You need a special foot to do a real flat felled seam. It doesn’t get much easier than this one. I’m a wife and mama to 4, sewing nerd and refashionista with a passion for DIY. Next wrap the bias around the edge to the wrong side of the seam. Pinked Seams. With right sides together, sew your seam and press open. So I’ll walk you through 12 different seam finishes, why you would choose each one, when to use them and which fabrics they’ll work best for. After trimming, press the seam again to one side. Next press the seam to one side. Not to mention your garment will look professional! A clean-finished edge requires two steps and takes a little-more time than simply zigzagging the raw edge, but it is worth the extra effort. Also inevitable is the day you’ll come across a fabric that won’t play nice with a serger. 1. Here is an example of a closed overcast seam in a heavyweight woven linen fabric. I say almost because there are some fabrics that do not do well with a serger. The trick is to accurately use the same measurements on the entire seam finish or mark the seam line before you sew the seam finish so you still maintain accurate lines. Rayon seam binding is also popular. Knot a single length of thread and work stitches that wrap around the edge along the length of a seam. If you make this top in the future and want to experiment, you could try a seam finish involving binding the edges such as a Hong Kong or double bound bias finish. For those not familiar with it, try googling it and you will see it is a flat very professional looking finish. You’ll need to divide your seam allowance in half here because it will be sewn twice. You’ll see these on jeans and men’s shirts. 4 Simple seam finishes Pinked seams. Stitch again with a 1/4″ seam allowance. You can trim away the excess bias. That the tape keeps irritating seams away from your neck is bonus. This type of seam is just like a plain seam except there are two lines of … This will anchor the seam allowance open and keep it flat. We’ll start with the easy ones and build up from there. To use twill tape to finish a neck seam, sew the seam as normal. A seam finish is a treatment that secures and neatens the raw edges of a plain seam to prevent raveling, by sewing over the raw edges or enclosing them in some sort of binding. The serger will make a nice clean, professional looking finish on the edge. Ron Collins demonstrates 3 of his posh seam finishes - Hong Kong, flat felled and inside seams -- all of which you can do on your sewing machine. All images, text, and other content copyright Elizabeth Farr. This technique resembles a French seam, except it can be completed after a … This seam is a variant of the plain seam but it is made with only a … no. An alternative to seam finishes, is to cut the pattern pieces along the selvedge of the fabric. You can see how similar they look. When sewing clothing with natural fibers (such as cotton and linen) I haven’t had a lot of success using pinking shears. Here’s how to topstitch and elevate all of your sewing now. Instead of pinking shears, you can also use a rotary cutter with a pinking blade. You see this called for sometimes in commercial patterns for knit projects. Seam finishing is one key to a professional looking garment and all linen needs some sort of seam finish. Seams, Seam Finishes, and Hems: Standard straight seams, medium length stitching (2.5) are good choices. You can sew it closer to the edge if you don’t want to trim the seam allowance, or you can trim past the zigzag stitching. So there are 13 different ways you can finish a seam. Cutting Instructions. This is why I tend to stick with other seam finishing methods. Sew your seams wrong sides together. Next, sew a row of stitching close to the first. You can see how similar it looks to a serged edge. When you’re going for neatness and strength, you might want to think about an enclosed seam finish. Required fields are marked *, By using this form you agree with the storage and handling of your data by this website. Seam finishing is one key to a professional looking garment and all linen needs some sort of seam finish. Stitch the bias 1/4″ from the raw edge. An overcast stitch is something you can use to finish seam allowances either by hand or by machine. To make this seam finish, first sew a seam with your regular seam allowance. Here’s the thing: at some point in your sewing journey, you’ll start wanting to make the insides of your projects as pretty as the outsides. Mock-French Seams. The last seam finish I am going to talk about is the flat felled seam. The truth is that there is no one-size fits all seam finish for every fabric. Pinking shears are a common tool that can be used to finish seams. If you have grandmothers who sewed, you’ve probably seen this finish. The raw finish is nice on fabrics that won’t fray like knits. Try out some ones you’ve never attempted and see which ones you like the best! This is a stitch that I learned about during my research for this post. Use cotton thread or cotton covered polyester thread for sewing linen. They’re quick and won’t require any special machinery or techniques. A. I would use a flat-felled seam, French seam or false French seam. For all of these seam finishes, the raw edge of the seam will be wrapped with something. Stitch close to the fold with a straight stitch or a 3 step zigzag. Thick, heavy fabrics often do better with other seam finishes, too. I particularly like this for ponte knits. For each side of seam allowance, turn under 1/4” or less and press. Choose a 3-thread balanced serger stitch, or zigzag over both layers of seam allowances (if you do not own a serger). On light-weight and medium-weight linens, a clean-finished edge works well and looks neat. With your machine, you’ll have to switch feet. This can be a nice minimal finish on delicate fabrics. Even a simple clean seam finish can tame what seems like uncontrollable fraying fabric. The knife will trim away any excess fabric. Stitch close to the pressed edge. For a simple topstitched seam allowance, press open your seam allowance or press it to one side. I also like hand overcast finishes on heavier fabrics. WHEN TO USE IT: Sheer/lightweight/delicate fabrics. This is done by sewing over the raw edges, using certain stitches or enclosing them in some sort of binding. If you did not use a larger seam allowance, I strongly suggest you finish all linen seams with a zigzag stitch to guard against unraveling. Turn the seam allowances under and press. All tutorials and patterns are copyrighted by Megan Nielsen. Simple is simple, and these 4 seam finishes are just that. A clean-finished edge requires two steps and takes a little-more time than simply zigzagging the raw edge, but it is worth the extra effort. Seams can also be bound (but watch out for bulk), and a Hong Kong finish can be beautiful— one dressmaker I know uses bias-cut strips of Ambiance lining for this. Press open the seam and work the overcast stitches. Simply switch to the overcast stitch and stitch close to the edge of your seam allowance. Hong Kong finishes work best with bias cut from lightweight silks and cottons. Your email address will not be published. This is the one seam finish that’s *almost* all-purpose. Very neat, strong and encloses the seam and before pressing, sew your seam allowance the. Bias around the seam finishes for linen edge of the seam and press again stitching right on the of. Stitched down would use a 90/14 needle on fabrics that won ’ t require any machinery. To explore fabrics often do better with other seam finishing methods press lightly on kind. 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