Sewing Tips: Making a Flat-Felled Seam

Video Transcript

" Hi! I’m Stephany from Stephany’s Simply Sewing. On behalf of expertvillage.com, I’d like to show you how you can make a ready-to-wear type seam on your garments in order to enclose the raw edges. What I’ve done is I’ve sewn my shoulder seams together. I pressed it, remember pressing is your friend, this does make a difference. I pressed it flat like this, then I opened my garment and I pressed my seam this way towards the back of my shirt. The next thing I did was I took this seam allowance and I cut half of it off with a pair of scissors. I’m also going to take off this little notch that helped us to match. The only reason being, we don’t want that in our garment, just a little extra bulk we can get rid of. To make the flat felled seam, I’m going to take the longer seam edge, fold it under so it close to the seam that we have already sewn and fold it back down, and then pin it. This encloses your raw seam so that they don’t ravel. If you have a sewing machine that is able to zigzag or perform a finished edge or perhaps you have a serger at home, you’re able to finish the edges in that way. Another option would be to use your pinking sheers, which will cut an edge that is zigzagged. As soon as you have pinned your felled seam across, you’re going to use your sewing machine to stitch right along that edge and stitch it down. I do believe I will have time to show you that as well as show you one that’s already done. Why do we press when we sew? Another hallmark of a garment that has been well made is the pressing as you go. The pressing helps stabilize the seams, stabilize your sewing, and provides a good surface. Bring my tails to the back and hold on to them and sew right along that folded edge we just created. This is how you create a flat felled seam for or similar to a ready to wear garment. "