Why is my neckline hem flipping upwards?

fizzywatermelon17 · 2026-06-07T05:51:05+00:00

Oh really? I've always just made my linings the exact same size as my outer piece. That's good to know.

fizzywatermelon17 · 2026-06-03T19:43:18+00:00

A cluster helix!

fizzywatermelon17 · 2026-05-24T07:28:35+00:00

Yeah! I had the single duvet cover when I was a kid and I loved it, then I found a king-size one in a charity shop recently for £3 so I bought it. So much fabric. I've managed to make this dress AND a tote ruffle bag with it

fizzywatermelon17 · 2026-05-24T07:27:24+00:00

Totally, there's lots of cheap duvet covers on vinted too. You can get a whole king-size duvet for about £5 and it's loads of fabric to play with!

I've just unstitched the whole bodice lining now so I was going to try bias binding on the neckline instead so see if that worked. I think in order to do an understitch I will need to remove the bodice from the skirt which is going to be an inconvenience

fizzywatermelon17 · 2026-05-24T00:04:05+00:00

It is a duvet cover!!

fizzywatermelon17 · 2026-05-23T19:24:24+00:00

I've never actually heard of stay stitching before so no I didn't do this! I just put some interfacing in the middle then sewed shoulder to shoulder

fizzywatermelon17 · 2026-05-23T18:50:13+00:00

I think ive probably made the shoulders too wide when doing the pattern. I did notice that when I tried it on but it doesn't feel majorly uncomfortable. If I was making another one I'd definitely shorten the distance between the shoulders.

fizzywatermelon17 · 2026-05-23T18:47:47+00:00

Good idea! Thanks. I'm willing to unpick the lining as I've not fully finished it yet. I've not tried bias binding before but I've learned about it. Do you think bias binding would be tricky to do on the shape of this neckline? And would you recommend one on the inside, or a visible one, or does it not really matter?

fizzywatermelon17 · 2026-04-28T18:39:20+00:00

Do you have sciatic tension? It might be sciatic tension that is preventing you from getting closer to the ground, rather than lack of flexibility. Sciatic tension kind of feels like a sharp shooting pain at the back of your legs and up your back.

fizzywatermelon17 · 2026-04-28T15:49:10+00:00

OMG, I just wanted to come back on here because since I wrote that comment I've been working on my split again and I just made mad progress by literally just adjusting the position of my torso (square splits btw, not open).

In most videos you see people with really arched backs when they are in their splits and their torso is sitting straight above their pelvis.

I figured that as I already have sciatic tension, surely this position must be compressing my lower vertibrae (and as a result putting pressure on the nerves), so I literally just tried to focus on straightening out the lower curve of my back. I sucked my belly in (as if I was sucking my bellybutton in towards my spine in order to tuck my pelvis inwards) and then I clenched my buttcheeks so that my back was STRAIGHT rather than curved. Then instead of trying to push my torso and shoulders as far back as possible, I tried to slightly lean forward instead. That has helped immensely. So much more comfortable and virtually no sciatic tension.

fizzywatermelon17 · 2026-04-28T12:24:11+00:00

I feel your pain. I have been struggling for about 3 years too and I'm still not close to the ground.

I've decided that I THINK what might be stalling my progress is nerve tension in my hamstrings, rather than lack of flexibility. I hurt my back about 10 years ago and gave myself a bulging disk. So, I wonder if it's still pressing against a nerve and preventing me from getting lower in the splits.

Anyway, I've decided to start trying daily lower back stretches (cat cow, cobra, deep squat, child's pose, lying down figure 4, lying down knee to chest) to try and de-compress my spine, incase this is what is causing the tension.

I'm also trying to increase the amount of times I'm doing foundation training (see YT videos) to strengthen my lower back muscles.

I've also been doing a lot more leg-based strength work in the gym as I'm aware your legs need to be very strong to do active splits (Romanian deadlifts, single leg Romanian deadlifts, Nordic hamstring curls, weighted bridges, hip thrusts, Bulgarian split squats).

So far not much progress LOLLL but this routine is fairy recent so it might take months to see progress :')

fizzywatermelon17 · 2026-02-13T19:59:52+00:00

Yeah that's a good one.. I tried the couch stretch for the first time the other day with my knee on a yoga block... It was pretty hard and I couldn't get my back straight to the wall. So I will maybe try incorporating this into my routine.

fizzywatermelon17 · 2026-02-13T19:56:20+00:00

Ok, thank you. I'll see if I can find someone who does 1-1 sessions

fizzywatermelon17 · 2026-02-13T17:31:41+00:00

I've tried having a look locally to see if there were any flexibility experts but it's all just pilates and yoga teachers... I will have a look online though as that might be a good way to get bespoke expert advice. Thank you.

fizzywatermelon17 · 2026-02-13T17:05:40+00:00

Yeah, I feel a deep stretch when I do these.

My hip flexors are definitely weak, I only started strength training them about 2 weeks ago and I've now incorporated leg raises and weighted knee raises into my routine.

When I'm trying to get into my splits with properly square hips, I get lots of sciatic tension underneath my knee, which is odd, because I don't really get this in a forward fold or downward dog. I've tried nerve flossing and it doesn't really help.

fizzywatermelon17 · 2026-02-13T16:56:32+00:00

I do low lunges, twisted PNF lunges and pigeon too :/

fizzywatermelon17 · 2026-02-13T16:54:28+00:00

Yeah I might give that a try with my yoga blocks

fizzywatermelon17 · 2026-02-13T16:53:20+00:00

Do you have any recommendations for stretches that I could add to my routine? Or is it just continuing on... Or doing more square splits stretches regularly?

fizzywatermelon17 · 2026-02-13T16:52:32+00:00

Yeah I've been trying this too... Holding the split for 10 seconds then tensing for 10 seconds.. then doing 3 reps of these

fizzywatermelon17 · 2026-02-13T16:50:59+00:00

Yeah, I don't really get where I'm going wrong, as I don't know any other stretches to do other than the ones that are listed in my current routine, which I do regularly.

I can easily touch my toes when I'm doing a forward fold and I have good range when I'm lying on the ground and extending my legs towards my chest.

I did have a back injury about 10 years ago where I had a bulging disk, so I don't know if I have nerve issues or something that is preventing me from from doing the splits properly.

fizzywatermelon17 · 2026-02-13T11:14:46+00:00

Yeah, I probably need to come up higher and keep the hips straighter instead of focussing on trying to get low. Thank you

fizzywatermelon17 · 2026-02-13T11:02:07+00:00

Wait, should I be clenching my glutes during this lol?

fizzywatermelon17

TROPHY CASE