Hello fabric followers!
As I mentioned in our rolled hem tutorial, the same principle can be applied to a French seam. This gives a perfect fine french seam. I find this type of seam works best on fine fabrics like organza and chiffon, and from my misfortunate experience it doesn't work well on bias seams. The rolling tends to stretch the seam; thus, making it wavy and almost rope looking.
Lets get started.
Start with RIGHT sides together (not wrong sides as you would in a conventional french seam) and stitch your seam as you normally would using the seam allowance you have allowed, whether it be 1 or 1.5 cm.
Then stitch another row of stitching 5mm from the first row in the seam allowance.
Trim the seam to about 2.5mm from the second row of stitching.
This is where we pick up the rolled hem principle, using the second row of stitching as a guide press the trimmed edge in towards the first row of stitching. The second row of stitching gives a perfect edge when pressed.
Now change to your rolled hem foot. Fold your two rows of stitching together and pin, this makes it easier to start your seam.
Roll the seam as you would a rolled hem making sure the two rows of stitching are on top of each other.
And voila ! Here is the finished result! This is the top side...
and this is the opposite side...
As you can see, the stitching is pretty much on top of one another. Give the seam a press, you will find it will want to naturally press one way, so it is good to make sure you have rolled the seam the correct way for it to be pressed.The seam will always fall to the right of the top or rolled side. I used black thread on the pale pink for the tutorial, to help you see the stitching more clearly. I have also included a picture of what it should look like with the correct colour thread.
This method undoubtedly will assist you in creating the finest of french seams. However, as I mentioned in the beginning of this post it won't work for all fabrics. This method is ideal when sewing with fabrics where the seam will be visible i.e sheer fabrics.
We hope this assists you in perfecting your next french seam. Happy sewing!
Until next time,
Sff. x
