So I thought I'd put together a quick little tutorial in case some of you wanted to know how it's done or some of you like me haven't had much luck with it in the past.
Step 1: After you've altered the length of your garment, serge the bottom with a narrow stitch. NOTE: This narrow stitch will serve as the line (1/4" from bottom edge) in which you'll fold the fabric up to do the blind hem. This visual line ensures your blind hem results are even. (If you don't have a serger then finish the bottom as you desire and sew a basting stitch 1/4" from the bottom edge.)
Step 2: Fold hem and press into place.
Step 3: This is the tricky part. In the same fashion you would sew the hem by hand, hold the hem wrong side up facing you and fold over to the right side of the fabric, bringing fold up to the bottom of the narrow serger stitch.
Step 4: Secure with pins. Although not pictured here, I put my pins an inch or so away from the folded edge so they're far away from the hemming foot and I don't have to bother with removing them while sewing.
Step 5: Place under the blind hemmer foot. Test and adjust according to your machine guidelines. Note: Your foot should have a guide in which you can line the folded edge of your fabric up.
Step 6: Remove pins, open out hem, and press.
Step 7: The finished product. It worked really well!
I think I'll use it every once in a while but believe it or not I prefer the control (and have grown quite fond) of sewing my blind hems by hand:) Ultimately I will have to buy a commercial one to handle the demands of my growing business.
If you need the aid of a helpful video, check out this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdKe9crSHac.
Hope this tutorial was helpful and encouraged you to give your machine's blind hemmer a try:)
I have been using the blind hem function on my machines for at least 20 years. I absolutely love it. To get a more invisible stitch I loosen the tension considerably.
ReplyDeleteExtremely helpful! I'm trying to catch up on all your posts, so maybe you have it later on, but if you ever thought about doing a tutorial on a French seam, I'd be very excited to see how it's done. I'm especially curious about how to use a French seam when you might need to adjust the seam? Is the idea that you baste first, check for fit, and then put in the French seam. (I don't have a serger...I'm a quilter trying to now learn clothing design/construction, but instead of just average garments, I'm trying to line everything and use "couture" techniques to make each garment really well (as well perfecting the fit of each garment). So far, I'm struggling, but your blog is really inspiring me!
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