Flat-felled seams

I made my first flat-felled seam by hand yesterday - just a sample. I followed two sets of instructions I found on the web. Here are the links:
SewNeauw's tutorial
Instructables tutorial
There is also a video from ExpertVillage on youtube.

I don't have David Page Coffin's book Shirtmaking yet; I have to wait for my new credit card to arrive first. It is high on my list, as he seems to be overly into the fine details of sewing and I recognise a kindred spirit there! He recommends (nay, demands!) using a felling foot, as described by kbenco in this Patternreview post. If you have a felling foot, Nancy has a good tutorial on PatternReview.


The first row of topstitching in my sample is a bit wonky, and I plan to remedy that by trying to sew from the other side instead of using my edgestitching foot to follow the folded-over seam allowance on the wrong side. Maybe use glue stick to secure the seam allowance? Of course, it would also help not to use a contrasting colour.

2 comments:

  1. Liana said
    Saturday, June 13, 2009  

    I have a bernina machine ( 43 yearsof age) and one of the feature's is a double needle. Just wondered would that not solve the problem of one line of stiching being wonky?
    Liana


    Tina said
    Sunday, June 14, 2009  

    Hi Liana, I also used to sew on one of those great old Berninas (my mum's 1975 model), until I moved four years ago and had to buy my own.

    The two lines of stitching are done from different sides of the garment, so the double needle wouldn't work in this case. I've figured out that I should use the first line of stitching as my stitching guide, not the folded-over edge, and this gives a much better result. I have been practising on my daughter's PJ bottoms (lots of long fairly straight seams) with good results.


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