Sewing without a serger

Brenna23 wrote:


Here are some easy finishes for seams: >
http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk/KatePages/Learning/Seams/seam_finishing.htm

This will tell you a little more about the term couture, and what Haute
Couture really means: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haute_couture

To discover some more about the whole idea and the sewing techniques
used, you could go a long way and do worse than invest in this book: >
(Amazon.com product link shortened)

If you have a newer sewing machine (maybe 20 yo) a lot of them have
stretch stitches on them that will work pretty well for you.

My old Bernette serger went out last year and I was shocked at how
inexpensive sergers have gotten.  I replaced it with a $300 serger
that is really quite servicible and a lot more user friendly.
Taria

Brenna23 wrote:

Easiest thing would probably be a zig-zag stitch. If you have the
patience for 'couture', then you can sew it by hand. I think you can
combine - zig zag on the (more) inner parts, and bind it by hand where
it might be seen.

I never had a Serger . I use the zigag with the 4 steps each side ,for
many finnishes ,
Couture is Elegant High Quality attention to each deatil sewing ,,,
mirjam

On Mon, 2 Jun 2008 16:27:14 -0700 (PDT), Brenna23



Seams in non-fraying fabrics often don't need covering.  

Pinking may be sufficient.

I use pre-graded flat-fell seams a lot.
http://roughsewing.home.comcast.net/~roughsewing/RUFFTEXT/ROUGH009.TXT
Use "find" to jump down to "An easier way to make a flat-felled
seam:".    If your browser mushes everything into one paragraph, click
"view source".  

(Looks as though this file needs a thorough editing as soon as I'm
done with "bags".)  

French seams are good on fine fabrics, and places where you don't mind
a ridge inside the garment.  Very narrow french seams are often used
on sheer fabrics.  

On thick, heavy fabrics, a hong-kong binding is good.  I've used it
only on things that are afterward sewn down -- for the top layer of
the mock-felled seams in my wool pants, for example -- but I first
heard of it as a finish for seams that are pressed open.  

You take a strip of plain bias tape with no folds pressed in -- though
I wouldn't bother to iron the folds out of commercial tape.  (Well I
don't *think* I would; I haven't used commercial tape in twenty or
thirty years.)  

Match one raw edge of the tape to the edge to be finished and sew a
quarter inch from the edge.  Make a narrower seam if you want a
daintier finish, a wider one if the fabric is very thick.  Wrap the
tape over the edge to the back, then stitch in the ditch to make it
stay wrapped.  

I'm now making a purse where I simply ran a line of straight stitching
near each raw edge before sewing the purse together.  Most of these
edges were torn, so I get a fringed effect.  

I've heard of turning under a quarter inch of the raw edge, then
straight-stitching to make it stay folded, but this strikes me as
clumsy, and I've never done it.

If the edge is to be cut along a drawn thread, you can zig-zag before
cutting for a very neat and flat finish.  Let the zigs pierce the
fabric and the zags fall into the space where the thread has been
withdrawn.  

Joy Beeson

On my [soft] cotton shirts i always stitch the shoulder seam [inside]
than lay it flat and zigzag it to the bodice ,, it sits well and is
neatly finnished ,,
mirjam