Complete beginner - hemming organza and picot feet!

Personally, I'd roll the edges on a serger. Rolled and picot hemmers for ordinary machines are not really meant for something as stiff as crystal organza, which is like wire mesh! Also, there's a trick to making those feet work really well, and you need to use this book, and a LOT of practice:

Fine Machine Sewing by Carol Laflin Ahles, ISBN 1 56158 153 4 (Taunton Press 1966), $24.95 (USA).

If you cannot serge them, try folding the edge over and using a narrow satin stitch (close zigzag) with one half of the stitch just off the edge of the fabric: then trim the back close to the stitches. This will be slow and thread hungry, but it works.

I believe this month's Threads has an article about making corners with these - check your local library if you don't have a subscription.

Meanwhile: Look in between the two "toes" of the foot (reminds me of a dirty joke...) and you should see a piece of metal shaped into a spiral, like a loosely-rolled up piece of paper or a seashell. Your fabric is supposed to go in that, and the spiral will fold the edge of your fabric over twice and stitch it down.

I've never used mine on organza, so I'm not sure how it will work, but here're some generic tips about using these things:

- they work much better on a straight, perfectly on-grain cut. If you are hemming a straight edge (which I assume you will be, with table runners), you'll want to pull a thread and cut. Don't tear the edge because it will make it a bit wavy and will also leave little threads sticking out of the hem.

- they hem from the *wrong* side. If your machine doesn't make a perfectly balanced stitch, you may want to try something else.

HTH. gabrielle

I'd agree with Kate on that. I've just done a pile of bridesmaid dresses with organza overskirts and sashes. I did all the edges and joins as a

2-thread rolled hem on the overlocker. It would have taken weeks otherwise, just to trim all the edges level, let alone hem them.

In article , Kate Dicey of Customer of PlusNet plc

uttered>Personally, I'd roll the edges on a serger. Rolled and picot hemmers >for ordinary machines are not really meant for something as stiff as >crystal organza, which is like wire mesh! Also, there's a trick to >making those feet work really well, and you need to use this book, and >a LOT of practice:>

I'm starting to get the hang of the picot foot although the start-off point isn't great. Any idea how to do corners?

Is that similar to a "narrow hem" foot? I am using mine right now to make handkerchief hem skirts. It's 1/8" and I found that its a bugger to round corners. If I go all the way to the end, then carefully pull the next section into the foot, it sometimes works, if I am lucky.

Thats not much help, is it? I tried searching for instructions, but no luck. personally, I am going to try rounding the corners on the next skirt I do.

Michelle Giordano