Tag Archives: Seams

Flat-felled seaming is a good finish for a seam where there might be some strain and so where a bit of extra strength is a good thing, such as shoulder seams.  You see it on jeans too… Also where double topstitching a seam allowance down is indicated, such as the armscye seam allowance on a tailored shirt, or the princess seams on a tailored ladies’ shirt.  I used flat-felled seaming in the latter way on my little triple-collared sleeveless shirt made last month, and took a few photos to illustrate…
Sew the seam and press the stitching, as normal…

Press the seam allowance to the side that it is to lie permanently…

Carefully snip the underneath seam allowance to just less than half its width, taking care to NOT snip the upper seam allowance…

Fold the upper seam allowance over the lower narrower one, encasing it inside, and press… This is pretty easy to get nice and even if you are sewing a relatively straight seam, such as a shoulder seam.  It takes more careful pressing to get this bit nice and even if you are flat-felling a slightly curved seam, such as a princess or an armscye seam.  If the fabric was not pliable and the edge was very curved I would even consider running a gathering thread along that upper seam allowance to help it fold in and sit flat, but we’re talking extreme couture stuff there!  Something for another tutorial… 

Stitch down…

Finished! and doesn’t it look nice from both the inside (at left) and the outside? 
It might seem like a bit of extra work, but it is only a leetle bit of extra work, really!  Increasingly, I’m aiming for my clothes to look just as good on the inside.  I think well finished garments are such a joy to wear, to launder and to, well, just to have.
Sounds so dorky, but I do get such a buzz if I feel something is truly the best I could make it…

(OK, so I wrote this post a while back, during self-stitched September, and then just got caught up in the whole outfit-documenting side of things and forgot about it… ! so it may seem a bit out of date since I made this skirt about a month ago, hehe.  But HongKong seaming is still something that is always relevant, never out of style right?  So, here goes…)

It may sound silly but I often like for the insides of my wardrobe to look as well constructed and as well finished as the outsides, like those of the upper end designer clothes that inspire me.  Beautiful finishes give me a lot of pleasure whenever I lay eyes upon them.  And it makes good common sense to give both your fabric as well as your own time invested in your handiwork the respect they deserve by finishing off as well as possible.  Why?  Because your time is valuable, and you’re worth it!
HongKong seaming is a finish I sometimes like to add to the internal raw edges of unlined coats and jackets, and to those of my better skirts.  It is an especially good finish for high-fraying fabrics that are kinda special; such as silks, wools and blends of these; ie, fabrics that are worth it.  You know what I mean, right?
HongKong seaming may seem like too much hard work, but it is not really that much effort, honestly!  Big pluses; it only requires a very little fabric, looks pretty, and is the best way, bar none, to finish off the raw edges of thickish fabrics that fray easily. 
To finish off the seams of an ordinary little skirt plus enough for a wider bias binding strip to finish the hem, you only need about 40cm of a light or medium-weight woven fabric, ideally cotton or a polycotton.  Actually I only needed this much because I was cutting the pocket linings from the same fabric, you could easily get away with a lot less.  You can just use scraps if need be, no probs.  You can go with a matching fabric or a contrasting fabric for fun.  In the case of this burnt orange skirt I chose a contrasting burgundy for both the seaming and lining fabric.  (Yup, I know that no one but me will ever see the yumminess of these rich autumnal shades together, but this hidden colour punch still pleases me nonetheless!)  Wash a coupla times to remove the sizing and deal with all that pesky shrinkage.  Then cut a few strips on the bias; approximately 3.5cm (1 3/8 inch) in width.  I also measure the length of the lower skirt/jacket edge and cut a wider bias strip (approx width of 5cm, or 2 inch) for the hem binding.

Join together end on end like so, to get a continuous strip of bias binding…

Lay against the raw edge of your fabric, and sew together in a narrow 6mm (1/4 inch) seam.

Fold the bias strip back over the seam and press the seam binding back over itself…  
Now fold the fabric back over underneath the seam allowances to enclose the raw edges within the bias strip.  I don’t press at this stage, but just stitch in the ditch of the first stitching. holding the bias strip in place and smoothing it down as I sew.  Being bias cut; it should settle into place well, moulding itself smoothly around curves with the need for any ease stitching. (this is the inside pocket edge, and the pocket lining of the same fabric can be seen underneath)

For the hem binding, the raw edges are sewn in a narrow 6mm seam allowance the same way.  Probably the most difficult bit out of this whole procedure here is joining the two ends together in a perfect bias seam to meet up exactly at the stop/start sewing point.

The bias strip is pressed up, and a narrow 6mm seam allowance pressed down on the upper edge.  This pressed edge is simply slipstitched down invisibly in place.

Voila!  Now how easy was that?  No real biggie, right… once you’ve tried HongKong seaming I promise it is something you will want to incorporate into special projects again and again.

I am making a blouse for myself using a fabric that is a smidge on the sheer side, and when one is using light or sheer fabrics the seam allowances inside your garment can be very visible from the outside.  French seaming might seem like a lot of extra work, but it’s not so much really… if you plan to overlock your seams to finish then you are still running over each seam twice anyway so French seaming is the same amount of sewing time…  and you want your handmade garment to look as nice as possible, right?  

When sewing a French seam, the fabrics are firstly laid wrong sides together, and the raw edge sewn together in a narrow 5mm (1/4″) seam.  I know, I know, it seems all wrong wrong wrong to sew the fabric wrong sides together, goes against everything we’ve ever done as seamstresses before… but bear with me here… it all comes right in the end.

Press the sewn seam nice and flat.

Trim the raw edges to an even 3mm.  It is a good idea to do this step, even if your fabric edge is perfectly cut and not fraying at all, although if you are anything like me, you’ve cut out your fabric maybe a few days before and it is already starting to fray a little just sitting there making this step an absolute essential.  Trim them anyway… and as straight as possible.

Open the fabric pieces out and press your new mini seam open…

Now turn the fabric over, fold with the right sides of the fabric together (and all is right with the sewing world again…) and fold flat along the new seam edge.  Try to get that sewn edge of the seam right slap bang on the fold, and press in as sharp a knife edge as possible…

So with the right sides of the fabric now together, and treating the fold you have just pressed as your new “edge” of fabric, sew a new seam 1cm (3/8″) in from the fold.

Press the sewn seam.

Open out the fabric and press the new French seam to one side.  Exactly which side you press it to depends on which seam within the garment you are sewing…  I have a roughly blanket guide to myself of pressing seams towards either down or towards the back of my garment, whichever is more applicable, but I’m sure everyone has their own preference here…

There you have it!  From the outside your seam looks like an even width 1cm line.  This is a neat and tidy finish with no bit-sy ratty threads showing, and (if immaculate insides are your thing) as beautiful on the inside as on the outside.