Intro

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Uses: Hems are used on the bottoms of tops, dresses and sleeves. Hems look better topstitched versus stitching from the underside, so it is important to have very straight hems to catch the fabric underneath.

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Technique Materials

Thin cardboard (think cereal boxes) or manila envelopes. Cut in to strips: the first should be the width of your desired hem, the second should be 1/8" shorter. I cut mine at 11/2" and 1 1/8"

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  • Missing

    Mar 26, 2011, 08.54 PMby pates

    thanks for your post. do you mean 1 1/2" and 1 3/8" curious. thank you.

  • Dscn0826_large

    Dec 18, 2010, 11.00 PMby ruthw

    The best looking hems on what are topstitched? On anything bias cut, the WORST looking hems are topstitched! What about hems on chiffon? Top-stiched? What about hems on knits? Don’t you lie lettuce edging? Quite a lot of hems are better done in a variety of different ways. Horses for courses, you know!

    1 Reply
    • Img_8634_2_large

      Dec 18, 2010, 11.31 PMby madebymeg

      Thanks for your comments, I’ll clarify: hems look better if they are topstitched versus stitched from the underside. The best way to do this is to have the hem folded under as neatly as possible so that you can stitch from the top (topstitch) and still catch the hem underneath. Of course, different fabrics require different hems. SewMamaSew has a great guide to how to hem different fabrics: http://sewhappyclothes.blogspot.com/search/label/Techniques

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