Best technique for marking hemlines?

[gem]

So the purple kirtle is DONE (!!!)... except for hemming. Marking hemlines has got to be one of my least favorite bits of sewing. I will often conscript Milord to help me, so he can do the dirty work while I just stand and twirl , but I have a perfectly adequate dress form and *can* do it myself... I just don't like it.  Is there an easier/quicker/more accurate method than crawling around my dress form on my belly with a ruler marked with tape?

[Naween]

I use some of the following:
- dress mannequin that comes with a hem marker attachment?
- antique hem marker like this one http://www.etsy.com/listing/75212990/vintage-hem-marker-measure-on-stand
- plumb bob hanging from a chandelier or other object, a set distance away from the skirt?

[PhoenixRose]

I am horrible at marking hems. I don't have a dress form though, so I usually find it to be a two person task. That hem marker looks super handy though. And probably much more accurate than most my hems turn out to be!

[gem]

My dress form base actually has a hem marker, but it doesn't extend far enough out from the base to hem bigger period skirts. I've seen antique chalk hem marker thingamajigs, but I have no idea how they work.

[Rani Zemirah]

Gem, do you have a room with a high enough ceiling to allow you to put your dress form up on a table, so you don't have to get down on the floor?  Even a low side table would raise it enough so that you could sit on a rolling stool and move around the dress easily. 

I have one of the marker stands, and it's quite useful. 

[Naween]

Oh, I have one other trick that sometimes works, as long as your "booty" isn't too severe.
I use one of these to support the waistband, and then trim all the way around.

[CenturiesSewing]

I used to tape some chalk or a watercolor pencil to the ruler do it that way but it is not worth the back pain. I have this now: (well worth using a coupon on)

http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/productdetail.jsp?CATID=cat3423&PRODID=prd10486   

Fill a little tub that snaps into place with chalk dust or baby powder and the little bulb will shoot it out.
The only bad thing is the stand will not allow the marker to go all the way down to the floor so you need to raise the dress form to compensate.

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

I usually hem skirts before attaching them to Bodices or waistbands if I know what the finished length(with Farhingale on) is when I get measurements. Most hems I do are 2". That way.
, I do not have to go around marking hems and then sewing them.

[gem]

I'm bumping this older thread up to see if anyone has/likes (or more importantly, dislikes!) a hem marker like this:



I can get one free, but is it worth the space/hassle?
It says "Guide clamps clothes in place while you pin hem."
Does it work for hems that are almost to the ground?

Gramercy!!

[Lady Renee Buchanan]

I had one a while ago.  It basically was a wooden rule, 1 yard high. Attached to it was a little container you filled with powdered chalk.  The container had a screw on it so you could move it up and down to where you wanted the hem to go to.  There was a tube attached to the container that had a red bulb at the end.  When you squeezed the bulb, a line of powdered chalk made a mark on the skirt/pants. 

It was so easy and simple.  I used to put the skirt on, have my husband put 1 pin in the front till I judged it to be the length I wanted, then he just squeezed the bulb while I turned slowly.  It was easy enough that you could do it yourself, I just always had him help me, because I am not the greatest sew-er.

Alas, in one of our moves, my skirt marker was lost, so I don't have it any more.

[GryffinSong]

What Lady Renee said. I was at a costumer's group one night and said I had to mark the hem on a skirt. One of the women pulled out this thing. I stood on a small stool and we agreed where the markings should go. Adjust chalk thingie. I slowly turned. She pumped the bulb and voila ... within a VERY short time I had lovely chalk marks where my hem belonged. It was so SIMPLE!!!

[gem]

Thanks, Griffyn & Lady R--this isn't the chalk-marker thing; this is the pin-clamp thing. It's kind of like the built-in gauge on my dress form, but that one can't reach out far enough from the base/pole to actually mark a full, floor-length skirt, so I've never actually used it to see how well it works!

[Lady Rosalind]

Funnily enough, I saw one of these (or similar) at an antique store last week, for quite a bit of money (Antique, you know...  ).

Anyway, I digress. Here is how I mark my hems....

Board game boxes... just stack to the correct height and you have a nice wide platform for pinning! I think I used my monopoly and scrabble boxes to get the right height last time, but it's been a few years. I may revisit this technique, since I am making a new gown for this season (starting this week! Yay!!!!!).

[Kate XXXXXX]

I take a plastic ruler and make a Sharpie line on it the distance up from the floor that I want the hem.  Then I pop the gown on the dress stand dialed to the correct size and put it up on a sewing table.  I slowly turn it round, making the hem with chalk marks, pins, thread, or whatever is most appropriate for the type of fabric and the process to be used for turning up the hem or rolling the edge.  The Sharpie mark can be done in any colour that shows up well against the fabric on a clear plastic ruler, and you can wipe it off easily with a little isopropyl alcohol later (one of the easiest places to get this in small quantities is to buy 'dipping solution' from your local cake decorating supplies store!)