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Transcript:

Helen: We are recording today on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw peoples, including Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, Musqueam, and K’ómoks first nations.

Hello, and welcome to Love to Sew. I’m Helen, the designer behind Helen’s Closet Patterns.

Caroline: And I’m Caroline, the owner of Blackbird Fabrics.

Helen: We’re two sewing buds who love to sew our own clothes and want to encourage you on your sewing journey, too.

Caroline: Join us for today’s topic: hems.

Hello, Helen.

Helen: Hi, Caroline.

Caroline: How are you?

Helen: I’m good. How are you?

Caroline: Good. I just realised I should have said hello, Helen, are you ready to talk about hems? Triple H.

Helen: Hello, heming Helen. I’m excited to get to the bottom of this.

Caroline: I feel like we’re gonna be really pun-ny today. I hope everyone is ready.

Helen: Get ready.

Caroline: There’s some good gems in here.

Helen: Alright, nut before we get into it, as usual, we have some feedback from one of our listeners. After our sewing swimwear episode, we had some great feedback, especially about changing robes and ponchos.

Caroline: Yeah, we did. So first off, Rebecca said, “I looked for patterns and didn’t really find a great pattern so I am drafting one. I want to be able to change out of my suit under it. It has to have a pocket or pockets. I want a hood. I want an attached stuff sack for easy packing (that might also double as a pocket). I chose a waffle textured linen that is super delicious to snuggle in. My challenge now is to strike the right balance between function and style. I want it to look like a garment, not just a large towel, but lay flat enough to sun on. A surf poncho is the type of garment you don’t know you NEED until you have one. Changing out of your suit right on the beach is awesome!”

Helen: Oh, this totally sounds like it’s gonna have everything.

Caroline: Yes.

Helen: You’re hitting the nail on the head. If I ever did a pattern, I definitely would want it to have all of these details. I love the idea of being able to lie out on it and use it as, like, a sunning towel and then use it to change later on. Also, the waffle textured linen sounds perfect for this. Great choice of fabric. I think I need one.

Caroline: Yeah. Check, check, check.

Helen: Well, Renee alerted us to the dryrobe, which is just that. It’s a long robe with a hood that is wide enough to pull your arms in and change under. It has a fleece lining, so it’s nice and warm, and a waterproof shell, so you can hop in the car and not get your seat wet.

That would be great. My seat has been, like, permanently wet all summer, I think. I really need to get some kind of cover for it. Um, so if you’re not in the mood to sew something like this, check out the dryrobe. We’ll link it in our show notes.

Caroline: Very cool. And then finally, Emily contacted us to let us know that she made her own version of the dryrobe! She wrote, “I had to get in touch after the swimwear episode, as you’d mentioned making a beach cover up robe. In the UK there are DryRobesTM and there’s a jokey FB page because folk wear them all over the place, in supermarkets, town centres, etc. – not just on the beach! I’ve seen them in the centre of London! They are expensive, upwards of £150 sterling. I’m an outdoor swimmer, usually at a lovely, spring-fed, unheated Lido near me. My genetically sewist twin cousin (!) Kate, Iives in Edinburgh, Scotland and outdoor swims at Portobello beach in the North Sea. Cold! We share our grandmother’s genes (the sewing, not the cold swimming!) I decided to challenge myself to make my own version of the robe. I hacked together the Folkwear Overcoat pattern with the hood from the Assembly Line Hoodie Dress. I made it double layered from fleece-lined coat fabric and bamboo towelling. I’m just finishing it with a zip placket and poppers and adding the hood. The Folkwear coat pattern is so generous that you can get your hands in to change out of swimwear. I tried it out last week at the pool and it’s super warm & cosy.”

And Emily sent us some great pictures of her not-Dryrobe in action. It looks amazing. It has a gorgeous sky blue colour, and it’s lined with grey. We’re gonna share these pictures in the show notes for this episode, so make sure to head over there to see Emily looking like a rock star on the beach.

Helen: Yeah. I mean, this legit looks like something you could wear, not just on the beach.

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: It looks so cool. I can picture it made in black fabric. It would be like a very cool city coat as well, not just for the beach.

Caroline: Careful, Helen. You’re gonna end up on that Facebook page.

Helen: I totally would be that person.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Sometimes when I’m heading home from the beach and I’m just wearing my swimsuit and my towel, I’m like, what if I got in a car accident? I need to be wearing something.

Caroline: Oh, so true. Okay. Well, thank you to everyone who told us about their changing robes and to everyone who told us they’d love to see a pattern from Helen. Wink, wink. Um, but I think we should get onto the show.

Helen: Yes. Ahem. Ahem.

Caroline: Yes.

Helen: Ahem.

Caroline: Yes. Helen, was there something you wanted to say?

Helen: I was just introducing the topic of the episode: hems.

Caroline: Oh, right. Of course.

Helen: Alright, as usual, we’re gonna start off by just defining our topic for the day. So a hem is the edge of a piece of cloth that has been turned under and sewn. It sounds simple, and sometimes it is, but not always, depending on the kind of fabric, the type of hem, and,of course, the shape of the pattern piece.

Caroline: You can have hems at the ends of sleeves at the bottom edges of skirts, pants, and shirts, at the edge of a ruffle, all around a scarf. They’re really everywhere.

Helen: Yes, not just around your ankles. In this episode, we’re going to talk about all the types of hems, when to use them, and all the tips and tricks that we can think of for sewing them.

Caroline: But first, a bit of etymology. The word “hem” is an old English word, meaning “the border of a cloth or garment.” The old English term comes from the older, proto-Germanic “hamjam” which means “to stop, or to restrain.” Sorry. We have no idea to how to pronounce ham jam. So we’re just saying it like it’s a ham and jam sandwich.

Helen: I love this. I feel like every time I sew a hem now I’m gonna be like, it’s ham jam time.

Caroline: Woo.

Helen: Time to get my ham jam on.

Caroline: I kinda love that.

Helen: So why do we hem? Why are hems so important, Caroline?

Caroline: Well, finishing edges is important for the longevity of a garment. Most fabrics need to be hemmed so that they don’t fray, and even fabrics that don’t fray can benefit from hems since a hem will strengthen the edge of the garment and prevent it from distorting or ripping.

Helen: Yes, and hems create a visual “end” to the garment. It makes a garment look finished. It also gives weight to the fabric so that it falls nicely on your body.

Caroline: And knowing how to sew a good hem is an undervalued sewing skill; a poorly sewn hem on an otherwise great garment can ruin the look. Take your time with hems! They’re often rushed because they’re the last step and you just wanna wear what you’ve made, but if you take your time and do it carefully, you’ll have a garment that you’ll want to wear again and again.

Helen: Yes! Okay. I’m excited to talk about hemming both woven and knit fabrics. Let’s start with wovens because they almost always need to be hemmed.

Caroline: Mhm, yeah. The most common hem type is the double fold hem. So this type of hem has a nice finish on both the right and the wrong sides. Basically, you fold the fabric over once, press it, then fold it over, press it, and stitch it down near the edge of the inner fold.

Helen: Yes, and there’s also the single fold hem. For this one, you finish the edge of the fabric, usually with a serger or a zigzag stitch, and then you fold it over just once before stitching along that inner edge to attach it. It doesn’t look as finished on the wrong side as the double fold hem does, but it can be good for bulkier fabrics or curved hems. If you do a single fold hem with a knit, you don’t even have to finish the edge before you fold it over. That’s usually what I do. I almost never double fold hem my knits.

Caroline: Yeah, totally. And even on wovens, I often do the single fold just cause I’m often trying to get as much length out of the garment as possible. Um, so I, like, to, kind of, like, hack it and just do a single fold, especially if I want it to be a little bit longer than maybe it is.

Helen: Yeah, and you can decide based on your fabric, too. Like if the hem’s gonna be at all visible, you might want…

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: …it to look really good on the inside, but if it’s gonna be completely hidden inside the garment, maybe you don’t care. Or if it’s a busy print, and you’re not gonna notice if it’s not double folded. I mean, so many things to consider.

Caroline: Mhm, and remember, you can always customise the depth of your hems. So I wanna know, Helen, if you have a preferred hem depth? This is a very niche question.

Helen: Such a niche question. I mean, I think if you look at my pattern collection, you will notice that I love a deep hem. You’ll find them on almost all of our patterns. I just love this look. I usually go for a one and a half- to a two-inch hem. Some people might find that a bit excessive, but I just think it looks so good. It gives it, like, a modern feel. Even on my knits, I like to hem deep. I usually go one to 1.5. How about you? You like to hem deep, right?

Caroline: I like to hem deep. I love a deep hem cause it is, it’s, like, luxurious and, kind of, like, unnecessary, but…

Helen: Yes!

Caroline: …because you can, why not? Especially if you have the fabric available. I am in agreement. I love a deep hem. I love that your patterns have deep hems. For me, it does depend on the garment. I also love a small double fold hem, especially on a really lightweight fabric.

And when I want to conserve length, like I said, I like to serge the edge and then just turn it up once for a tiny single fold hem. I do this a lot on dresses and, like, flowy, you know, kind of, cotton garments that I just, yeah, the inside won’t really be seen, so it doesn’t matter.

Helen: Mhm.

Caroline: Okay. So how do you customise a hem? Let’s talk about deepening hems first.

Helen: Well, let’s say that the pattern has, like, a half-inch hem built in and you’d like to have a deep three-inch hem. If the pattern is straight cut, meaning it’s not tapered or flared at the bottom, you can just lengthen the pattern by two and a half inches, and you can stick some paper on there, or you can go right to your, uh, fabric and just cut it a little bit longer, going a little bit more risky route, but that works, too.

But if you have a tapered pants pattern, you wanna have a little “wing” at the bottom of the pattern piece that flares back out. That is the hem. The wing is like a mirror image of the taper at the end of the pant leg. So if you fold it up at that smallest point, you’re gonna see how that wing works. If you want to widen a hem on this kind of pattern, you can extend the wing using the bottom of the pant leg as a template.

Caroline: Yeah. I will say one caveat of just, like, doing the lengthening just directly on your fabric is that it’s easy to forget from, like, one piece to another.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: And I’ve definitely been there where I’ve, like, added some length to a piece, and then, I go to cut the back, and I forget to do that. And then, it’s too late. So having that visual, you know, reminder, obviously, of a bigger pattern piece or a longer pattern piece helps.

One little hack I wanted to mention is that sometimes when I’m sewing a pattern, if I’m not o-, in the largest size. I’ll often use, like, the hemline of the largest size just to get that extra length. And the line is already there. I don’t really have to think about it. I just, like, trace the rest of the pattern, but use the hemline of a, of a larger size. If it’s nested in the right way. It doesn’t work for all patterns, but sometimes that grading is nested. And that’s also, if you’re not like printing and hiding all the other sizes except your own. So it doesn’t work always, but little hack to speed things up.

Helen: Yeah. Oh, I’ve totally done that. And that’s a good point, too, that if you’re gonna make adjustments like this, it can be handy to make them before you cut out your pattern, while you still have it all intact, and you have that extra paper already there. You can go ahead and make these changes a lot more easily.

Caroline: Yeah. Now, if you want your hems to be smaller, it’s a bit easier than deepening them. You can just decide how much you’d like to reduce and trim that off the edge of your pattern. And this is handy for when you’re doing pattern tetris on a stash piece of fabric. If you are just a little bit short on the fabric.

And do remember if you have, like, a taper or a flare, you still wanna conserve that little wing, so it’s not always as easy as just reducing and trimming off that edge, but sometimes it is.

Helen: I should really know this, but is there a technical term for the little wing?

Caroline: Oh, it’s the wing, Helen.

Helen: The wing. That’s what we call it.

Caroline: I have no idea.

Helen: I love a good wing. When I see a pattern with a wing on the bottom, I’m like, oh, this is, this pattern’s legit.

Caroline: Yeah, totally.

Helen: Another handy skill for squeezing a garment out of a smaller piece of fabric is drafting a hem facing. You can use a complimentary fabric for this instead of using your shell fabric if you really wanna stretch out that main fabric that you’re using. To draft a hem facing, first, you mark the hem edge on your pattern. That’s the place where the pattern has asked you to press up to make the hem.

Say a pattern asked for a double fold hem of a quarter inch for the first fold and an inch for the second fold, you’re gonna mark a line one and a quarter inches up from the pattern edge. Then, you can use tracing paper to trace off the hem edge of the pattern, up the side edges, and across at the depth that you want your hem to be. So you’re essentially tracing a little rectangle piece for the bottom.

Add your seam allowances to your facing piece and your pattern piece, and you’re ready to go. If you’re choosing a complimentary fabric for your hem facing, make sure to try to match the weight and drape of your shell fabric. And if you can’t match it, try to go lighter in weight, not heavier.

So, for example, quilting cottons and cotton lawns are great for facing denims and canvases, but using denim to face a cotton lawn would make the hem hang, kind of wonky, and, kind of, heavy. We’ll link a great tutorial on the In the Folds blog that shows you how to draft a hem facing. And there are lots of pictures that’s super easy to follow. I’m a big fan of a hem facing, personally.

Caroline: Oh yeah, it is, like, kind of a level up from just a regular hem, and I like that it gives you the opportunity to conserve some fabric and play some pattern Tetris.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Okay. Let’s talk about marking hems. You can always go with the hem that the pattern calls for, but the best way to get a garment that’s perfect for you is to mark your own hem length cause patterns are often drafted for specific height. And also, body height is distributed differently, so somebody who is the same height as you might have a shorter torso and longer legs or vice versa. So it is always good to try something on and see if the hem that is designed is something that works for you.

Helen: So in order to mark your own hem, you’re gonna need to either wear your garment and have a friend mark the hem, or you’re gonna wanna use a dress form. A third option is to put it on a friend who has similar proportions to you, but how many of us have someone like that just hanging around? I mean, I wish.

The reason it’s important to wear the garment when you’re marking the hem is because your body shape will influence how the hem lays. You can’t just lay out on the table because there’s no body underneath it, and you’re really not gonna get a sense for it. And as Caroline mentioned, everyone’s weight and height is distributed differently. So the same skirt can be short in the back on one person, short on the sides on another person, or short in the front on yet another person. So you want to mark the garment when it’s on you, and you’ll be sure to get a nice even hem.

It’s also a good idea to put on the shoes that you’d like to wear with the garment. So you can get an idea for what the garment will look like when you wear it. This is especially important for pants or long dresses since they hang closer to the floor.

And if anyone’s ever watched Project Runway or RuPaul’s Drag Race or any of those shows where they’re getting critiqued on their looks, hem depth and how close it is to the floor is, like, a main thing…

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: …and it throws off the whole look.

Caroline: Yeah, totally. It can really make a big difference visually.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Um, and you don’t really know until you try it on. So if you put on your garment and then the hem already looks even, you can just make a single mark where you’d like the hem to be. There are a couple ways to do this without a helper, you can rubber band a marking pen to a yard stick or another long stick you have laying around. I’m sure Pepper and Emma would understand if we just borrowed one of their sticks for a minute. And then, you get in front of a mirror, stand up straight, and mark your garment where you’d like the hem to be.

Another option is to get in front of a mirror, hold a yard stick, or metre stick with one end touching the ground and note the amount of inches from the ground you’d like your hem to be.

Helen: I think the second option makes more sense because you won’t be trying to, like, use a yard stick to, like, poke your garment to market. Just seems like that is not going to work.

Caroline: Yeah. I mean, I, I will say, like, if you happen to live with another person and you have someone who can just for one moment come over and just put a pin in the spot that you want it.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: That’s probably also the easier way to go.

Helen: Yes, totally. And if you put on your garment and your hem is hanging unevenly, you’ll want to mark your hem all the way around. So you can’t just put one pin in. You’re gonna need to do a few more because you wanna get that even hem. So decide where you’d like your hem to be and use the yardstick to find that measurement up from the ground. Use your yardstick to mark the hem at the same number all the way around and make small marks every two to four inches. Connect them into a line once you finish.

This is especially true with A-line cut garments or circle skirts, those kinds of things that are cut on the bias at portions. So those areas will stretch more, and you end up with a wonky hem at the bottom. So you’re gonna need to mark all the way around. And then, before you cut, you’ll want to add your desired hem depth. Make a line below the hemline by adding on your hem depth. And that’s gonna be your cut line. Don’t forget that important step.

Caroline: Mhm. Yeah, you don’t wanna just cut right where your pin is because then when you hem it, it’s gonna be shorter than you need it to be.

Helen: Dope.

Caroline: And there’s one more tool that can help you mark your own hems, and that’s the Dritz Deluxe Chalk Hem Marker. This device has a stand where you can adjust the height of a nozzle and you stand right next to the nozzle, hold the air bulb in your hand, and it shoots out chalk dust to mark your garment. It’s kind of magical. We’ve never used one before, but they’ve been around for many years, so someone out there is using one. If you have, let us know what you think of it and if you have any tips for using.

Helen: This is, yeah, such a luxurious tool to have in the sewing room. And I’m surprised I haven’t acquired one yet, but I’ve, I’ve got my eyes peeled.

Caroline: I actually have one more method I wanna throw in here, curve ball, because this is actually how I do my own hems. And it takes a bit longer than some of these methods, I think, but it works for me. I just pin up the hem where I think it’s gonna look good, try on the garment, and then gauge whether that works for me or not. And sometimes that involves taking it off again, re-pinning, putting it on again, but it doesn’t involve any, like, marking with chalk or rigging up sticks or, you know, trying to get a friend to come and help you.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: It’s very self-sufficient even though it takes a little longer and it, for me, is, I like to be able to really visualise what it’s gonna look like, so the actual, like, pinning up of the fabric helps for me.

Helen: Yeah. That’s so fair. And you can also compare to existing garments that you have…

Caroline: Oh, yeah.

Helen: …that you like to figure out that hem depth that works for you and also the hem length that works for you. All that good stuff.

Caroline: Yeah. That’s a really great point. Okay. We keep saying to mark your hem where you want it, but what if you’re not sure where you want it? We have a few things for you to consider here.

Helen: Yeah. So for skirts, the four basic types of skirts are mini, knee-length, midi, which I always think is such a weird descriptor for this length, and maxi. Mini skirts can go anywhere from micro-minis to just a couple inches above the knee. Knee-length skirts can be just above, at, or just below the knee. Midi skirts fall to about halfway between the knees and the ankles. And maxi skirts fall from the ankles to the floor.

Caroline: And suit pants actually have their own hem terminology based on how the fabric of the pants falls on top of the foot. So the longest is called a full break. This is when the fabric has a generous fold of fabric over the top of the shoe and may also reach down to the sole, over the back of the shoe. This is a vintage-y style that, kind of, looks best with wide or flared pants.

Helen: The next-longest suit pant length is a half break or a medium break. This one makes a half fold over the top of the shoe and falls to the middle of the shoe back. This is the most traditional length and is commonly found on most business suits.

Caroline: And the next one is called the quarter break. This one has a slight horizontal crease over the front, and the hem reaches the top of the shoe at the back.

Helen: And the shortest suit pant length is the no break. This one has no folding at all since the hem just reaches the top of the shoe. It can go up to crop length, which is an inch or two above the top of the shoe.

Caroline: What about, um, like, flood pants? What length is that? I feel like people say that a lot.

Helen: I don’t know. What is that? Is that, like, extra long?

Caroline: No, I always thought it was, like, cropped. Cause, like, if there’s a flood you need to, like, roll up your pant leg so that your pants don’t get wet right?

Helen: Yeah. I mean, that sounds like the length of pants that I wear all the time.

Caroline: Yeah. Right? Same.

Helen: Like, six inches above my shoes.

Caroline: Okay. And as with everything in fashion, hem lengths for skirts and pants go in and out of popularity. It’s up to you if you wanna follow the trends or go your own way. And if there’s a look you’d like to emulate, check out some photos of that type of garment being worn and see where the hemline falls on the person wearing it. If you’d like to see how it looks on you, stand in front of a full length mirror and lift your garment to different lengths to test out how it would look, and make sure you wear your shoes.

Helen: Yes. Okay. Let’s talk about pressing for a moment, because this is one of the main ways to make sure that you get a great hem. Caroline, why don’t you tell everyone about your favourite tool? The seam gauge.

Caroline: If you listen to our last episode, you’ll know, I think it’s the handiest tool. Um, you can use a seam gauge or a hem gauge to help you press to the correct depth all the way around. So a seam gauge is, like, a thin metal tool, sometimes they’re plastic, with a ruler on it. And you can press a small plastic pointer to the depth you’re using. So it, kind of, slides along the ruler, so that it’s almost like a stopper at the measurement that you need. And the idea is that you fold the fabric over the ruler, up to the pointer, and then press over it.

A hem gauge is like a seam gauge only wider and without a plastic pointer. So these tools come in, like, a few different versions and variations and might take you a minute to find the one that works best for you. Um, but I personally use mine all the time.

Helen: I do use them, and I think they’re super handy. And I also think they’re just really cute and fun. There are so many different styles. I have, like, a little metal one, and I have one of those Clover ones that’s like, um, foam almost, so you can press on top of it. You can also just use a ruler. I mean, that’s essentially what it is. It’s a ruler.

Caroline: Totally. Yeah. It’s just like, it, kind of, the, the slider almost catches on the edge of your fabric, so it’s really easy to fold the fabric exactly how deep it needs to be.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Um, and makes just the whole process, like, a little bit less involved, I guess, but…

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: …maybe it’s more involved cause you’re using a tool. That’s the way you’re looking at it.

Helen: Try eyeballing it like me. It’s super easy.

Caroline: Live on the edge.

Helen: Pre-pressing hems can be really nice, especially with pieces that would be tricky to press once they’re sewn, thinking about, like, sleeve hems, or basically any hem on baby clothes, pant hems, things like that that end up in a small loop. It’s hard to get your iron in there.

So to pre-press you just press the hem before the pieces are sewn together. Then, you unfold them when you’re sewing the seams up. After you sew the seams, you’ll only have to press a tiny bit to get the hems ready to go. It’s also just so much easier to get a nice straight hem on a flat piece of fabric. It’s really a nice tip to add to your sewing practice. We started adding this to all of our patterns…

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: …telling people when to pre-press cause it’s one of my absolute favourite little sewing hacks.

Caroline: Yeah, it really is. It’s, it feels like magic, kind of, once you sew it up, and you’re like, oh, I don’t have to, like, fiddle with this tiny tube. It’s great.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: And some sewists like to sew a line of stitching at the place that the hem will fold. This gives a really crisp edge, and you won’t need to use a gauge. I’ve done, definitely done this before with, like, a curved hem. Or, I don’t know. I, I find this very useful in certain applications.

Helen: Yeah. Curved hems, and also just small hems. Like, a quarter inch hem is, kind of, hard to do at the iron. It’s fiddly and you end up burning yourself, so that line of stitching makes all the difference.

Caroline: Yeah. Totally. Speaking of curved hems, these are infamous for giving sewists trouble, so we have a few methods to share and some great tips that are gonna help you out. So there are a few methods to sew curved hems. Since wide curved hems are tricky, most of these methods are for narrow hems.

Helen: By Hand London shares three narrow hem methods in a blog post that we’re gonna link up in our show notes. The first is a double fold hem. You sew a line of stitching, there it is, a quarter inch from the edge. Press the fabric in using that line as a guide. And then, you press the fabric in another quarter inch, this time using the cut edge as your guide. If your fabric can handle it, use lots of steam to help the fabric lie flat. And then you’re gonna go ahead and stitch it down.

Caroline: Yes. And the second method is to use a narrow tape or ribbon. So you pin the wrong side of the ribbon to the right side of the fabric and stitch along the top edge. Turn the ribbon under and press, and then stitch along the unsewn edge. It leaves it looking really pretty inside. And you can have, like, a little contrasting or printed ribbon. So it’s like a little secret surprise just for yourself.

Helen: Oh, I love this. Okay. The third method is a simple single fold hem, where you finish the edge with a serge or a zigzag, turn it up, and stitch it down.I like this method if it’s a really steep curve because you can even turn up the differential feed on your serger…

Caroline: Mhm.

Heln: …and get it to, kind of, gather that edge. And then it makes it even easier to turn it up before you stitch it.

Caroline: Ooh, nice trick, Helen. I love that. I’ll have to try that. Okay. So we said before that wide curved hems are tricky, but they’re not impossible. If you’re sewing a curved hem wider than a quarter inch, you’re gonna need to gather the fabric at the upper fold. We’ll use the example of a double fold hem that’s folded up first, a quarter inch, and then again, an inch.

So first, you press up that quarter, sew a line of gathering stitches close to the edge of the fold, then press up the hem again, an inch, but only press along the edge of the hem line, not all the way to the top fold. Then, gently pull on the bobbin thread of those gathering stitches to ease the fullness of the upper fold. And when you have the hem nice and even and lying flat, press it and pin it. If your fabric can take steam, now is a good time to use it, but protect those little fingers, so you don’t get burnt like me. And finally, stitch the hem down and take out the gathering stitches.

I have done this before. It is involved, but it works really well. And it’s so satisfying when you can just, like, gather up that edge so that it fits perfectly, and you’re not dealing with all this, like, wavy, foldy mess on the inside of, like, a deep curved hem.

Helen: Yes. It totally is worth it to put in the extra effort. But even if you get a few little tucks on the backside, on the inside of your hem, don’t worry about it. Just leave them be, I say. Move on. It’s fine. You’re probably gonna have a couple in there, and that’s totally natural. You’re adding a lot of extra fabric into a small space.

Caroline: Totally.

Helen: Okay. We also want to point out something that’s called roping. You’re gonna wanna watch out for roping when you’re sewing curved hems. “Roping” is when the hem folds over at a diagonal and it creates ripples that look like the twists in a rope. To avoid roping, you need two things. First, you carefully position and press your hem. And second, make sure your hem is feeding evenly into your machine.

I don’t know about you, Caroline, but sometimes when I get going on a curved hem, in particular, it’s like, everything starts to skew and you feel like you’re just on an unstoppable train, and there’s nothing you can do, and it’s, like, all starting to go diagonally, and that’s how you get roping.

Caroline: Yeah, sometimes I, I cheat a little bit, and I just stopped sewing. And just do, like, a little tuck…

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: …at the back to, like, correct the roping. And, I find, even though that’s probably not, like, the recommended method, it does work for me when I’m like, you know, that runaway train moment where you’re like, oh no, we have a roping situation.

Helen: It’s roping! It’s roping.

Caroline: If you’re sewing a curved or flared hem that’s wider than a quarter inch, you’re gonna need to ease it. And if you’re sewing a narrow curved, or flared hem, you’ll still need to pay attention as you’re pressing, make sure to press the fabric up perpendicularly. It might help to lift your iron and put it down when you press, rather than scooching it across cause sometimes you get that roping, even in that ironing stage.

Helen: Yes. And if you think it’s your machine that’s creating a roping problem, you could try a walking foot also known as an easy feed foot. And this foot adds a set of feed dogs on top of the fabric so the fabric can feed more evenly through instead of being pulled at different rates on the top and the bottom.

Caroline: I will say a lot of the time roping will happen for me when I’m a little bit lazy and I don’t prepress my hem. And I try to just, like, finger press and fold it on the spot as I’m sewing.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: It’s a lot easier for things to sort of get away from you when you’re doing that versus taking the time to prepress, especially if you’re doing that with steam. Sometimes that’ll sort of shrink everything up before you start sewing so that you’re not in that, sort of, roping situation.

Helen: Yeah, that happens to me, too, especially if I don’t pin my hems, which…

Caroline: Oh yeah.

Helen: …I do a lot actually. You don’t wanna have to unpick because of roping. It’s like a slap in the face.

Caroline: No, it’s so annoying. It’s so annoying. Yeah. Okay. We also need to talk about A-line garments. A-line garments like wide leg pants, culottes, circle skirts, and A-line skirts have some parts that hang on the bias. And if you’ve made one of these, you can put it on a hanger and keep it there for 24 hours before you mark your hem.

Because the bias of the fabric stretches more than the straight of grain, you may find that some parts of the hem hang lower than other parts after you’ve let it hang for a day. So if you account for this by letting your garment relax before you mark your hem, you won’t be surprised by a wonky hem the first time you wear it.

Helen: Yes, this is a great tip. And one that, I will say, I rarely follow. I often just go for it and hem the thing. And then, you know, a few days later I’m like this hem isn’t exactly straight, but I feel like most people are not noticing these things.

Caroline: Yeah, I think it depends a lot on the fabric that you’re using.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: Um, like, how light or heavy it is, on the length of the garment, like a longer garment with, like, a really drapey, heavy drape fabric is going to get wonky more than something that’s, like, light and bouncy.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: So I think you can get away with it, with not doing it, but I also think if you remember, especially if it’s like a really special garment. Like, for me, if I’m making something for, like, a fancy occasion, I will let it hang and make sure that I’m doing my hem properly so that I’m not in a situation where I have, like, photos of this wonky hem that I will have to look at forever.

Helen: You also get the added benefit of approaching the hem, you know, the next day or the next week when you’re fresher and you’re not gonna rush through it.

Caroline: Totally. Yeah. Alright, let’s move on to hemming knits, Helen. Tell me more.

Helen: One great thing about knits is that since they don’t really fray, you never really need to do a double fold hem. As we mentioned at the top of the episode, you can just do that single fold. It’s plenty. You don’t need to even finish the edge beforehand. You can just leave it raw. I mean, I love saving steps like this.

Caroline: This is why I love knits is they’re often so quick and dirty and you can just finish a project in one sewing session because you’re not having to fiddle with double fold hems and finishing edges and all that stuff.

Um, but let’s talk about the options that you have for how to sew your hem on a knit fabric. So the first option is that you can turn the hem up once and zigzag stitch it down. It’s as easy as that.

Helen: Yeah. You can also use a twin needle. There’s an article all about this on my blog, so we’ll make sure to link that in the show notes, But basically, this is a needle that you can put in a regular machine. You put two spools of thread on your thread spindle and feed one through each needle. The resulting stitch will look like a double line of straight stitches on the front and a zigzag on the back.

You’re gonna wanna test this out on your machine and some scrap fabric to find the right tension first. The most common problem with twin needles is something called tunnelling, which is a tension problem. If you can get the tension right, you get a super professional looking finish with a regular sewing machine, and we’ve got some tips about tunnelling in that blog post, too.

Caroline: Yeah. And make sure when you’re doing that test on your machine that you’re folding the fabric and doing two layers instead of just a single layer cause…

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: … it will definitely tunnel more on a single layer.

Helen: Yeah. Guaranteed.

Caroline: You can also use a cover stitch machine. So this is how most ready to wear knit garments are hemmed. And this is a special machine that’s separate from regular home sewing machines and sergers. We talk about them a bit in our Sergers and Overlockers 101 Episode. If you have one of these, congrats, it’s gonna be really easy for you to get a nice finish on your knit hems.

Helen: Yes. You can literally get it to look like you bought it at the store, which I know is not always the goal, but with knit garments, I feel like it kind of is.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Finally, you can leave your knit hems raw. This is great for casual garments. We use this method on our Luna Tank pattern, which is a freebie. It’s got a super curved hem, so we just left it raw. It gives the edge this really nice, lightweight, flowy vibe. It’s not bulky at all. And I’ve also seen some nice swim top overlays that are left raw or, like, a swim skirt. I mean, swim fabric doesn’t fray, like, at all, at all.

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: So it’s a great place to use it.

Caroline: Yes. Yes. I made my mother-in-law. Swim tank. It was kind of like a bandeau with a gathered panel at the bottom. And I totally didn’t hem that gathered panel, and it looks so great. Not necessary…

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: …to hem all the time, right? Okay. And the biggest issue that most sewists have with sewing knit hems is waviness. This happens when the knit is stretched out as its sewn. And even if you’re not physically stretching out the fabric as you sew, you can get wavy hems. This can happen because stitch length and width are wrong, or it can happen because of how the fabric is feeding through your machine. So you want to test out the length and width of your stitches on scraps of fabric to find the least wavy option.

Helen: Yes, and even then you might just get some waves. Some fabrics are so stretchy, and it’s so hard to not get waves. It’s something that I struggle with all the time with knits, too, so you’re not alone. One thing you can do to help is to stabilise the hem in some way. Some options you have for stabilising are spray starch, wash away stabiliser tape, like Wonder Tape, or knit interfacing, which is interfacing that has some stretch to it. So that will actually add an extra layer that you’re sewing on so that things are not gonna get as wavy.

And which one you use depends on what your fabric can handle. So, again, you’re gonna wanna do lots of tests on scraps and whether you’d like the stabiliser to wash away or stick around. There’s a few things to consider, but if you struggle with wavy hems and you’ve never tried stabilisers, give them a try. It can really make a world of difference.

Caroline: Mhm. And remember pressing with steam…

Helen: …can cure all wounds.

Caroline: Exactly. I was gonna say, fix all manner of sins. Like, a wavy hem can often be, um, rectified with a good, steamy, hot iron. Just make sure it’s not too hot, and it doesn’t, like, burn your fabric.

Helen: Yeah, don’t go, don’t go too, too hot. You can also throw it in the wash. That often makes a difference. When I finish a knit garment, you know, the neckline’s a little stretched, the hem’s a little wavy, and you just throw that in the washer/dryer, and bam! It’s all good.

Caroline: Actually, I feel like that washer/dryer tip, I’m going off topic is, like, a good tip for any garment.

Helen: True.

Caroline: I think this is something that I learned from Jennifer from Workroom Social, but she had said once, like, I always throw an, like, a freshly made garment through the wash before I wear it cause it just gives it more of a ready to wear look, and it just makes it feel like more finished, almost, once it’s been washed. Like, less pristine and just sewn. And it gets out any of those wrinkles that you might have from, like, the folds of the fabric that often you’ll get in a freshly made garment that just go away once you wash it.

Helen: Yeah. It really does add a, like, depth of personality to a garment.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: And some fabrics more than others, like denim, you wanna wash it, like, 20 times.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Ideally.

Caroline: Yeah, totally.

Helen: Okay. We’ve gone through all the hemming basics now. Let’s talk a little bit about fancy hemming.

Caroline: Ooh, fancy hemming. Okay, we’re gonna keep banging our hand sewing drum because hand sewing can give you such a lovely result. You can make a practically invisible hem by hand, which is difficult or impossible to do by machine. And you also have so much control over easing the hem when you hand sew it. Tell me about hand sewing, Helen. I know you love hand sewing.

Helen: I do. It really does make a huge difference. If you struggle with things like hems or setting in sleeves, hand sewing is your friend. Try it, try it, try it. Okay.

There are five main hand stitches used to sew hems. The catch stitch is the one that looks like lots of little x’s across the back. Across the front, there’s just tiny, far apart, little stitches where you just caught the fabric.

This stitch is strong and it has a bit of give, which makes it ideal for close fitting sleeve hems or tight pencil skirt hems. You’ll see this a lot if you go vintage clothes shopping and you peek at the hems, the catch stitch, those little x’s along the hem. Super common.

Next, the blind hem stitch hides most of the thread behind the top fold of the hem. And it’s barely visible from either side. You’re, kind of, like, tucking it in between the fold of the hem and the garment. Um, and it’s called the blind stitch cause you can’t see it.

The slip stitch is similar in that it’s almost invisible on both sides, but this time, most of the thread is hidden inside the fold of the hem. Love that! Finally, the fell stitch leaves tiny vertical stitches on the front of the hem and longer diagonal stitches on the backside.

And we’re gonna link to Seamwork’s article “Five Ways to Hand Stitch a Hem,” so you can learn all of these stitches and see them in action.

Caroline: And I have a couple of hand sewing tips for you all. So pressing is gonna help you get a really neat result. You also want to try to keep the needle above the fabric. You’re gonna go faster if you put the needle down and back up right away, rather than pulling it down and then searching for the right spot to bring it back up again. And you really only need to catch one or two threads from the outside fabric when you’re hemming. This is gonna leave you with a really tiny, almost-invisible stitch on the right side of your fabric.

Helen: Yes. If your machine has a blind hem stitch, you can also try that. You will need a blind hem foot as well. The blind hem foot looks like a regular foot with a vertical plate in the middle. You’ll turn up your hem twice, like normal, and then fold it back the other way so that there’s a little gap between the top fold of the hem and the outside of the pant or the skirt. You’re gonna pin that into place. You butt the new fold against the centre plate and stitch. And the stitch will just put a few straight stitches onto the top fold of the hem and then a tiny stitch onto the folded pant leg over and over. It kind of goes, like, one two over, one two over. And on the outside, it will look like an almost-invisible hem, tiny little stitches. You can check out the blind hem tutorial on the Seamwork website for a more visual representation. I have actually never used my blind hem stitch or foot.

Caroline: I was gonna say, have you ever done this before? I have definitely used it before, and I, it’s, kind of, magical. Like, it’s definitely hard to visualise from just a verbal description, but I encourage everyone to go check out the tutorial and try it even just on a scrap of fabric cause once you try it, it’s, sort of, I don’t know, demystifies the whole process, and it is a really handy little tool, especially if you’re making a pair of, like, trousers where you want, like, a really clean finish at the bottom.I think this is a great method if you have that option on your machine.

Helen: Totally.

Caroline: And you wanna avoid hand sewing.

Helen: Wow. I feel personally attacked.

Caroline: You can also do baby hems, I love a baby hem, also known as rolled hems by hand or on the machine. By hand, it’s, kind of, magical. You turn the fabric down once, a scant quarter inch, and then you sew tiny stitches in a, kind of, zigzag. And then every couple of inches you pull the string and it rolls up into a beautiful, tiny hem. We found a great Threads video demonstrating it that you’ll have to watch, so we’re gonna link that up. It’s so satisfying.

And by machine, you can use a rolled hem foot. This foot guides a single fold of fabric into a roll as you stitch it down. It can be tricky to get this one started. It helps to stabilise the first couple of inches with lightweight, interfacing and put tissue paper under it. But once you get it started, though, it’s a beautiful result for much less time than it takes to hand roll a hem.

I have to say Helen, when I used to sew on an industrial machine, like, ten years ago, um, or more actually, before I moved to Vancouver, I had one of these, like, rolled hem feet for my industrial, and it is so fun to use and so cool, and it gives such a professional looking finish. I, I don’t know. I haven’t seen this attachment for a domestic sewing machine or at least not for mine, maybe it exists. But if you’ve never tried this or seen it, you gotta look it up. It’s really cool.

Helen: It’s so cool. It looks, kind of, like a little, like, cone, right? Like, a little swirly…

Caroline: It’s, yeah, it’s like a little, it’s like a foot with a little swirl on the right side. And you, sort of, have to push the edge of the fabric into that swirl to get it going so that it does, like, the initial swirl. And then once you sew, it just, kind of, like, you just have to position your fabric the right way. And then it just goes, and it’s, like, magic. And you don’t have to prepress or anything. And it gives you this beautiful baby hem. It’s really nice on, like, a chiffon or an organza or a satin when you just want, like, a little teeny tiny hem, and you don’t wanna fiddle with pressing it and sewing it by hand.

Helen: So, so cool. You can also use bias binding to hem. In fact, this is a really good option for curved hems, since it has that natural stretch to it. You would want to use single fold bias tape, the kind where it’s just two edges pressed into the centre. You pin the right side of the tape to the right side of the hem. Sew it together along the bottom fold of the tape. And then you under stitch the seam allowance to the tape so the edge stays nice and neat. And then you press the whole thing under and stitch the top fold down.

I love a bias finish, and it’s such a fun place to use, like, a contrasting fabric, little pop of colour, a stripe so you get those diagonal lines. I mean, it’s such a fun way to customise your clothes.

Caroline: Yes. We already talked about using hem tape for circular hems, but you can also use hem tape or ribbon on bulky fabrics to avoid doing a double fold hem. So let’s say you’re making wool, tweed trousers. A double fold hem would be too bulky, but a single fold hem would look unfinished. So in this case, you can pin the wrong side of the tape to the right side of the trouser’s edge, making sure that the tape overlaps the edge, stitch the top edge down, fold up the hem, and stitch the other edge of the tape to the trouser leg. No bulk and a beautiful finish.

Helen: Ooh, I love this. Piping can also be a cool hem detail. You can stick the piping in between a hem facing or bias tape so that the piping is at the very edge, or you can create a folded piece that will extend beyond the piping like you would find on a pyjama bottom.

Caroline: Mhm, and if you have an embroidery machine, you can make delicate, cut work hems. You stabilise the fabric, do a thick satin stitch in the shape you want, and carefully cut away the fabric at the edges. I so wish I could do these. I don’t know. I don’t know if I have the patience for it, but it’s really cool.

Helen: It is so cool. I love the idea of making a hem, like, whatever shape you want. I saw a really cool shirt on Pinterest the other day. It was just, like, a classic white button up shirt, but the hem they’d cut all, like, curvy and just, like, this really abstract way and then finish with a neon bias tape. So cool.

Caroline: Wow. That is a fancy hem.

Helen: That is a fancy hem. You can also make shaped hems. Scallops are really popular right now. Sam from Purple Sewing Cloud has been doing a lot of them in the past year. And there’s a tutorial on Megan Nielsen’s blog about it.

Basically, you sew a single fold hem first, and then you fold the fabric up the opposite way and trace your scallop template onto the fold, sew along the line, trim and notch the excess away. Finally, you clip it, press it, top stitch, single fold hem down. I mean, it is an involved process. You have to do each scallop, but it’s such a great finish and such a cute look.

Caroline: I feel like this should be a song. Clip it, flip it, press it, top stitch it. Clip it, flip it.

Helen: Flip it, press it, top stitch it.

Caroline: Clip it, flip it, flip it, press it. Okay. Alright. Alright. Okay.

Finally, there are a couple extras you can add to your hem to give them body and weight. Horsehair braid gives your hem body. Basically, on a wide skirt, it’s gonna make the hem stick out and look nice and bouncy. And on a coat or a blazer, it’s gonna keep the hem from folding in on itself so that it looks flat and tailored. Horse hair braid is a stiff, but flexible web of polyester or nylon. And to sew it, you place it into the fold of your hem, stitch it down when you stitch the hem down.

Helen: Yes, it is made out of plastic these days, but I believe it was originally made out of horse hair, right?

Caroline: I think so. Yeah. And you can get horsehair braid. You can also get horsehair canvas, which we used to carry at Blackbird and definitely had, like, some horse hair in it, I believe. Still.

Helen: Oh, cool.

Caroline: To this day.

Helen: So, yeah, it really does give that amazing body. I mean, picture, like, an A-line skirt with a horsehair hem and how much, just, volume that would have. Definitely a look.

Caroline: A look.

Helen: A look. You can also put weights in your hem. This can make your clothes drape beautifully, not to mention protect you from embarrassing moments involving gusts of wind. I mean, personally, I’m always waiting for a Marilyn moment, but you do you.

Caroline: I was gonna say.

Helen: There is a tutorial on the Itch to Stitch blog, where they use pennies as hem weights. There’s something so adorable about that. It seems like something maybe, like, a hobbit would do. I dunno.

Caroline: Just sewing pennies into the hem.

Helen: Just make sure it’s not gonna, like, rust, and I guess, yeah, it’s probably fine.

Caroline: Yeah. It’ll depend on the fabric.

Helen: They used to put lead weights in the bottom of skirts.

Caroline: Ooh.

Helen: Alright, in my humble opinion, we got through a lot of information in this episode. Don’t you think?

Caroline: We definitely did. And listeners, your hem work is share your best hemming tips and tricks with us. We love to learn from you.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: Also, share your best hem puns, please.

Helen: Yeah, I’m sure we missed some.

Caroline: Yeah, absolutely.

That’s it for today’s episode of Love To Sew. You can find me Caroline at BlackbirdFabrics.com and Helen at HelensClosetPatterns.com. And we’re recording today in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

Helen: Go to LoveToSewPodcast.com to find our show notes. They’re filled with links and pictures from this episode. And if you’d like to get in touch with us, you can send us an email at hello@LoveToSewPodcast.com.

Caroline: And if you love Love To Sew and want more, you can sign up for our Patreon. For $5 a month, you get a full length bonus episode filled with puns, sometimes, and weekly behind the scenes pictures. And for $10 a month, you get all that plus a mini-episode focused on sewing techniques and 15% off codes for Helen’s Closet and Blackbird Fabrics. Patreon is the best way to support us so that we can keep making quality content for you. So go to patreon.com/LoveToSew for more info.

Helen: Thanks again to our amazing podcast team. Lisa Ruiz is our creative assistant. Jordan Moore is our editor. And Margaret Wakelee is our transcriber. And thank you for listening. We’ll talk to you next week.

Caroline: Bye.

Helen: Buh-bye.

Hem. Hems. Hams. Love ham.

Caroline: Wait. I’m gonna say that again.

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