A few hem finish suggestions-a Sew Over 50 topic

Over on the @SewOver50 account recently I shared a few of my favourite ways to finish hems or raw edges, although course it is absolutely NOT a definitive list by any means. I thought I would expand a little here on the blog using more photos of projects I’ve made in recent years. They are in no particular order either and if I wrote a blog post about the whole garment then I’ve linked it so you can read more if you want to.

Obviously there are the usual hand-finished hems using slip hemming stitch or herringbone stitch for example, which I use a lot too, but I thought I’d share a few alternatives which you might not know, or haven’t used for a while.

I’m beginning here with a faced hem…

This was the hem of the first Refashioners project I attempted. It was a jacket made from two pairs of my husband’s old jeans and because I wanted to use as much of the reclaimed fabric as possible I cut shaped facings for the lower edge. As you can see I also finished the edge with bias binding I made from offcuts of dress fabric.

The inside of the finished jacket looked like this. I understitched the lower edge of the facing to help it roll better and also slip-stitched it in various places including the seams and pocket bags to secure the facing without the stitching showing on the front.

This is also a much more shaped facing on the hem of Tilly and the Buttons Orla blouse. This can be a beautifully neat finish on a curve, it gives some ‘weight’ and crispness to the hem too and makes it less likely to curl upwards on blouses for example.

This Orla blouse was from 4 years ago, I like the exposed zip in the back too (the instructions for putting it in were excellent if I remember correctly)

The next one is an interesting hem finish which is very useful especially if you want a quality finish on evening or bridal wear. It uses something called ‘crin’, crinoline or horsehair braid (it doesn’t involve actual horsehair any longer though!) I’ve used it here on an organza skirt for the Dior New Look-inspired evening dress I made 4 years ago. As well as a crisp finish I wanted the hem to have distinct body and wave to it so this was the ideal technique. Crin comes in various widths, this was 5cms, lots of colours too because it’s more commonly used these days to trim hats and fascinators.

Helpfully, my fabric had horizontal stripes, some opaque and some sheer so I started by placing the crin on the front of the fabric and lining it up with the bottom edge of an opaque stripe. It is stitched on very close to the edge being careful not to stretch the crin as I sew, it’s important it lies flat. By sewing the crin onto the right side of the fabric when you flip it to the inside the raw edge of your fabric is enclosed underneath. To be honest I was making up the method as I went along because my experience of this technique previously came from altering wedding dresses which used it so this isn’t foolproof. I would strongly advise you to try a few samples first so that you have the version which looks best for your particular garment. [the eagle eyed amongst you might notice in my photo that I’ve sewn the crin to the wrong side of the fabric! I obviously did it and photographed it before realising what I’d done. As this was four years ago I don’t have any other photo!]

Once the crin is turned up to the inside I slip-hemmed it by hand, it looks a bit messy on the inside because the black shows up but it’s absolutely fine on the right side.

the finished dress, it’s one of my favourites I’ve ever made, and it’s a partial-refashion too because the velvet bodice used to be a skirt!

If you’re making a wedding dress for example and mounting all the skirt pieces onto another fabric, when you use crin on the hem (or bias binding for that matter) by hand-sewing the hem all your stitches will be invisible because you can catch them just through the mounting fabric. This is a couture technique so if you look at red carpet dresses with no visible stitching at the hem this will be how they achieved it. You can apply it as appropriate to any garment that you’ve mounted to another fabric though.

The next couple of photos are where I’ve used bias binding to neaten a hem. I find this a really useful technique if you need the maximum amount of hem because you can sew a very small seam allowance. It’s good if you’re letting down hems to gain length too, on trousers or children’s clothing for example.

Sew the binding on very close to the raw edge, this was a Simple Sew Lizzie dress

Here I made my own binding which is first sewn on with a 5mm seam allowance and then understitched which is what you see here. I made this Grainline Farrow dress for a magazine review

The hem is turned up and I’ve slipstitched it in place by hand.

This is the same technique with ready-made bias binding.

the finished skirt.

My final example is the little christening gown I made from a wedding dress.

If you have fine fabric why not consider using your overlocker if you have one on the rolled hem setting? Refer to your manual for specific instructions how to adjust your machine and make samples first to ensure it’s going to be satisfactory for your particular fabric. You’ll frequently see it used on chiffon or georgette but I’ve used it successfully here on fine cotton lawn, jersey and a stretch velour. If you don’t have an overlocker you can probably achieve a similar finish on your sewing using a rolled hem foot ideally and a small zigzag stitch-as always I would urge you to experiment to see what is possible. Some of the simplest machines can still give you an interesting variety of finishes.

This is one of my variations on the Camber Set

I roll-hemmed a straight strip of fabric here which I then pleated onto the sleeve using a fork!

I roll-hemmed a straight strip top and bottom and gathered it onto the sleeve here.

An extended length sleeve on the River pattern from Megan Nielsen, roll-hemmed and elasticated

I find the next couture/tailoring technique very useful on sleeves as well as coat, jacket or dress hems. I’ve used it here on my Tilly and the Buttons tester-made Eden. I wasn’t taught this method as such, I discovered it for myself whilst doing alterations taking up sleeves for people. I haven’t ever encountered it in pattern making instructions but I think it’s an excellent way of stabilising the cuffs of coats and jackets.

Using strips of iron-on interfacing to stabilise the area where the cuffs fold up

This is felted-type woollen fabric where hand stitching is unlikely to show through but if you have a finer fabric I would make the interfacing strip wider so that I then caught the inter with my stitches and not the fabric itself. See the next photo to explain this better.

You can see the interfacing is above the hem line here and I’ve herringbone stitched it by hand. You can also see how I’ve created a chain link to anchor the lining to vent opening on the back of the skirt.

the hemming stitches aren’t visible from the outside using this technique.

For this next finish I’ve used a triple straight stitch to create the effect of top stitching on the hem, and several seams, of this Simple Sew Zoe hack I made last summer.

If you have the foot attachment and stitch capability for your sewing machine you can always try blind-hemming. I must admit I don’t use it that often, and only then on completely straight hems. There is a bit of a knack to it and I tend to only use it on a busy print which will disguise any botched bits (yes really!) or if I’m tight for time compared with any other method. It’s not quite the same quality of finish you will see on RTW clothes though which uses a specific machine to blind stitch the hem.

Personally I always think the stitches show a bit too much no matter how hard I try to get them really tiny. It’s very easy to catch a bit too much fabric, or none at all! In truth I probably don’t practice enough!!

This Regatta dress from Alice & Co was an ideal application because the skirt has a straight, unshaped hem.

I think it’s worth mentioning that I like to use bias binding to neaten necklines (and armholes) too. I particularly like this as a way of avoiding using a neck or armhole facing which can be notorious for constantly rolling into view or flapping about annoyingly. The version you can see in the following two applications is a strip which I’ve folded in half lengthways first, the raw edges are matched and sewn. The seam is trimmed slightly and snipped if necessary, then turned so that the edge is enclosed and finally topstitched close to the folded edge to secure. In both the following examples I have sewn the binding on the wrong side of the fabric so that the binding turns to the outside to be visible and decorative but you could just as easily sew it to the right side so that it turns to the inside of the finished garment.

the binding is sewn on the inside first

the binding then flips to the outside to become visible.

This dress was made for the Simplicity pattern hacking challenge last year

Instead of the usual hem on this dress I created a casing which I threaded elastic through.

I’ve have included another variation of binding on a hem to show you how it can be combined with other techniques to achieve a quality finish. I used it here on a sheer organza which was mounted onto a backing fabric of slipper satin. This meant that when I turned the hem up the hand-stitching was invisible from the outside because the stitches only went through the mounting fabric.

the hem from the inside

the finished hem from the outside.

the finished dress, I was off to a wedding!

The next technique is more usually the choice of the pattern designer than the dressmaker, although if you know a little about pattern cutting you might be able to do it for yourself. This is an example of a deep grown-on faced hem on the Trend Patterns Square dress which I’ve made twice. It works brilliantly on this dress because the hem edges are straight (square!) plus it gives real weight to the hem which is another satisfying detail.

Inside the hem the corners are mitred.

Pin hemming is a technique I’ve used for decades on fine fabrics. You can replicate it using a rolled hem foot attachment on your machine although it can be trial and error which size works best for you with variable results. I have two different sizes of foot, 2mm and 4mm and I can’t get on with either, I’ve since been told that 3mm is the optimum size for most fabrics but I’m not prepared to risk another mistake when I know I can achieve a good quality result this way instead.

Simply put, I turn over the raw edge by approximately 5mm and stitch very close to the folded edge. Carefully trim the excess close to the stitching line and give it a light press. Then turn again and stitch a second time on top of the first row of stitching. This particular example is from the Trend Bias T-shirt dress I made a few months ago.

turn stitch and trim

make another narrow hem, stitch a second time on top of the first line. Press. There will only be one row of stitching visible on the outside.

If you read about my pattern hack of the Simple Sew Cocoon dress you will see how this variation of hemming came about. I added a large chunk of fabric to give extra length to a dress that would have been too short without it. This method is probably best on a straight hem, you could use it on sleeves too.

attaching a band to the hem.

The finished dress (worn with walking shoes during lockdown!)

This next one is a very much trial and error. I used an edging stitch on my Pfaff sewing machine to hem this Broderie Anglaise blouse which I made recently.

I put a piece of Stitch and Tear behind the fabric as I sewed.

It looked like this after I finished

It will look like this on the reverse.

gently pull away the backing and then carefully snip off the excess fabric up to the stitching line.

Eventually the hem looked like this, the sleeves are trimmed with Broderie Anglaise

I’ve used a variation of a faced hem recently when, instead of bias binding, I used straight strips of fabric to turn up a straight hem on a dirndl skirt. There will be a blog of this particular garment coming soon…

I had some narrow strips of white cotton lawn lying around so I joined them to make a piece long enough to go around the whole hem.

I folded the strip lengthwise.

attach the strip to the hem, raw edges together.

I understitched it, plus there’s a band on the front which is what you can see folded over in order to enclose the facing eventually.

The band folds back to enclose the hem facing.

There’s a little bit of puckering on the reverse here but this is invisible from the front, a good press will sort that out.

To finish with is a very simple method of rolling a fairly narrow hem. Overlock the edge first using three (or even two) threads then carefully turn it once and then again so that the overlocking is enclosed inside. If the fabric is quite ‘bouncy’ and won’t stay in position you could press the edge over once first and then roll it the second time. Whilst the result is wider than pin hemming it is narrower, and possibly quicker and more accurate, than a simple turned hem.

Stitching the hem with the overlocked edge rolled to the inside.

This last suggestion is from a project which will be blogged very soon. I cut 6cms wide bias strips which I used to create a self-neatening hem on a pair of pyjama shorts.

the bias strips were applied right side to wrong side on the shorts hems.

the bias strip is on the inside at the moment

It is then turned up to the outside where I trimmed and stitched it with ricrac braid.

I hope you’ve found my suggestions useful or thought provoking, is there something here which you’ve never encountered before, or that’s made you think how you could use a technique you already know in a different way? The idea is to show you a few ways of finishing hems, or raw edges, in new and interesting ways. I’ve not included the usual hand stitching methods because there’s nothing new to think about, although please let me know if you use these methods in a more unusual application. Just because the pattern instructions tell you to finish the hem a certain way doesn’t necessarily mean you have to do it that way…although think it through carefully just in case the really is a reason!

Until next time, Happy Sewing

Sue

Two Minerva makes in one go!

I originally wrote this as a review for the MinervaDotCom blog but I’m not actually sure if it ever appeared. Rather than waste my efforts I thought I’d publish what I wrote here instead.

I’m sure it was a combination of an over-generous stated fabric requirement, my just-to-be-on-the-safe-side ordering and then super-stingy cutting out means that I managed to get not one but TWO sweatshirts out of my Minerva fabric choice this time. At the time of writing last autumn, Minerva were introducing a collection of textured jerseys made in a polyester/ viscose/ spandex mixture which came in a wide range of colours and textures so I opted for a geometric design in lilac to try out. I would suggest that this fabric is not as firm or thick as some jerseys suitable for sweatshirts, it isn’t fleecy on the reverse for example but it has reasonable drape, is soft to the touch and has a fair amount of stretch but not in a ‘really difficult to control’ kind-of way (it isn’t like lightweight jersey for T-shirts for example) it’s actually pretty stable so manipulates well into armholes or cuffs. 

I already had a pattern I wanted to try, the Maxine sweatshirt by Dhurata Davies that has interesting diagonal seams across the front which have pockets in them. This actually made cutting out a whole lot more tricky than I anticipated because the ‘check’ design of the fabric I had picked turned out not to be square but rectangular so matching the lines was a real challenge. In some areas I’ve failed so my advice would be “don’t choose a pattern that has too many intersecting seams or style lines” because you could end up tearing your hair out when you can’t get it to match! Once I’d committed though I decided to press ahead and settle for ‘almost but not quite’…not my usual route but there we are.

When it became apparent that by folding and cutting really carefully I’d have oodles of fabric left over I pulled out a very simple sweatshirt pattern Simplicity 8529 and cut that at the same time. You might recognise this pattern as the Toaster sweater by SewHouseSeven if you think it looks familiar. If you fold the selvedges in towards the centre so that you have two folds then it’s often possible to get more pieces out of less fabric, any sleeves, yokes or facings can be cut out of what remains.

I currently have a Pfaff Coverlock 3 on loan to me so I used it to sew up much of the two tops on it’s 4-thread overlocker setting but you can easily sew this fabric on a regular machine, just use a ballpoint or stretch needle and set your machine to a very elongated zigzag if you can (regular stitch length and a narrow width) or a ‘lightening’ stitch if your machine has it. Unlike some jerseys or sweatshirting you’ll definitely need to neaten the seams though because I found the fabric frayed and went fluffy at the cut edges quite badly as a result of the woven nature of the surface design. Use a zigzag stitch on the edges if you have limited options, or pinking shears. 

the cut edges fray like this a little bit.

the Pfaff Coverlock 3.0, it’s been a fantastic machine and the quality and versatility of its stitching has been superb.

The ‘Maxine’ is a great design which stands out in a crowded field of many other sweatshirts and the well-written instructions and diagrams are very clear and simple to follow. The tricky area could be the point at the centre where the seams intersect, I simply made this more complicated for myself by choosing the geometric design! And of course it has pockets! I’ve made another version of it since the lilac from a remnant of linen/wool which you can read about here.

Maxine sweater in linen/wool mix from Merchant and Mills

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  the finished Maxine sweater

this is a slightly truer version of the colour

The Simplicity/Sew House Seven pattern has a very simple ‘grown-on’ collar and self bands on the cuffs and hem. I cut and made this one up in less than two hours and it shows off the textured surface of the fabric very well. 

Simplicity 8529 with cuffs and hem band finish, I like this top so I think I’ll make another next winter but do the longer straight version.

You’ll notice that neither top is long but I’m happier to be able to make two shorter but perfectly wearable tops rather than one longer one with fabric left over which wasn’t enough to use for anything else.

I would suggest that this fabric will make very comfortable loungewear like track pants, tees, sweatshirts, dresses and children’s wear. I don’t know what the other designs in the range are like but if you are pattern match averse then this particular one might not be for you! I thought at the time it would be interesting to see how well a fabric with a raised surface texture like this wears and now that several months have elapsed I’ve found that it catches quite often and has started to pill quite significantly which is disappointing given the price per metre.

My thanks to Minerva for providing me with the fabric to write about, this is a significantly different version of the blog post which may, or may not, have appeared on their website. I did try to find it but their search function doesn’t make it very easy to find specific posts.

Until next time,

Happy Sewing,

Sue

Maxine Sweater by Dhurata Davis

I first met pattern maker Dhurata Davies at my friend Sal’s ‘Sew2gether’ event last spring and then our path’s crossed again unexpectedly a couple of months later when I made a last minute decision to go to the Threads textiles fair in Farnham. Dhurata was exhibiting there and she offered me a copy of her Maxine Sweater pattern in return for a review. The pattern is intended as a sweatshirt, and I’ve made one in a jersey fabric already, but it also works well in a woven too. It was the diagonal seam lines with pockets concealed in them that appealed to me. The sweatshirt version was for a Minerva fabric blog review which hasn’t appeared yet at the time of writing but now that I’ve made a second top I can tell you all about the pattern here.

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I had picked up a modest remnant of ‘Woolsey’, a linen/wool fabric in the Merchant & Mills shop in Rye last August, it’s a lovely deep teal colour which is one of my favourites (although it’s a devil to photograph accurately). When I made the jersey version I made a size 16 based on my body measurements and there’s plenty of room in it so I knew I could risk making the same size in a non-stretch fabric. [If you are making anything more usually intended for a fabric with some stretch you will almost certainly need to go up a size or two, especially if it’s in any way close fitting. Measure the pattern itself if you’re not sure and don’t forget you need to be able to get it on, will it need additional openings like a zip or buttons if there’s no stretch to get it over your head, or your hips?] 

Before I cut anything out I made myself a ‘whole’ sleeve pattern piece, it comes as a ‘half’ sleeve vertically so this needs to be placed on a fold in the fabric (twice as you need two sleeves!) but I always prefer to have a complete sleeve. Just stick the pattern to a large enough piece of paper so that you can fold it down the central ‘place on fold’ line, fold it in half and pin in a few places then cut out a new symmetrical pattern piece. 

I knew I would not have enough fabric for the separate collar, cuffs and hem-band pieces but I could lengthen the body so that it wasn’t ridiculously short. I added about 10-12cms to the bottom of the front and back pieces. I had to decide how to finish the neckline instead of the collar and I came up with a combination of piping directly on the edge first and then a band of jersey ribbing. I didn’t know how, or if, this would work but the piping would look fine on it’s own if the jersey wasn’t any good. 

The instructions and illustrations are nice and clear and straightforward and it’s not as difficult as you might imagine to get the diagonal cross in the centre. The seam allowance is just 1cm so I always highlight the pattern when this is the case so that, when I make the pattern again, I don’t sew it up as 1.5 by mistake and it’s all too small! 

the centre cross close-up on the outside.

and on the reverse.

Once the front was complete I joined it to the back at the shoulders and then made some bias binding for the neck. I had just enough scraps to cut 3 strips which were approximately 50cms long and 4cms wide which I joined to form one long strip. I have a specific piping foot for my Pfaff Quilt Ambition 2 which is really useful but you can usually use your zip foot if it allows you to stitch close enough to the piping cord. Not all zip feet are good at this especially if it’s the generic one which comes with the machine but there are usually adjustable ones you can buy which, in my experience, are better. The piping foot actually sits over the top of the fabric and piping cord rather than just beside it so it’s held more securely and stitches much closer to the piping for a better finish. If you want to see another use of the piping foot pop over to my review of the Simple Sew Lizzie dress.

this is the piping foot actually sitting over the top of the band as well as the piping too.

Once I’d made the piping I sewed it around the neck, raw edges together and making a neat join at the back. I knew I wouldn’t be able to find a matching jersey so I opted for a complete contrast. I bought 50cms each of deep red and dark grey tubular jersey from Backstitch and when I put them together I decided that the red made a more interesting garment. Generally when you’re adding a stretch band you work on the basis of it being approximately 85% of the neckline/cuff/waistband measurement that you’re attaching it to, depending on the stretch of the jersey. I’d made things tricky by adding the piping first so the machine had to go through a LOT of layers of fabric. I must say that the Pfaff sailed through it all pretty easily. The only time it was hard work was over the seam allowances on the cuffs. Because I was making this bit up as I went along I sewed the piping onto the cuff first then sewed the under arm seams, if I were using this finish again I would sew the under arm seam first and then put the binding on ‘in the round’ because it would be less bulky where it crosses the seam. I used my little seam-hopper gadget to help lift the foot to help ease it over the bulky seams, this one came with the machine but you can buy something called a Jean-a-ma-jig or even use a piece of thick folded cardboard.

On the left the cuff is folded and stitched and then folded again on the right. I ran a row of wide zigzag around the raw edges to keep them together before sewing them onto the cuffs. The neckband is done the same way.

you can see it’s all a bit of a tight area to work in but the finished effect was worth it I think. The jersey has to stretch as it’s sewn onto the woven non-stretch fabric.

this is inside the cuff, as you can see it’s quite messy and bulky but the little plastic gadget will help to ‘leapfrog’ over the seam. With the needle down to prevent it from moving stop just ahead of the seam, lift the presser foot and slide the gadget underneath the foot with its ‘toes’ either side of the needle (it can be from the front or the back depending which you’ve got better access to) and then lower it back down so the presser foot is resting on the gadget. The foot should now be on a better level to sew over the seam, sew forwards a few stitches until you’re clearing the seam then move the gadget around to the front (if you’ve had it at the back) and place it under the foot there. Come slowly forwards a few more stitches until you’re completely clear of the seam and back on level sewing again, always taking care that the needle doesn’t hit the plastic.

the finished cuff

Having told you 85% is the usual amount for a stretch bands I should have made the neck one slightly shorter than that as it doesn’t sit completely flat even after a good amount of steaming. I left it though because it doesn’t look that bad and it would be a lot of work to re-do it. First join the band into a loop along it’s narrow edge then fold it lengthwise in the same manner as the cuffs and then divide it into 4 equal parts marked with pins. Next equally divide the neck (or cuffs) equally into 4 too. Pin the band onto the neck (or cuff) at the marks and stretch the band to fit and stitch in place. You can see from the photos that this was quite tricky because of the number of layers involved, I graded the layers so that it reduced the bulk as far as possible. All these layers plus the piping cord made it too difficult to get the cuffs under the overlocker so I finished the edges using a simple zigzag stitch. Around the neck I used the Coverlock 3.0 to coverstitch which had dual benefit of neatening on the inside and giving an attractive double row of top stitching on the outside. 

the jersey band is very slightly wavy which suggests it’s fraction too long but it was too much hassle to take it all back off again and, frankly, CBA!

this is the coverstitching from the outside, the piping made it really difficult to get closer as the width if the foot wouldn’t let it get any nearer. Incidentally, I tried this out on a small sample piece first so that if it all went horribly wrong I didn’t ruin the whole garment. I strongly recommend that you make samples of any new or unusual techniques you may want to try so that you don’t spoil all your good work, it’s worth the bit of extra time it takes.

the coverstitching from the inside, it served the double purpose of top stitching on the outside and neatly covering the raw edge on the inside. I’d trimmed and layered all those edges first to reduce the bulk.

To finish the hem I just overlocked the edge, turned it up and stitched twice. So that’s it really, I’m very happy with the finished top, I layered it up with a thin RTW T-shirt when I wore it to go to Brighton recently. The fabric doesn’t seem to crease so much as bend, it’s of a double-weave construction the same as cotton double gauze. 

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pre-crumpling and modelled by Doris

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I’m really happy with the outcome of this top, the fabric has lent itself well to the more smocky kind of shape and although it was bit involved I really like the finished effect of the addition of the stretch cuffs and piping onto an otherwise simple garment. The ‘Woolsey’ fabric does fray a bit because of the loose weave but it’s manageable. Incidentally, this pattern looks great lengthened into a dress or with the pockets left out of the seams if you’re short of fabric.

Thank you Dhurata for the gift of the pattern, in my opinion it’s a goody and if you aren’t adding extras like me it’s a nice quick half-day make. Dhurata has also designed some lovely children’s patterns too which you might be interested in.

Until next time, happy sewing

Sue

Pfaff Coverlock 3.0

It’s been almost a month since I was loaned a Pfaff Coverlock 3.0 to try out so thought I would give you a ‘half-term report’ on how I’m getting on with it.

First thing to say is that it’s quite a beast! It’s a very substantial piece of machinery and so is fairly heavy as a result. That being said, this is normally the case with coverstitch machines because they are generally bigger than overlockers so the weight isn’t unusual. It does have a good-sized and comfortable carrying handle though.

Ok, so, the Coverlock 3.0 is a combination machine in that it is both an overlocker and a coverstitch machine. I’m sure you already know that an overlocker will trim and neaten raw edges and often sew the seam as well if you have 4 or 5 thread version. What you may not know is that a coverstitch machine doesn’t trim any edges, it will sew two or sometimes three rows of top-stitching on the outside of a garment whilst covering the edge of the fabric on the inside with loops of thread to ‘cover’ it. It has the advantage of being stretchy too. If you’re still not sure what I’m talking about have a look inside the hem or cuffs of a RTW jersey garment and you should see.

The first thing I had to do was not only rethread the machine as it didn’t arrive pre-threaded but I also needed to change it’s function from coverstitch to overlock. A major part of what I want to assess for you is how quick and straightforward it is to go between the functions. This is partly why I didn’t plunge in with a review as soon as I got it because I didn’t think it would be balanced or fair. Indeed, I will certainly write another review in due course after a decent amount of time and usage has occurred.

Yay! I threaded it successfully!!

Because the machine was merely delivered to me without any demonstrations I’ve needed to use the instruction book a fair bit. If you have difficulty following written instructions and/or diagrams this may not be ideal for you but there is a (silent) DVD included with very clear animations of exactly what you need to do for each of the stitch variations possible. [I didn’t find this straightaway though so I muddled through with the booklet! I’ve also since found a few very helpful You Tube videos which were useful]

I’m not going to lie, it does take a bit of time to make the changes because you’ll need to remove and reinsert the needles to different positions as well as thread the machine in different ways depending on the function. This will eventually take me less time and I’ve added Post-it notes to the relevant pages in the book so that I don’t have to keep searching for the two I’ve favoured most. The machine is capable of up to 23 stitches using 2, 3, 4 or 5 threads and up to 3 needles. So far I’ve only used the 4-thread overlock and the coverstitch but I will endeavour to use more, including the flatlock, and report back.

I decided on making a hacked version of the Tilly and the Buttons Nora top which I’ve made a couple of times before as I didn’t want any nasty complications by attempting an unfamiliar pattern with a new piece of machinery!

The beautiful jersey with an amazing ‘tie-dye’ print is from Lamazi fabrics and was my choice as a July/August maker of the month [it could be you if you tag them on Instagram] I cut the sleeve to approximately 3/4 length and also cut two cuff pieces which were again approximate, initially about 20cms in length and then my wrist measurement at one end and my mid-forearm measurement at the other. I added a couple of centimetres for seam allowance to all sides.

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I’d definitely say you need to do a bit of forward planning if you intend to use both the overlock and coverstitch functions on a project because of the swapping between the two. For example, on my Nora I needed to coverstitch just the cuffs and the hem, everything else could be sewn either directly using the 4-thread overlock or on my Quilt Ambition 2.0. I opted to sew the top together first and complete the hems at the end, in the usual way although there may be times when it’s better to hem first, we’ll see.

I’ve been very impressed so far with the quality of the different stitches.

If you’re merely changing the thread colours it can be done in the same way as regular overlockers by snipping the threads near their spools, tying on the new colour and pulling each of them gently through, plus rethreading the eye of the needles. On one occasion when I altered the function I completely rethreaded but the stitch was much too loose-what had I done? It was all done correctly and yet it was way too loopy. I checked the manual for hints on troubleshooting but it didn’t make much difference. I was starting to pull my hair out when I realised I had threaded the machine without lifting the handle out of the way-the threads MUST go under it or they don’t sit in the tension discs! (Had I watched the helpful YouTube video first I would have known this…) Another thing I learnt the hard way was when the spool holder kept falling off the back of the machine and I was ready to chuck it out of the window I noticed it has to be slid sideways to click securely in position-doh!

The next two projects I made I didn’t use the coverstitch function as both the sweatshirts had cuffs and waistbands but I constructed much of them using the 4-thread overlock stitch. I used fabric provided to me by Minerva and they will appear on their blog in the new year. One of the patterns I used was the gorgeous Maxine sweatshirt given to me by it’s designer, Dhurata Davies. I’m going to make another one soon so I’ll write an individual blog on it then. [I got both tops out of 2.5m of fabric!]

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  Maxine sweatshirt by Dhurata Davies

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  Simplicity #8529 which is also the Toaster by SewHouseSeven

For the final project I want to talk about here I took a different approach. It’s an Amy top by Brilliant Patterns and which I’ve made a couple of times before. I had a 1m remnant of loop-back cotton sweatshirting which I bought from Sew Me Something at a show for £8 and by shortening the sleeves very slightly, cutting the neckband in two parts and joining it I got a WHOLE sweatshirt out of the one metre!!

This time I set the machine up with a wide 2-needle coverstitch and I used my regular sewing machine to sew most of the seams. What I did at each stage of construction was to press the seams flat and top stitch them using the Coverlock. This meant that there would be two rows of top stitching on the outside and the raw edges were covered on the inside. This was generally OK although as I’ve yet to ‘get my eye in’ with lining up the foot against a seam or other visual marker a couple of them do waver more than I would usually like. It turns out there is a large removable flat bed included to increase the working area (it was tucked down inside the box and I’ve only just found it!!) this will support your work while you sew but it does take up a bit more room.

I like the two-part upper back of the Amy.

The hem is level at the front and a dipped curve at the back.

So to sum up (for now) I’ve been impressed with the quality of the stitches I’ve used so far on the Coverlock 3.0 and I will definitely look for opportunities to try others whilst I have it. I’ve yet to be convinced about swapping between the stitch-types but obviously, as I get more familiar with it, I should get faster at changing between them. There are few processes which have to be gone through to make the changes but I’ll probably work out an order or procedure to follow to speed it up. If you are short of space a combination machine might be useful, they aren’t cheap though. You’ll almost certainly use the overlocker stitches more of the time so possibly changing occasionally to coverstitch will be sufficient. I would definitely say you should have a thorough demonstration of the machine so that you know what is involved and what it is capable of. Unlike washer/driers which don’t do either job very well this machine does both functions to a very high standard.

Thank you to Pfaff for giving me the opportunity to try out their machine and if you have any questions about my experience so far then do ask.

Happy sewing

Sue

The Frilled Hem Top from Trend Patterns

Trend are fashion-forward indie pattern company based in London and I’ve already used their Asymmetric Dress pattern twice (and reviewed it here) I even wore the first one for the Love Sewing magazine Sew Over 50 photo shoot too because I felt it was such a striking but wearable dress that it deserved to be seen in a national sewing publication!

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I made this version in brocade for our cruise to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary in March…

…and it has a pocket!

The next Trend pattern I’ve decided to tackle is the Frilled Hem Top TPC5 and it’s another goody as far as I’m concerned. As well as the ruffle detail it features some interesting diagonal seam lines (there’s no side seam) The degree of difficulty is described as moderate and I’d agree with that because although the techniques used aren’t difficult you need to keep your wits about you to ensure that you’re attaching the pieces to the right seams, it could be easy to lose sight of which way up they are because the usual ‘landmarks’ like armholes or necklines aren’t so obvious. There are photographs as well as written instructions, which are fairly clear, at the end of the day it’s a simple top and so long as the ruffle goes in first attached to the right pieces then adding the back yoke and sleeves is straightforward. I hadn’t got a suitable zip, I’d thought about using an exposed metal zip but the one I had in my stash was too chunky for the weight of the fabric so I opted for a simple button and hand sewn loop closure instead.

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My fabric was a very thin cotton I’d picked up from a swap sometime ago-I couldn’t really say what it is as it isn’t soft like lawn, or sheer like voile, it’s slightly more crisp like poplin but less weighty. Whatever, it’s worked just fine for this and it didn’t cost me anything!

As I was making the top at this year’s Stitchroom Sewcial I was fortunate to be able to use the industrial rolled hem machine to finish the edge of the ruffle, it’s super-quick and neat and took me about 30 seconds to hem the whole piece instead of my usual pin-hem finish which would take at least half an hour!

As I didn’t have much fabric, plus I wanted to wear it as a summer top, I cut the sleeves down to short length. I was a little concerned that they looked like they may be a bit snug on my not-very-slim arms, the bicep measurement seemed to be ok but the crown looked narrow. I decided to go ahead and insert the sleeves and actually they are just fine as you can see from the photos. As there is no underarm seam to match the sleeve to it’s vital that the shoulder/sleeve head notches are marked or you’ll struggle to insert them properly. I’ve made a straight-from-the-packet size 14 again and the fit is spot on for me with no alterations, it’s a good fit across the shoulders and upper chest area and then flares out over the hips.

There are two points in the instructions which are useful and important to follow. The first is very simple, it tells you to ’sink stitch’ (that’s what it always was until ’stitch in the ditch’ became a thing) through the shoulder seams to hold the neck facings securely in position, this is both quicker and more effective than hand stitching them down I always think. The second point is that you can’t sew the whole hem up all in one go, you’ll need to sew the centre front section, stop, move the frill out of the way and then recommence the rest of the hem. If you don’t you’ll just sew over the frill which will look terrible.

You’ll need to sew the hem between the frills separately to the rest of the hem, moving the frill out of the way.

I finished off the neckline with a button and loop.

I love this detail where the frill, the back and the side all meet.

So that’s the Frilled Hem Top, it should probably take around half to a whole day to make, it took me longer because I was nattering at the Sewcial quite a lot, and then I made a super-quick Mandy Boat T-shirt using the industrial coverlock machines in between too.

This was my other Sewcial make, the Mandy Boat Tee which is a free pattern from Tessuti. I’ve made it in a gorgeous jersey form Lamazi Fabrics which I’ve learnt was recently discontinued.

If you’re interested in the jeans they are Megan Nielsen Ash which I tested nearly two years ago and I LOVE wearing.

The TPC5 takes a little under 2 metres of fabric, probably less if you’re making it sleeveless or short sleeves. The size range isn’t extensive, 6-16 UK sizes, and they aren’t the cheapest but I’ve been very happy with the two I have and I’ll definitely make some more variations of this particular pattern. You could create some really interesting looks by using contrasting fabrics or colours, or leave out the frill completely to show off the unusual seam lines?

Trend have a wide range of patterns now, which don’t necessarily appeal to everyone but I think they are well worth a look at because of their unusual styling and details. They may look scarily fashion-forward but if you want something which is less predictable and run-of-the-mill in a sea of ‘meh’ patterns then, in my unsolicited opinion, they are a good bet. They often have a flash discount offer too so keep your eyes peeled for them!

Until next time, Happy Sewing

Sue