Tape for hemming trousers with an iron

All trousers, including suit trousers, women's or men's, are sewn according to certain height standards. A person develops according to the laws of nature and can fall short of standards or outgrow them. If a woman is 173 cm tall, then trousers with a length of 170 will be short, and trousers with a length of 176 will be long. There is only one way out - take a model with long legs and hem them.

What kind of tape is this for hemming trousers?

You can shorten the product in several ways:

• give it to a qualified seamstress for hemming;
• Hem it yourself using a needle and thread;
• fold at home using tape.

The last method is convenient because it can be used by everyone: both those who are comfortable with a sewing machine and those who do not know how to sew. This is done easily and quickly, you only need a piece of adhesive fabric. At the same time, the seams will not be visible on the front side of the trousers - after all, they simply do not exist. If necessary, the length of the pants can be changed, spending very little time on it.

What is this sticky tape called?

The industry produces different types of woven and non-woven materials with one or two sides, on which glue is applied in a special way. A special tape is used to connect parts (for example, the lower and upper collars, shirt cuffs, the side and hem of a jacket), and secure the bottom of the product (in a back-to-back manner). It has a translucent structure. This is probably why it was called the cobweb. The base is non-woven material with double-sided application of adhesive.

Classification of adhesive tapes: which one to choose?

The web varies in width (from 5 mm to 70 mm for different types of fabrics and applications) and density (it can be slightly denser or less often - from 0.17 to 0.25 mm thick). This is a meter material, it is sold in rolls and in packaged bags of 3–5 meters. The store will measure out the required amount, which is usually calculated as follows:

• the lower part of the trousers is spread out on a flat surface;
• the width of the leg at the bottom is measured and multiplied by two - this is the required length of the tape for one leg;
• the result is multiplied by two more - the resulting figure in cm is purchased for gluing.

Advice. If you buy a ribbon a few centimeters longer than the one you counted, then use a small piece of it to test the technology on unwanted fabric. By starting to work directly with the product, you can avoid mistakes and miscalculations.

Adhesive tape for folding the bottom is available in two types:

• cobweb without paper;
• web-mesh with a paper base.

How to glue a “cobweb”?

The adhesive composition, applied to the tape on both sides and placed between the fabrics, is melted by the iron during the ironing process. The two wrong parts of the product are connected to each other, gluing to the tape on both sides. This is not difficult to do.The tape is simply inserted into the fabric pocket, which is formed by the wrong surfaces when hemming the bottom of the trouser leg, and ironed. The exposure temperature must be high enough. Only under this condition does the web melt. If something does not work out and gluing does not occur, you should spray the tape with water and repeat ironing.

This is truly the fastest way to hem products. It has many advantages, but this technology also has a disadvantage - the tape will only last a few washes. Having weighed all the pros and cons, we get to work if the positive aspects outweigh the scales.

What to use? Preparation

For work, prepare the following tools:

• Centimeter - measure the length of the side and internal seams of the product;
• Ruler – mark straight lines for gluing;
• adhesive tape - connect the edges of the bottom of the trousers;
• scissors - cut off excess fabric and cobwebs;
• chalk or a piece of soap - apply markings to the hem and cut areas;
• pins - pin up the bottom of the folded product;
• iron - melt the tape;
• ironing board - for carrying out all work on its surface;
• a piece of cotton fabric - for safe ironing.

How to hem trousers using adhesive tape?

Let's try to glue a mesh web with paper. It will be easy to work with her. The technology itself is simple:

1. Adhesive tape is applied to the wrong side of the fabric along the marks with the paper facing up and ironed until it sets with the material;
2. after this, the paper layer is carefully removed and removed;
3. a strip of glued tape remains;
4. the next part is applied and ironed;
5. if the parts do not adhere to each other, they are sprinkled with water and ironed again.

The web is not used for hemming the bottom of both very thin and very dense fabrics, as well as knitted and brushed fabrics. She will stretch thin material, she will stretch herself with knitted material, but she won’t even be able to join the rest.

Preparing the trouser legs

Before gluing the tape, the trousers need to be shortened. This process is demonstrated step by step:

1. put on trousers and straighten them at the waist and hips. Pin the bottom with pins, giving the product the desired length;
2. take off your pants, lay them out on the table, carefully smoothing the place of the future hem with your hand. Check that all the needles are pinned correctly and evenly;
3. Mark the fold lines with a small piece of soap or chalk. In this case, the hem line must be perpendicular to the side seam;
4. after 4 cm from the intended straight line, step back down and draw a line parallel to the first one;
5. cut off the excess fabric of the trouser leg according to the second marking;
6. now you need to lay out the product on the table so that the reduced part is the top and serves as a model for cutting off excess fabric from the bottom;
7. Before shortening the other leg, it is important to line up all the side seams from the very top to the bottom, align them and only after that mark the line for cutting unnecessary material;
8. shorten the remaining trouser leg.

How to glue correctly? Step by step

Now that the trousers are prepared, you should start gluing the tape. This can also be explained step by step:

1. prepared shortened trousers are tucked to the desired height (all work is carried out along the intended lines);
2. the required amount of web is measured with a margin of 0.5 - 1 cm for overlap at the joint;
3. a tape is placed inside the resulting fold;
4. iron with a well-heated iron through cotton fabric;
5. The operation is repeated for the second leg.

Now the trousers are neatly hemmed and ready for everyday wear. In order not to spoil the item with glue, the tape should be hidden between the fabric, and there was still 2-3 mm left until the end of the cut.

What should you pay attention to?

It is very important to correctly determine the length of the future product. For men's trousers, the reference point will be the middle of the heel - it is to this point that the ends of the trousers of a standing person should reach. With women's trousers it is a little more complicated:

• if they are intended to be worn with high-heeled shoes, then their length, with the proper width, will end only a couple of centimeters above the heel. The shoes are hidden almost completely by the trousers;
• if the style is cigarettes or pipes, the possible length is dictated by the width;
• shortened models are hemmed according to fashion requirements;
• Straight trousers with low heels are shortened according to the men's principle.

Cobweb is used for products that do not need frequent washing and do not come into contact with water. Do not use high temperatures when machine washing. Even with delicate care, adhesive tape is short-lived. The option of repeating the operations to bend the bottom is not excluded.

How to remove glue residue?

It happens that the tape is not glued as required by the technology. As a result, traces of glue become visible and urgent correction of defects is required. Those who have encountered this problem in practice advise the following:

• steam the junction of the tape with the fabric with steam from an iron. It should not touch the material. Carefully pull the top layer of fabric towards you, carefully separate the adhesive tape from the item being treated;
• Having removed the hem in the above manner, place a piece of another material (preferably cotton) between the top and bottom layers of fabric and iron it with an iron, turning on the steam function.The cloth underneath will absorb any remaining glue. It may not be possible to get rid of the composition completely the first time. The operation will need to be repeated;
• ordinary alcohol acts as a corrector: apply it to a cotton swab, rub the area with traces of adhesive, and the material will be easily cleaned.

Housewife tricks

1. To accurately determine the length, the model must be completely still. This is impossible if you are the model yourself. Turning to help from family members or friends is inevitable.
2. If it is impossible to attract outside observers or if the model is not physically nearby, take the most successfully hemmed trousers and shorten the new ones, focusing on the length of the old ones.
3. Gossamer is not as reliable as hemming by hand, although it does give a smooth, beautiful edge to the product.. Many people glue the tape, and for reliability they also hem the bottom.
4. If the store doesn’t have a ribbon of the right color, take another one - it’s not a problem for tight trousers, any color will suit them. It won't be on the surface. But thin summer ones, especially light ones, will require more attention. They require a white web, but it is found in stores more often than other colors.
5. There is only a narrow adhesive tape available - no problem, take twice as much of it and glue it in two rows, placing them next to each other.
6. The length of the trousers can be easily determined with an iron. To do this, determine the length on the model by bending the trouser leg up inside out and securing it at the back with one pin. We take off the pants and lay them out on the ironing board. By matching the side seams, we reach the even desired length line along the entire circumference. We smooth it with an iron and remove the pin. That's it, the line is drawn. Next, we cut off the excess, turn the trousers inside out and glue the tape.