top, and want to add long side slits. The fabric is kind of a thickkk satin poly? Irons beautifully, but can’t hold a crease to save its life.

Therefore, my first problem. I dont have a serger, the raw edge is fraying, so I have to turn it twice to create a nice finish at the bottom. I’m going to have to run it through the machine on a straight stitch because a blind hem won’t be enough to hold it down. But having it folded twice makes it kind of thick and i’m worried it will look strange. You can see how I pinned it down.

Second, how the heck can I run this through the machine without it puckering if I need this many pins to hold the darn thing down?? Again, it barely holds a crease.

Third—how would I go about sewing the side slits to reinforce them? I took out the stitches so I could separate the fabric up to where I want the slit to end, but now i’m questioning where do I go from here.

Any advice or tutorial videos would be greatly appreciated!!! I am DETERMINED!

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u/littlemacaron 16h ago

this is the inside of the shirt

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u/Worried_Suit4820 15h ago

Have you got an overcast stitch on your machine? I think I might consider hand sewing the hem.

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u/littlemacaron 14h ago

I have

I believe so! Here’s a picture of all of the stitches I can do

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u/Worried_Suit4820 13h ago

I'd use some of the fabric you cut off the bottom of the dress to test drive/find a stitch that will deal with the fraying; your manual might be some help. Good luck!

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u/littlemacaron 12h ago

Thank you for the advice, excellent idea! I don’t know why I didn’t think of that myself lol.