I want to start making an effort to video and share some tailoring & alterations tutorials with y’all. I figured I’m doing this stuff all the time for clients anyway, might as well turn it into some great and helpful content for the blog! This one is a big one that can seem quite scary, so when I had to do it for a client recently I made sure to video the process to talk you through it.

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I get a lot of questions about how I rip seams with a razor blade. This technique was taught to me by my tailoring mentor, and in my opinion is much faster and more efficient than using a seam ripper.

Today I’m sharing the video of my first ever Facebook live video in which I demonstrate how I use a razor blade to rip out a hem instead of a seam ripper. You can expect many more of these video tutorials from me in the future. I hope you enjoy this video!

 

A few more notes about using a razor:

• This does not go so smoothly with all fabrics.  Things like wool or knits where the fabric isn’t so smooth require a much slower, calculated pull of the razor blade. It usually helps to pull the two layers of fabric away from each other as you are ripping with these kinds of fabrics.
• You can use this same technique for anything: garment seams, bindings, etc.
• When I do use a seam ripper, it is usually to pic out one or two threads on tightly stitched areas in order to get the seam opened up and then I switch to the razor.
• Be very careful at areas that are likely back stitched. You will have to go slow and pick out each stitch one by one.

If you have any questions about this technique, please let me know in the comments below!