Shortening Linen Tunics

 Hello Readers. A lot of my sewing stems from being super short. I am only 5' tall. Clothing manufacturers do not have me in mind when they make clothes, everything needs to be shortened. That's OK, let's talk about shortening tunics. Tunics are meant to be long but what if you want a shorter length? How do you decide on a length? 

Before and after.

Is it a tunic or is it a dress? I like to thrift and I ended up with these 2 linen tunics. I love linen, it's so nice for summer. These tunic tops were too much to tuck in when wearing pants and not enough to wear alone as a dress. I really wanted 2 shirts. Shirts are kind of boring but we all need those kind of basics in the closet. Let's make a couple shirts from these tunic tops. 

 

You don't need a paper pattern from the sewing store, you just need a shirt you already own and like to wear. If you want to tuck your shirt in, get a shirt from your closet that fits you well and tucks in nicely. If you want a more cropped length, grab a shirt you already own that is a good length for that. I used a shirt I already liked as a guide for the length I wanted to make my new shirt. Using a shirt you already own and like is great because it doesn't cost anything and you know you will like the fit & length because you like the original shirt's fit & length.

 

I like the length of the floral shirt here and used it to cut the excess length from my tunic. I didn't cut it the same length, I need extra to make the new hem. Linen frays like crazy, a new hem has to be sewn. I left an extra inch in length to make the hem. Use sharp sewing scissors to make a clean cut. That will make it easier to sew the new hem.

 

I used the floral shirt for the pink tunic too. I left an inch of length to make my hem on both shirts. 

 

I used my serger on the cut edge of my tunics. I stitched all the way around the bottom of each shirt. Linen frays so quickly and easily, I wanted to keep that fraying to a minimum. 

 

You can see the serger seam here. I ironed each shirt with a very hot iron. I wanted the edge turned in so I could sew my new hem. I could have turned the edge under twice but linen can be thick and I did not want the hem of the shirts to be too thick or bulky. The serger will keep it from fraying and...

 

I used my sewing machine to sew the new hem in place. I sewed using a straight stitch all the way around the hem of my shirts to keep the hem in place and keep the serger stitches hidden. 

 

The shirts had long sleeves and my arms are pretty short. (Short woman-Short arms.) The blue shirt had straps and buttons to keep the sleeves pulled up a bit and out of my way. 

 

The pink shirt had plain simple sleeves and they were too long on me. I decided to add elastic so I could push the sleeves up and keep them out of my way. 

 

I used my seam ripper to open the end of the sleeve. I didn't take out the whole seam, I only needed a few stitches removed. 

 

I used a safety pin and narrow elastic to alter the sleeves. I attached the pin to the elastic and threaded the elastic through the opening at the end of the sleeve. This only took a few minutes. You can wrap the elastic around your arm to get the size correct. Everyone's arm will be different size so check your elastic before you put it in the shirt. 

 

I tied my elastic in a little knot to connect the ends of the elastic. When I was done, I tucked the knot into the opening. 

 

I sewed the opening closed again so that it will look nice and neat. The elastic is hidden but I can keep the sleeves out of my way. 

 

 Both of my shirts turned out great, I love the new length. And those long sleeves cover my arms but stay pushed up, out of my way. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.