Sewing a Zigzag Seam Finish

Knits, stretch fabrics, and fabrics that fray easily are usually best finished with a serger. This makes them nice and neat and unlikely to unravel on you. Great, right? Sergers, however, are incredibly expensive (unless you buy a cheap one that breaks 2 months later) and not worth the investment unless you're looking to become a professional seamstress. So if you don't want to shell out money for a serger but you still want to finish your fabrics in a slightly-professional manner, you'll need to use a zigzag, or even a double zigzag, to give your seam finishes a decent look.

Before you begin finishing your seam, press it flat. You can do this by either pressing the seam allowances open or closed. Open results in a flatter seam when everything is finished, but closed looks more like a professional serged edged. It's really up to you. Remember that if you're ironing the seam allowances closed, you'll be stitching them together with your zigzag. If you're ironing them open, you'll be stitching them individually.

Either way, iron your seam before beginning. Once this is done, stitch a wide or medium-wide zigzag stitch near the raw edge of the seam allowance. If you're not sure what size stitch to use, practice a bit on a scrap piece of fabric. Change your stitch widths a few times and see what works best. In general, you'll use a wider stitch for heavyweight fabrics and a narrow stitch for lightweight fabrics, but this is only a guide. Use what works. You can trim your seam allowances if you like, but be careful not to clip the stitching or you'll have to start all over again.

The zigzag seam finish is probably the most common finish for most of us (including me because I have a love/hate relationship with my serger). It tends to be the go-to seam finish, but don't be afraid to experiment with others.

Sewing a Hand Overcast Seam

Sheer and delicate fabrics are some of the most difficult to work with, especially when it comes to finishing a seam. Delicate fabrics sometimes fall apart when you try to finish a seam using your sewing machine, so it's often better to do so by hand. This is the gentlest way to finish off your more delicate projects.

The hand overcast method might sound self explanatory, but it's not, not really. If you don't do it right, and you don't keep it consistent, you'll find yourself with a seam finish that bunches. Start by ironing your seam open and flat, but use a very low setting. Delicate fabrics don't like a lot of heat. That's one of the many reasons they're labeled 'delicate'.

Once your seam is flat, hand stitch diagonal stitches ⅛" from the raw edge of the seam allowance. Make sure the stitches fall diagonally and that you don't pull too tight. You don't want the fabric bunching. Take your time. You'll want to make sure the stitches are ¼" apart. Keep it consistent. If this is difficult for you, consider pinning a piece of graph paper to the seam allowance as a guide. Even stitches that aren't too tight are the key to this delicate seam finish.

Sewing a Clean-Finish or Turn & Stitch Seam

I often get e-mails asking about certain sewing techniques, especially seams and seam finishes. Usually these requests are really just to clarify terms (such as the word "pink" in relation to sewing). Commercial patterns today assume a certain level of knowledge, so sometimes a pattern will ask you to do something simple, but not actually explain what that 'simple' thing is.

Such is the case with clean-finish seams, sometimes referred to as turn & stitch seams. Clean-finish is just a nice way of saying "don't leave the raw edges visible". It's a good choice to help prevent fraying on light to medium weight fabrics and it's fairly easy to accomplish.

First, iron your seam so that it's both flat and open. You should have done this already, but if you haven't, do it now. Once your seam is ironed, fold the raw edge of the seam allowance to the wrong side of the fabric. You only need to fold it ⅛" to ¼", so don't get carried away. Iron your fold before proceeding. This will keep it from slipping and driving you batty.

Stitch close to the fold to finish your seam. If you like you might want to trim some of the excess, but this is typically unnecessary for this type of seam. Iron your finished turn & stitch seam just to make everything lay flat. It will look prettier this way.

Fairy Tales: Alice in Wonderland

As a seamstress, I find couples hilarious. This one couple in particular made me laugh because they were complete opposite. They came to me wanting to be Alice and the Mad Hatter. Easy enough, right? It should have been, but what started as a normal order quickly became the funniest experience of the year.

It started as most orders start. With the initial visit. I had to measure them both, so I started with the wife. Got her all measured up and we started discussing her costume. It was simple enough because she just wanted the blue dress, made of a heavy cotton, and a white apron, also made out of cotton. She also needed a petticoat trimmed in a cute lace, so we spent some time with lace samples. Her husband sat on the couch and rolled his eyes the whole time. Typical visit.

Then it was his turn to be measured. The measuring went fine. Then out came the fabric. I'll be honest and tell you that it's usually the wife picking the fabrics for the husband. Very few husbands actually care what costumes their wife pick out or what material those costumes are made out of. This husband was certainly not typical.

I pulled out the fabric I'd typically use for the Mad Hatter, but the husband immediately didn't like it. The wife shrugged and went to sit on the couch, so I told the husband to pick out what he'd like. He picked an olive green cotton (not what I'd usually use) for the pants and hat. The blue cotton I was using for the wife's dress was his pick for the tie, vest, and hatband. A white shirt was fine, but he thought it would be nice if the fabric was the same as the petticoat his wife was getting. That was just weird, but okay. But then he found this yellow-orange cotton that he insisted would make an excellent jacket. Okay, then...

By this point, the wife is giggling because the fabric choices weren't what you would call coordinated. And it was only going to get funnier. I pulled out the sketch I'd usually use for the Mad Hatter, one I'd made a dozen times before, but the husband pulled out one of his own. Let's just say they were...different. Mine was streamlined and generally what a husband who didn't exactly what to dress up would appreciate. His was...eccentric.

At this point, the wife is laughing outright. She was laughing so hard she just about fell off the couch, and I was having a hard time of it as well. The husband looked at both of us like we were nuts. Getting myself under control, I took his drawing and promised to do what I could.

Fast forward two weeks and they're back for a fitting. The wife loved her dress and it required only a few moments to take in the waist by a millimeter so it really hugged her. Perfect. The husband tried his on. The pants and shirt fit well enough, as did the vest. As per his drawing, the coat was big and nutty. And too long, but he liked it well enough.

The change he asked for? He wanted me to take my stitch ripper and rough it all up. With the wife giggling, I did so. Only a few tears at first, but with the husband pleading, I must have torn two dozen holes in the thing. As I did so, he threw the hat on the floor and stomped on it. Then he nodded to himself and put the hat on his head. Now I was giggling.

"Ignore him," the wife giggled. "He's always like this. Everything is perfect."

They were just about the happiest couple I've ever had the pleasure of serving. I guess that's what matters.