Hemming

Hemming is generally done at the bottom of a garment's opening: Either the bottom edge of a top or bottom (shirts, skirts, pant legs), or the bottom of a cuff. Hemming is simply put, to fold the fabric onto itself and then stitch around the circumference to prevent the fabric from fraying and unraveling.

A pattern piece will usually indicate the hem both in the instructions and on the pattern piece itself. Almost every pattern I have done uses a standard 1¼" hem.

If you are making a more formal dress, skirt, or pair of pants, it's always a good idea to try the garment on before you hem while wearing the shoes you plan to wear with the outfit (for a bottom) or if you're a woman and this is a top, to wear the bra that you plan to wear with the garment (don't make me spell out why), and then determine where you would like your hemline to be. You can mark the hem and press it up, and then stand on a chair and have a friend or family member check to make sure that the hem is even all the way around. You may find that your hem is longer or shorter than the pattern's standard.

Finishing show-down -- which is best?

No "Fraytality" puns, please.

There are a plethora of finishing options out there that we've gone though, but you might wonder which one is "best" in terms of preventing fraying in the long-term. As you create garments that you might want to wear and wash often, durability of your seams might become a concern.

In order to test the durability of the various raw edge finishing techniques, I've created a test swatch. Each edge of the swatch will use a different finishing technique, and then it will put the swatch through the a machine wash/dry cycle multiple times and track the progress of the raw edge and see how it frays. Of course, I'm only testing raw-edge finishing, not any finishing technique that encloses the raw edge, like bias tape or  french seam, as those do not weather in a washing machine quite so badly since the raw edge is not open to the elements.

French Seam

For the most part, we've been working with the Plain Seam for our projects. There are some limitations to the plain seam, however. Because the raw edges are exposed in the seam allowance, it's not the first choice of seam for something like an unlined jacket where the interior of the garment may become visible as the wearer takes the item on or off in public. Similarly, for very lightweight fabrics that fray or ravel very easily, even an overlock might not be enough to keep the raw edge from coming apart. For these scenarios it is recommended that you use a French Seam, which encases the raw edge inside of the seam allowance via a second seam. The French Seam is also the preferred seam method for sewing household projects like pillowcases. It's got a few more steps in it than the plain seam, but it's not tricky and will definitely neaten up your allowance for your garments and create a more professional look.

Overlock

The overlock stitch is a popular, professional-looking way of finishing your raw edge. It's like a zig-zag stitch except each "zig" and "zag" are multiple stitches, and the exterior point will actually leave the raw edge to create a "lock" on the edge of the fabric. While most people think of Overlocking as something that is done on a serger or other high-end sewing equipment, in truth, if your sewing machine can do a buttonhole and a zipper, it can probably do an overlock.

Pink

One of the simplest ways to finish a raw edge is by pinking the raw edge. Pinking uses a special pair of equipment (called Pinking Shears) to create a saw-tooth edge to the fabric, which discourages fraying.

Unlike stitching methods of finishing a raw edge, you don't want to pink before you do your seam, because doing so might wipe out the notches you cut out and then you won't be able to line up your parts accurately. Instead, pink after you've put the seam into place and the notches are no longer necessary for lining up the pieces.

Finishing a raw edge with single-fold bias tape

In our first project we did some work with single-fold bias tape, but here's a separate article on it just for ease-of-reference. Bias tape is a simple way of finishing a raw edge that does not require a seam or a hem, and does not need structural reinforcing through facing. Armholes on a sleevless shirt are a good example of when to use single-fold bias tape.

Bias tape is, simply put, a thin tape made out of fabric that has been cut on a bias (45° from the selvage). It is then folded and pressed in a gatefold with the "wrong side in." You can make this yourself if you have enough extra fabric from your project (post on its way), or you can purchase bias tape from the notions section of your local fabric store (Note, there are many different varieties of bias tape: for most beginning garment projects, you want ½" wide single fold bias tape -- check your notions on the pattern). Try to get bias tape that matches your fabric's design or color as closely as possible.

You're going to see "stock instructions" every time your finish an edge with single-fold bias tape because it follows the same basic 3 steps, so here's what they mean:

Finishing a raw edge with a facing piece

Sometimes, you will have a collar or armhole that requires finishing with a facing piece that is backed with fusible interfacing. For beginner's patterns, these steps generally follow a set procedure. Working with fusible interfacing (as opposed to finishing with bias tape or other method) gives a collar structure and form, but does require several steps to see through. Fortunately, this a fairly simple procedure, as long as you take each step carefully, you will have it down in no time.