Sewing Tuesdays

I’ve always wanted to sew nightgowns, pajamas, and robes for my children. Because I remember always getting a nightgown for Christmas from my grandmother, and because I can never find classic styles in stores. This past Christmas, I sewed a great robe for our eldest daughter. It was my first time using a pattern. I was so excited about the finished product, I didn’t even think about seams (I hardly knew what they were). I wished someone had taught me. It makes the whole process so much easier. The objective with finished seams is to hide the raw edges of your fabric, in the interior of a garment or piece, so that when you wash it, the fabric does not fray. It also makes the finished product look clean and neat. Here are my favorite ways to finish seams.

1. French Seam

A couture finish, yet the easiest and cleanest of them all. Only requires sewing 2 straight lines. I couldn’t believe sewing french seams was so easy.

Step 1

Place wrong/back sides together (insides of garment facing each other), sew very close to edge, using a plain old straight stitch. Then trim any extra fabric (if you weren’t able to sew close enough to the edge on your sewing machine).

Step 2

Now, fold right sides (exterior sides of garment) over the seam you just made, so that right sides are now facing each other. And, sew a straight line, as close as possible to the end. Now, turn your garment outside-in. That’s it!

2. Sewing two straight lines then trim fabric with pinking shears

Pinking shears are scissors with saw-toothed blades, that cut in a zig-zag pattern. The zig-zag cut helps keep fabric from fraying. It is not the neatest finish, but it usually does the trick, and it’s fast.

A great pair of pinking shears on Amazon:

3. The no-sew seam: iron-on hem tape

Iron-on hem tape, in my experience, is a little wimpy. It will only work well on thin, light-weight fabrics. After you sew your pieces together (wrong sides facing each other), simply turn your piece inside-out, and iron on the hem tape to hide your unfinished seams.

4. Fold seams over, inward, then sew together

Does not work well on very thick (quilted) fabrics. You also need to have enough fabric to work with. It looks very clean however.

Turn your piece inside out to finish seams. Wrong sides (interior sides) of fabric should be facing each other. Sew your seams using a straight line 3/4 inch from the edge of fabric (or, on your pattern’s seam lines).

Now, turn the extra fabric on your seams inward (folding each piece of fabric once, to the inside). Iron these two pieces flat together. And, sew another straight line to join them together and finish your seams.

5. Using a serger or overlock sewing stitch

A serger (two to three hundred dollars) or overlock sewing machine can serge your unfinished hems. This is great! But, if you don’t have one, like me, you can find a dry cleaner’s that does. And, they will finish your unfinished seams for a few dollars (this is what I did on my first few pieces).

With love, from Dina