How to hem jeans

I found this link while attempting to do my first hem on a pair of jeans (on sale at Gap Maternity...8L... much too long).

How to Hem Jeans

I'm quoting the tutorial here as well...  This is an easy way to make a perfect hem... it looks great and the few mistakes I made were because I've only sewn like ten things in my entire life...

As follows...
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I found this fabulously perfect way to hem jeans on the Cavaricci site, which has since been taken down, so here’s the lowdown. This method keeps the original hem in tact and is especially helpful now that all jeans are made to be 34 inches long for mammoth supermodels. Plus, it took less than 30 minutes.
A couple notes: It’s best to do one leg at a time, so as not to have too much undoing to do in case something goes awry. Also, it’s good to know the length that you want each leg to be. Sometimes, one leg will be a bit shorter or longer than the other before you hem.
Step 1: Decide how much length you would like to take off. Divide that number in half. (Hems should fall just below the bottom of your ankle. Also, if you generally wear high heels, or a certain height of heel, you might want your hem a bit longer – it should fall an inch to a half inch above the floor at your heel.)

Step 2: Cuff the jeans. I wanted to take two inches off my hem, so I measured one inch out from the original hem line and pinned. (Do not include the distance from the hem to the end of the jean in your calculations.)

Step 3: Pin around the rest of the cuff, taking care to measure each time you pin.

Mind the seams while you’re pinning. Make sure that the stitching lines up at each seam.

Step 4: It’s time to stitch. You want to place your needle and continue sewing right next to the original hem. Stitch on the right side of the hem, or the side farthest from the bottom of the jean. Sew all the way around the cuff. Be sure you don’t sew through both front and back sides of the jeans (making it so that the foot hole is sewn shut)!

You can either cut the excess off, leaving about a half inch for fraying, or iron the extra material in.

Turn the leg right side out and press the new seam flat, revealing the old hem.

Voila! No more slouchy, unflattering leg.
Updates: I’m glad everyone has found this tutorial useful. I wanted to answer some questions here that continue to arise. If you are still having trouble, just leave a comment; I usually respond within a few days.
1) Yes, this trick works just as well with jean skirts, good point!
2) If you have already cut your hem off and still have it, no worries. You can still follow these directions. After you have decided on a length, do not divide in half as Step 1 suggests. Move on to Step 2. You will essentially be reattaching the original hem in this step. Pin the stiched line at your desired length (for instance, if you want your jeans to be 30 inches long, measure 30 inches from the inseam and pin the disconnected hem to that length on the jean leg, right sides together) and follow the steps from here. If you have already thrown away the hem I am sorry to say you’ll have to try and recreate the look from scratch.
3) If the jeans leg is flared, cut off the hem about an inch above the stitched hemline. Measure the circumference of the hem. Then, measure the circumference of the jean and the desired length you’re hemming it. Open the side seam of the jean several inches above where you want the jean to be hemmed. Take in the jean to the same circumference as the hem. You’ll want to make this look gradual. Reattach the hem portion following the directions in No. 2 above. I wouldn’t recommend using this method if the jean leg is more than an 1 1/2″ larger than the circumference of the hem.
4) This method can easily be done without a sewing machine. Follow the directions, just use your hands, needle, and thread.
5) If you are having trouble sewing over the seam with your machine, try a thicker needle. If this fails, you can always sew up to each side the seam (be sure to backstitch) and sew over the seam by hand. It works just as well. Also, a zipper foot may help.
6) I hang dry my jeans and tuck the excess fabric at the bottom up before hanging them, so I don’t need to iron the bottom flap each time. Alternatives to this, would be to use some Stichwitchery (a bonding, iron-on product) to adhere the excess material to the inside of the jean. Or, you could cut the excess off to 1/2 an inch and apply Fray-Chek a glue that keeps the material from unraveling.
Thanks for stopping by and happy hemming! -Dacia"

Fabric.

There is something about walking into a fabric store that makes me a little giddy. Seeing yards upon yards of gorgeous cloth just waiting to make something incredible is really exciting.
Rags to Riches in Burlington is probably the best store I've ever been to as far as selection goes. They also have a great sale corner where regular weight fabrics are 5.00 per yard and remnants are 3.99 a yard. I bought some fabric.. of course... and can't wait to use it.

I've already recovered my shoe bench cushion in dark blue and still have enough to make a small curtain to cover up my portable washing machine where it sits underneath the cabinets.

Alsoooo got a gorgeous blue damask pattern and I think that might turn into a ring sling. I'm thinking of lining it with a cream silk (ish) fabric... something light weight and beautiful... so I can wear the baby anywhere fancy and look insanely great. :-)

Cant wait to upload photos of finished products.

Anger

I'm feeling angry a lot lately.

All for good reasons. I feel SO angry!

You know when you just want to scream at the top of your lungs? I want to s.c.r.e.a.m.

It's difficult to be angry at things that aren't going to change.

If you let it take over you, you'll just end up bitter and depressed but for the meantime, I'm just really angry.

I want to let it go but I haven't been able to yet.

This is a post about 500 different things that feel very unfair.

Life is unfair!

These are obvious statements but its how I'm feeling right now.. with a lot more emotion and swear words.

Homebirth

Some of you may know we are considering/planning a homebirth this time around. I wanted to share this incredible video.

I just watched this WITHOUT sound (computer is being odd) and I'm still bawling. So beautiful.

http://www.forwardfilmsla.com/

Go to link.
Click on Our Work.
Click on upper right hand corner photo.

Enjoy.

Whew its been a while

I'm enjoying the return of my internet and not having to read blogs on my phone. It's a luxury that I have taken for granted... since.. well.. always.

We've been busy!

Bryan just finished up a 3-4 week overdrive working craziness schedule. Getting home at 2 am....leaving again at 8 or 9. Noah and I missed him a lot and are so happy to have him back for the evenings. Although, classes just started back up for him and he'll be out Thursday evenings till December. Once he is done with this semester, he'll be finished with his web development certificate which is awesome!

I've been, pregnant. Feeling 100% better than before, able to wash dishes and get through the day without wanting to die. I'm in my 18th week now and we'll be having our 20 week ultrasound in about two weeks. We're both excited to find out the sex of the baby. Baby is kicking a lot now and its fun when it takes me by surprise when I'm not even being aware of being pregnant. I'm still in the stage where if someone mentions it, I almost have to wonder what they are talking about. Then I remember, oh yeah, my belly is showing.

Noah has been talking, talking , talking. We have conversations now and everyday he learns something new and impresses me more than before. He is an incredible little boy. I am enjoying him so much right now...I am dreading the big birthday in three months... :-( I will cry just thinking about it.

Looking forward to blogging more about birth and other fun things soon. Stay tuned!

Infant Sleep: Receptiveness more important than Routine.

Research showing that a caregiver's responsiveness to a child is more important than routine in getting a good nights sleep.


For infant sleep, receptiveness more important than routine

Parents understand the challenge of getting infants to sleep through the night, and now Penn State researchers show that being emotionally receptive can reduce sleep disruptions and help infants and toddlers sleep better.

"Bed time can be a very emotional time. It heralds the longest separation of the day for most infants," said Douglas Teti, professor of human development and family studies. "It struck me that going to sleep, and sleeping well, is much easier for some young children than others, and I wanted to assess what factored into this, and what parents and children contribute to sleep patterns."

In the study, which examined mothers' behaviors during infants' bedtimes, parents had the most success with their children's sleep when they responded appropriately to their children's cues. These include showing disinterest in an activity or simply glancing inquisitively at a parent. For example, one mother in the study talked quietly and gently to her 6-month-old infant while breastfeeding.

"She continuously gazed at the infant's face and, whenever the infant vocalized, she responded promptly (e.g., 'It's OK.')," the authors report in a recent issue of the Journal of Family Psychology.

In contrast, a different mother in the study "used stern directives with her 24-month-old during book-reading whenever the child got up out of bed," and "continually attempted to engage the child in the book despite clear signs that the child was losing interest (e.g., child was fidgety and continually turned his attention elsewhere)," the authors note. The result: "the child got up and left the room four times before he eventually fell asleep."

When parents provide reassurance through emotional communication, Teti and his colleagues believe that it lets children know they are in a safe environment.

"Emotions are the most basic form of communication between babies and parents," Teti said.

His findings pose new challenges to parents because they suggest that being emotionally available -- paying attention to cues and responding to children appropriately -- is more effective than a specific bedtime behavior in promoting better sleep.

The researchers found no significant relation between sleep disruptions and the amount of time parents spent in close contact with infants or involved in quiet activities before bedtime. This contradicts past research, which had suggested that prolonged close physical contact with a parent undermines babies' ability to sleep on their own.

This study was one of the first to use direct observation of infant sleep patterns, and is the first to use multiple video cameras in the infants' and parents' bedrooms to capture parent-infant interactions at night.

"Sleep is a context about which we know little," said Teti. "It can be a very emotionally charged period for parents and babies. Looking at parent-child interactions in this context could be more telling for childhood outcomes than what you see in a more structured daytime play session." Many existing studies of parenting have focused on controlled play environments, in which researchers have studied parent-child interactions and emotions.

Teti's study, SIESTA I (Study of Infants' Emergent Sleep TrAjectories) looked at data from 35 families, and he sees very similar results in an ongoing longitudinal study, SIESTA II, which is a more in-depth analysis of factors promoting infant sleep as infants age, from 1 to 24 months. SIESTA II is funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

One of the next steps will be to examine links between infants' temperamental styles, parenting at bedtime and during the night, sleep disruptions, and development, according to Teti.

###

Other authors on the paper include Bo-Ram Kim, Gail Mayer and Molly Countermine, all Human Development and Family Studies graduate students at Penn State at the time of the research.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-08/ps-fis081010.php

Nursing Noah: A Love Story.

Noah Christopher was born at 6:31 pm on December 3rd after a long hard labor. I put him to the breast right away. He was a little disinterested whether from the epidural or from the pure shock of entering the world. He did attempt to latch a couple of times but I couldn't tell if he was actually latched on. I was still high on the "this is MY baby and he just came OUT of me" emotions.
We tried to nurse through out that night but mostly, we slept, tucked in together safely by the most wonderful night nurse on maternity. The next day proved difficult and we made good use of the hospital lactation consultant. He wasn't latching well (now I know due to a flat nipple on one side and probably the fact that well, I was very large chested postpartum and he has a small jaw). I was given a nipple shield and on we went.

I stressed about using the nipple shield but it saved us. I didn't have any side effects from it like lack of supply from less stimulation, or nipple confusion,etc. We went on to use it for 3 months when he self-weaned himself from it in a couple of days..he just was suddenly able to latch normally! Woohoo...!

He nursed every two-three hours for the majority of the first year. I also nursed him to sleep until he was at least 16 months old for most of his naps and bedtime. Some of my fondest memories are of the late night/early morning feedings when he was still tiny... it was just me and him snuggling in bed and the bonding that happened was incredible. His little dark blue eyes looking up at me until they closed in blissful milk-drunk sleep.

There were tears of exhaustion some nights when he was teething and wouldn't stop nursing but I was thankful that I had a way to soothe him. We struggled with nursing in public due to his distractedness and often had to find a quiet place to successfully nurse. Sometimes I would feel desperate looking around for a place to nurse, in say, the grocery store, where truly, none exist. The car would end up being the go-to place even though uncomfortable. We battled thrush from time to time When I returned to work for a short while, pumping was a savior for my supply and a good way to stay connected to Noah throughout the day. Turns out, he much preferred mommy and had a hard time sleeping/eating while I was gone. Happily, I stayed home.

We found ways to work around the stresses that go with nursing a baby. When I was exhausted nursing him to sleep, daddy would take over and rock. If he was too distracted to eat in public, I popped him in a sling or ergo carrier and nursed him there, sometimes with a cover to get him to sleep. I continued pumping after I came home from working so I could go out once in a while.

I worked nights for a short time and daddy had to take over soothing Noah at night. Since we cosleep he was still night nursing and got the majority of his milk that way. He slowly transitioned to a bottle a night of soy or almond milk and started sleeping better. He still nursed about 3 or 4 times a day.

I became pregnant and almost instantly he noticed a difference in the taste of my milk. He started nursing less and less. My milk supply was gone by 13 weeks. He's no longer nursing during the day and asks maybe once a night to nurse before deciding it's not worth the effort. We rock and snuggle to sleep with his lamb and blankie. At first, I cried a lot mourning the loss of our nursing relationship. Especially when he told me that I had "ew milk". haha. Now, I'm enjoying the evolution of our bonding experience and love rocking and holding him to sleep. It's hard to accept that he is growing up and becoming a little boy instead of a baby. I think it will make the transition to having another baby easier to have only one nursling.

Although, difficult at times, I had such a blissful experience nursing him and am so thankful that I was able to. We've bonded incredibly and I only wish that I could provide him with milk longer than I am able to. At 20 months, he is almost completely self-weaned. I didn't imagine it would be this easy. I think that because I trusted my instinct nursing him on demand as well as in general during his weaning process, he was able to self-wean easily. It's a bittersweet time for both of us and as he talks about the new baby in mommy's tummy, I have a feeling that it will be this way for a while. It's hard to believe he is growing up...and as every mother says, he'll always be my baby.