Oooh la French seam!

If you've never tried the French seam when you sew you're missing out on one of the best kept secrets! There was a time not long ago when I too spent hours wasting away at the iron, pressing yards and yards of fabric, and cursing the time and bulkiness it took up to turn the material twice to get a hidden seam.... until, I discovered the French and their brilliant plan to get rid of raveling fabric without overcasting the seam.

So who wouldn't want to say so long to fraying seams on the inside of your homemade clothes


Here's how:

Step 1.
Sew a 1/4" seam with the right sides of the fabric out. Open and press the seam to one side. Feel free to trim any excess material to make this as small as possible.



Step 2.
Fold material inside out so the wrong sides are showing and enclose the first seam you made by sewing about 3/8" in from the edge or just along the side of the now hidden line. Some like to iron here before they sew, but I find it's not necessary :)







Step 3.

Flatten and admire your nice smooth, professional looking seam that was a lot easier than you might have thought!


This seam is great if you don't have a serger and you want a professional looking seam on the inside of your homemade clothes. The only trick is to make sure that you sew far enough away from the first seam when you fold inside out or you'll get your ends peaking out the front of the garment. Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

Enjoy!