By Anonymous - 14/04/2013 14:22 - United States - Big Lake

Today, I asked my grandmother to hem my prom dress for me. I'm her oldest granddaughter so I thought she'd be happy to do it. She said no. Her occupation is a seamstress. FML
I agree, your life sucks 47 259
You deserved it 8 009

Same thing different taste

Top comments

nattynatters 14

Some people feel used when family asks them for free labor. Maybe you should have offered to do something nice in return?

rahulcool7 14

I don't think it is that common to know how to hem a dress.

Comments

You're old enough for prom, but can't hem a dress?

rahulcool7 14

I don't think it is that common to know how to hem a dress.

It is possible that OP has a very nice and expensive dress that is not easily hemmed like say, a pair of pants. Though I agree that she could have offered a service to her grandmother for her efforts.

My prom is next month and I have no idea how to hem a dress.

Learn quickly 22! You're running out of time!

I don't even remember how to sew the giant button onto that piece of paper.

#24, I am most definitely not spending hundreds of dollars to dance in a room full of people I don't like, so I'll be good haha. I just meant not everyone old enough to go to prom knows how to hem. Unless OP and I are the only two, then I'll feel dumb.

bamagrl410 31

Nope you're not alone. I'm 21 & the only thing I can do with a needle & thread is close a hole (and not very well) if something ripped haha. Wish I had learned from my great-grandma though.

My grandmother taught me to sew when i was younger. Prom dresses are extremely hard to sew because of their materials. Sewing is not a common skill for the average person these days.

Wow. Apparently I need to get out more. I can't imagine not being able to sew.

Learning to sew is a skill. Some know how and others don't. But it SHOULD be common knowledge to at least know the basics. You never know when it could be handy. I was never taught to use a needle and thread, but I figured it out with time. Works great for wounds and lost buttons.

I can sew a button back onto a shirt or jacket. Beyond that, I leave it to the professionals.

You sew your own wounds together???? Leave that stuff the doctors

There is not always one available. Being a first responder has to be prepared for all kinds of things.

To be fair, hemming a wedding/prom/evening dress is much more difficult than hemming a pair or pants or shorts. Not all seamstresses would know how to do it properly. My grandmother was a seamstress who specifically worked on wedding/prom/etc dresses for this exact reason. Why not take it to a dress store? They usually do alterations. Or at least send them away to alter. Hell, the place you bought it might even do it for free if you're lucky.

I'm old enough to be married and have kids. I cannot hem formal dresses. I can hem pants... but formal dresses take SKILL to hem and look good

fucMyLifeSoHard 18

I'm sorry on behalf of the human race that we don't all know how to hem a dress. It's crazy, I mean, what has the world come to when a teenaged girl who probably has a life, doesn't know how to hem a dress?

Wow OP. Maybe it's just one of those days. Hopefully you can find someone to successfully hem it for you. :)

Or maybe she can do it herself. Just because grandma is a seamstress doesn't mean she wants to spend her off-hours doing the same boring shit she has to do at work. OP acts like she's offended because grandma doesn't want to be her lapdog.

nattynatters 14

Some people feel used when family asks them for free labor. Maybe you should have offered to do something nice in return?

Sometimes when a person isn't working the last thing they want to do is whatever they do at work. But I agree with 3, do something nice in return. A hand massage might do the trick.

I agree, however the OP's grandma isn't just "some person".

Sir_ND_Pity 35

3 - OP's grandmother seams a bit down. Just as you said, she may might needle bit more incentive sew she can do it.

Sir_ND_Pity 35

42 - "May might"? Which is it? Make up your mind.

ElementaryEdGuy 18

I was thinking this too. If I owned a car lot, I wouldn't give everyone in my family a free car. Would I give it to them at a discounted price? Yes.

my mother in law is a seamstress, and regularly does hems for free for family members because it's a 2 second job. however, as some people have said already, prom/wedding dresses are more complicated because of the size and material. OP could have at least offered to pay for it

TwoOneFive 11

Comment moderated for rule-breaking.

Show it anyway

And I assume YOU'RE old enough to know the difference between your and you're.

Unfortunately 15, stupidity knows no age. Take #4 for example

I kinda doubt OP or anyone for that matter would want to learn to hem for the first time on their likely expensive prom dress... usually you want to start a bit smaller...

I helped Grandpa Jack off a horse. I helped Grandpa Jack, off a horse.

lexi365 20

Most teenagers like myself don't know how to hem...

Well... I agree the teenager should learn to hem, although not on a prom dress. And "most teenagers don't know how" isn't a valid excuse on something so basic.

You definitely did that incorrectly, 90.

Maybe she's tired of doing that stuff because she does it all day long and she doesn't want to do yours.

5- You're probably bang on the money. It's like a massage therapist working for 8 hours straight with his hands, may not be too thrilled to come home to have his wife ask him for a back rub, just because he knows how to. ;)

WrongRomance 11
BellaBelle_fml 23

It's not bribery if you're paying someone to do their job.

You have to make a living somehow. I know when I cook at work, I don't want to come home and roast a turkey. Maybe you should've offered to pay her, it is her job.

Why do you automatically assume she wants to? She does it for a living, why would you want her. You're the oldest, you can learn to so it.

Usually family members are willing to help other family members to make them happy. I'm sure that is what OP originally thought. Most prom dress materials are extremely hard to sew and only a professional would be able to. It would be stupid to try to sew a prom dress up as your first sewing project.

9lashes 15

OP never assumed her grandmother would WANT to, she was hoping her grandmother would help her out. And it's sew not so -_-

BellaBelle_fml 23

I think the OP was thinking, based on her stating that she's the oldest and this is her first prom, meaning its the first prom out of the grand kids, that her grandmother would be excited for her, as this is a sort of 'coming of age', and want to hem the dress to make the night that much more special. Not necessarily meaning she wanted to take advantage of her grandma or that she doesn't know how to sew herself. But that is simply my take on the situation. I could be wrong.

Seams to me like your grandma is weaving a web of pain. We needle little more love over here!

If only they were pronounced the same...

Not saying that the "So, sew" thing was funny, but I'm pretty sure they ARE pronounced the same way. (:

Clearly I was referring to the 'homonym' post directly above mine. Sue and sew aren't pronounced the same.