French Seam

It has been ages since I sewed a french seam. The pattern calls for 5/8" seams. How can I be sure that what I'm sewing is a 5/8" seam when it is a 2 step process.

This is stupid, it can't be that hard. I did it when I was 12.

Cindy

Reply to
teleflora
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You can make the first seam at 1/4 inch, and the second seam at 3/8 inch, for a total of 5/8 inch.

See? Your grade school teachers were right. You do need to learn you fractions because you'll need them when you get out into the real world!! I'm always amazed at the clerks at the deli counter who are thrown off by fractions. I think they cringe when they see me coming and know I order 1

1/3 lb. of turkey. And these are not high school kids. They have no recollection that .33 is 1/3, .75 is 3/4, and so on. Of course, being a CPA, I have little tolerance of those that get stumped with basic math concepts.

Lisa W.

Reply to
Lisa W.

Machine:

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Although shown by hand, the principles are the same for machine-sewn:
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HTH

Reply to
Poohma

Take a look at the instructions on my web site: URL below. They may help...

-- Kate XXXXXX Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons

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on Kate's Pages and explore!

Reply to
Kate Dicey

Hi Cindy,

No such thing as a stupid question! ;-)

First seam, _wrong sides together_, 1/4". Press (either to one side or open) and then the second seam _right sides together_ is 3/8".

1/4" + 3/8" = 5/8".

HTH,

-- Beverly

---to reply, delete no spam and .invalid---

Reply to
BEI Design

When you were to young to know you were screwing up.

Reply to
CW

Well, I know that 1/4" plus 3/8" equals 5/8"! It's just that, when I use those dimensions, I get a seam that is slightly bigger than a regular 5/8" seam.

I am not math-dumb. I am french seam blocked at the moment.

Reply to
teleflora

Kate, I can make the prettiest little French seam you ever saw. It's just not exactly 5/8" every time. I know this because I am measuring it against a sample I made where the seam is just a simple 5/8" seam.

I will keep practicing.

Thank You! Your site has helped me so much. I never told you that before, but it is my online reference guide.

Cindy

Reply to
teleflora

Kates' cheat: Sew the first seam 3/16ths rather than 1/4"! Use tiddly stitches...

If you can cut the seam allowances a bit generously and trim down, it might work better, too. And try marking the seam line so you know where to work to.

-- Kate XXXXXX Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons

formatting link
on Kate's Pages and explore!

Reply to
Kate Dicey

Hi.

Ah, french seams: my favourite couture finishing for my dress shirts! It's easy. Try this:

1) With wrong sides facing each other, sew your first seam using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. 2) Press this first seam open. 3) With right sides facing each other, press the seam flat. 4) Keeping right sides facing each other, sew the second seam using a 3/8 inch seam allowance. 5)Press your french seam and you're done.

Here's the math: 1/4 + 3/8 = 5/8 inch.

Best of luck. S. FOREST POLAR BEAR SEWING PATTERNS

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"teleflora" a écrit dans le message de news:CAT_b.5629$m4.5073@okepread03...

Reply to
SYLVAIN FOREST

Especially with french seams, take the time to press well... as sewn, then opened out like a plain seam, then turned as for sewing the second pass, then pressed again. You'll find the seam is much more accurate, I think.

Kay Lancaster snipped-for-privacy@fern.com

Reply to
Kay Lancaster

I'm sorry! I wasn't implying that you were math dumb. Quite the contrary, we sewists do have to be math smart to do all those calculations with 5/8". I was unfortunately running my mouth and guess I put my foot in it and gave some people the wrong impression.

Lisa W. (who usually only opens her mouth to change feet)

Reply to
Lisa W.

My method for a French seam involves more than 2 steps.

  1. sew 1/4 " seam wrong sides together
  2. press seam open!
  3. trim seam to 1/8"
  4. fold along seam line (right sides together) and sew 3/8 on a lightweight shear or 1/4 " on a heavier fabric. Pressing the seam open makes it easier to get a nice exact edge at the fold. Linda G.
Reply to
Linda Gilbert

What material are you using? If it is heavier than lighter, a 1/4 inch seam will take up just a little more fabric than you expect. Then the

3/8 will also. Leading to the final product being just a little off.

liz young

Reply to
Elizabeth Young

Yeah, except in my case 1/4 + 3/8 is turing out to be closer to 3/4 than

5/8. I just need to keep practicing.

Thanks for the help.

Cindy

Reply to
teleflora

First, mark at the edge 5/8 inch with a pencil as final sew mark.

One method is to take a piece of cardboard (cereal box) - 1-2 inches wide by 5 inches long and fold it at about 2 inches and again about an inch from first fold. Now take some tape and a ruler or seam gauge and measure from the needle about 1/8" to

1/4" and tape the cardboard to the machine, so you have a guide for the cloth. Do your pressing next.

Now slip the 5/8 inch mark under the needle and move the cardboard to the new location and sew (cardboard is cheaper than buying a seam guide).

John

  1. | | Cindy | |
Reply to
A

Cindy,

Really sounds to me like it's the thickness of the fabric that's biting you in the seam. ;) What fabric are you using?

Ok. I'm going to be really radical here. Forget completely about measuring each step of the seam. Just toss that right out of your mind.

I want you to mark both pieces of fabric all along the seam line 5/8" in from the cut edge. You can mark either the wrong side or the right side, whichever will make it easier for you to line those marks up when you sew the final seam (right sides together.) If it's easier for you to mark the right side and then line up the lines, do that but make sure that you are using a marking tool that can be completely removed. If it's easier for you to mark the wrong sides and line it up by pinning through, do that. Whatever works for you.

Now, go ahead and sew your first seam with 1/4" allowance and the wrong sides together. Trim the allowance to 1/8" so you know you will catch it all in the second seam. Then press as sewn, press open, fold right sides together and press again. Now line up your marked lines and stitch on that line. Doesn't matter if it's 3/8" or 1/4" or whatever. Just so you are catching all the seam allowance from the first seam and you are right on that line you marked at the 5/8" point. Think of it like the Yellow Brick Road and follow that line!

Precision is a very good thing. But sometimes it will just make you bug nuts too. So mark that 5/8" line and you don't have to worry about adding up to make it. You will still have your seam where it needs to be without giving yourself a tic under one eye getting there. ;)

HTH!!

Sharon

Reply to
mamahays

Batiste! bwahahahhahahha.

I'm gonna try it.

I KNOW that tic! It's a good friend of mine. hehe Cindy

Reply to
teleflora

If it's coming out too wide, stitch it narrower. Make a skimpy 1/4", and a skimpy 3/8".

(My throat plate is slightly frosted, so I draw custom guidelines on it with a #2 pencil. Removable correction tape will work if your throat plate doesn't take pencil marks.)

If you get totally freaked, use a wash-out marker to draw the second stitching line right on the fabric before you begin to seam. (Check that it still washes out after pressing the first stitching.)

Joy Beeson

Reply to
joy beeson

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