seam finishes

Sorry, I’m running a day late and a dollar short this week. I spent my weekend thoroughly engrossed in creating a skirt sloper. My first skirt is almost finished and I’ll be showing it to you shortly. It’s been really really exciting for me to finally be able to create my own sewing pattern – something I had no idea I would enjoy quite so much. There is sure to be much more on that front, I assure you! Now, back to finishing off seam finishing! Today, I’ll be covering Part I of decorative seams. These are really easy and a cinch to add into your next sewing project. Tomorrow, I’ll be covering Part II. Today’s decorative seams are fairly basic, still they can add some really nice finishes to your garment.

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Topstitched, Double Topstitched & Welt Seams

Topstitched seams are a cinch. For an added fun touch, use a contrasting thread.

Stitch a plain seam, then press the seam to one side. On the side the seam allowance is pressed to, from the top, topstitch the seam the desired distance from the seam. Stitch through all fabric thicknesses.

Another take on a Topstitched Seam is to do a Double Topstitched Seam. Instead of pressing the seam to one side, press the seam open and topstitch, from the right side of the garment, down both sides of the seam the desired distance from the seam.

A Welt Seam is virtually the same as a topstitched seam. Stitch a plain seam and then trim one seam allowance to 1/4″. Press both seam allowances to one side (encasing the freshly trimmed seam allowance) and topstitch the desired distance from the seam. For a Double Welt Seam, do another line of topstitching 1/8″ away from the seam.

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Here’s a few more self finished seams that are more or less versions of each other. I’ll think you’ll find these useful and totally easy to do. Tomorrow I’ve got some really fun decorative seams coming up that you can do in conjunction with the seam finishes I’ve shown. Isn’t it amazing how many seam finishes there are? Hopefully these small tutorials have expanded your palette on what seam finishing you can use next!

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French Whipped Seam

This is a great seam finish for lightweight to medium weight fabrics where a curved seam is called for – like in the armhole.

Stitch a plain seam, then stitch again 1/8″ away from the original seam.

This next part you can do one of two ways. The first option – I like better for medium weight fabrics – is to trim the seam to 1/8″ from the 2nd stitching line and then overcast the seam with a zigzag edge. The second option – which I like better for lightweight fabrics – is to do this last step in reverse. Stitch the zigzag edge and then trim close to the zigzag stitching. I don’t know about you, but with lightweight fabrics, the fabric ends up getting caught in the machine feed and basically ruining it if done with the first option.

Use for: lightweight to medium weight fabrics
Application: apply this seam finish after you’ve stitched a seam; works especially well on curved seam areas

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Today I’ll be going over a few self finished seams and then tomorrow, I’ll add a few more. For these seam finishes, just make sure that you watch the right and wrong sides of the fabric – I’ve tried to make that clear, but don’t hesitate to ask questions. Gosh, you guys will be seam finishing fiends by the end of this. Also, how would you feel if I showed you some seam finishes in action next week? Like, garments that I’ve completed and the different seam finishes I’ve used in the different areas of the garments? Sometimes you have all the tools, but you don’t know where to apply the tools – and usually there’s not really a right or wrong answer when it comes to this type of thing. Let me know what you think and we’ll continue seam finishing into next week. Sound good? Alright, let’s get into self finished seams:

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French Seam

This is my favorite seam finish when I’m working with silk type fabrics – especially sheers. It looks positively lovely when done.

To do a french seam, you’ll begin with your seam allowances wrong sides together, pin and stitch 1/4″ seam allowance. Now, trim this seam allowance to 1/8″ and press it to one side.

Turn over and press a crease along the newly stitched seam allowance with right sides together. Pin, and stitch 3/8″ seam allowance. This will end up enclosing the raw edge of the first seam that was stitched.

Use for: sheer to medium weight fabrics
Application: apply this seam finish as you construct a garment

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Today, I’ll be covering some basic seam finishes. Tomorrow, gear up for self-finished seams. Friday, I’ll be back with some decorative seams which are going to be really fun and I think you’ll have a ball dreaming up where to put those in your next garment. Let’s jump right in – shall we?

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Machine Zigzag or Straight Stitch

Let’s start with one that most people know and do – Machine Zigzag. After you’ve sewn a seam, you can use a zigzag (or a straight stitch) to finish the edge. Start by zigzagging (or straight stitching) down one side of the seam allowance, 1/8″ from the edge. Next, do the other side. If needed trim your fabric close to the stitched edge. Use a smaller stitch length for lightweight fabrics and a longer stitch length for heavy, bulky fabrics. Easy, peasy.

Use for: lightweight to heavy & bulky fabrics.
Application: apply this seam finish after you’ve stitched a seam allowance and/or before you insert a zipper

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Pinked

For this next seam finish, you’ll need a pair of pinking shears. I have a Gingher pair and I love them. To use pinking shears you’ll need to first straight stitch down one side of the seam allowance, 1/4″ from the edge. Then trim 1/8″ from the edge with your pinking shears. Voila! Done!

Use for: firmly woven fabrics.
Application: apply this seam finish after you’ve stitched a seam allowance and/or before you insert a zipper

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I received numerous emails and comments, during the course of the Ginger Sewalong, on how to best finish seams. You know, like should you zigzag the edges or pink them or serge them, that kind of stuff. To be honest, I didn’t give very good answers and I thought it was something that I should dedicate a whole week to instead. So, this week I’ve deemed Seam Finishing Week! I think you might be surprised at how many ways there are to finish a seam, because there are several. So let’s jump right in, shall we?

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Why, when and where should you seam finish? Let’s start with Why. If you’ve probably noticed with fabric, all, well nearly all fabrics fray. In fact, I think the only type I’ve seen that doesn’t fray are knits, and even then it depends on the type. And we’re not just talking about fraying in the laundering phase either. Fabric will fray while you’re handling and wearing it too. Yeah, even if you plan to dry clean a garment, there will still be fray-age be the mere fact that you will be wearing it. That’s why you want to seam finish – to add life to the garment.

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When do you seam finish? When you seam finish depends on where you are in the garment construction phase, what type of seam finishing you’ll be using and where you want the seam finished. I used to think that it was a grand idea to just get all the seam finishing out of the way before I even starting constructing a garment. Then I found that certain seams – like enclosed seams – end up producing shine (after pressing) with certain types of seam finishing methods. Not only that, but you can also stretch and distort cut pieces of your pattern by seam finishing before you actually start constructing. So, its my personal feeling that you should seam finish during construction always planning the seam finish just one step ahead of the place you are with your garment.

the center front seam of my seamfoam silk ginger skirt featuring a french seam finish

What about the Where? Seams that are exposed are a great place to start thinking about what types of seam finishes you want to do on a seam. What do I mean by exposed? Well, let’s take a skirt for example. Even more to the point, let’s have a look inside my Seafoam Silk Ginger skirt. This skirt does not have a lining – though even for skirts with linings, I like to seam finish – so the exposed seams run down the center front, center back and side seams. What I’d do for the center front and side seams? I used a french seam – a favorite for silk type fabrics with me. I’ll be showing you how to do these later on this week. Center back seam? Well this seam has a zipper in it and in the interest of time, I used my serger, though there are plenty of other seam finishes I could have used (which might have even been a little better too).  Let’s talk about the seams that aren’t exposed for a minute. Those are located in the waistband area. What did I do there? I did not seam finish any of those seams, instead I graded them to reduce bulk. The hem? Nope, didn’t seam finish that area either. Since edge of the skirt hem is not exposed, I find that seam finishing, especially with hems, can produce shine from pressing on the right side. And the shine you get is the imprint left from the seam finish itself. Make sense?

the center back seam of my seafoam silk ginger skirt featuring a serged seam finish

Tomorrow I’ll be back with some basic seam finishes and as the week progresses we’ll get more advanced and tricky. What about you? Where and when do you seam finish?

xoxo,

Sunni

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