A seam ripper is one of the most useful tools you can have as a dressmaker. Not just for those inevitable wobbles and wonky bits, but for tasks like this one.
My very petite friend had bought a dress that was too long for her, and she asked whether I could remove the ruffle from the hem. I don’t usually do alterations, but this was a nice simple one, so I brought my seam ripper to the rescue.
Rather than attack the dress with scissors, I used the seam ripper to nip out the stitching that was holding the ruffle in place. This allowed me to get a lovely neat edge, and expose the lace trim that was holding the two sections together.
It’s so tidy that I don’t even need to hem the new bottom of the dress. Marvellous!
I agree, seam rippers are the best – I use them to get those horrid scratchy labels from T-shirts without making holes in the fabric.
Pomona x
That’s a very good idea!