Hems at the end!
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This page is still under construction! There will be photos later...
There a number of ways of hemming a garment, and the one you choose will depend on several things, such as the type of garment, the fabric it is made from, and the style you want. A thin, sheer delicate fabric will require a very different hem from that needed on a tweed coat, or a fleece jumper. The general trend is that the finer and lighter the fabric, the narrower the hem.
Sometimes one clean finishes the edge of the fabric before hemming, and sometimes the two are done in one operation. Many types of hem are sewn by machine these days, as it is far quicker and easier, once one has the knack, than sewing by hand. There are some instances when nothing beats a delicately hand sewn decorative hem, and some where hemming by hand gives the least visible finish.
On this page we will look at some of the most common and easier hems. Later we will look at more esoteric hemming methods!
Narrow Hems:
There are a number of different ways of doing these, both by hand and by machine. Many machines come with special feet for rolling over a very narrow edge, holding it in place, and sewing it down. These are very good for lightweight fabrics. The best explanation of how to use these feet that I have found is in Fine Machine Sewing, by Carol Laflin Ahles. There is full information about this book on the Kate's Booklist page. The same effect can be had with a little patience if one does not own one of these feet.
Narrow rolled hem I:
Machined: Fold and press 1/8” or 2 mm of fabric to the wrong side of the garment. Fold over and press a second time. Tack the hem in place with a single thread and sew down using a 2.5mm stitch. Remove the tacking stitches. Hems up to 1 cm can be done like this on garments. If you do wider hems like this, it can look messy. They are ideal for the bottoms of shirts and blouses, the ends of both long and short sleeves where there is no cuff, and the hems of casual trousers.
Narrow rolled hem II:
Hand Stitched: A) Prepare and tack the seam to in the same way as for a machined hem. Sew down with a slipstitch, slipping the needle along inside the hem to conceal the thread. Only pick up one or two threads of the body of the garment: the aim is to make the stitches completely invisible on both sides. The length of slipstitch will be dictated by the width of the hem; the narrower the hem, the smaller the slipstitch! This fine hem is ideal for baby things like Christening robes, where hand
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