Thursday, June 30, 2011

Nuts and Bolts, 2: Finishing your seams

***This is an installment in my series for beginners.  The information included is very basic, but quite helpful if you are learning to sew.***

Did you notice that your raw edges of your seam allowances are starting to ravel?  Wearing, using, washing and drying garments could make that ravel much, much worse.  To prevent a big tangled mess of ravels and strings, you need to finish your seam allowance.

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I teach beginners 3 different ways to finish seams.  There are several more, but unless you have a serger, a machine with with an overlock stitch, or a desire for Hong Kong finishes, these will get the job done.

The quickest and easiest way to take care of raw edges:  pinking shears.  Trimming your seam allowance with pinking shears won’t completely eliminate raveling, it will minimize it.

Look for a picture tutorial for zig-zaging your edges and French seams in the next few days.

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