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Sewing with Silk: Flat-felled Seams

Video: Threads magazine

Flat-felled seams are traditional on denim jeans, but they work just as well on silk. Find out why and how to sew a tidy flat-felled seam in your next silk project, with instructor Katrina Walker.

Seams on silk organza

The flat-felled seam is well-suited to silk organza. It looks nearly identical on both sides and, therefore, is ideal for sheer fabrics.

Begin by sewing the seam with wrong side together, with a 5/8-inch-wide seam allowance. Trim away any fabric whiskers on the raw edge, and press the allowances to one side.

When you’re working with organza, don’t trim either seam allowance narrower than the other. Instead, fold both allowances together and under to meet the seamline. You can finger-press first, and then press with the iron.

Edgestitch along the folded edge. Use an edgestitching foot if desired. You will see two rows of stitching on one face, and one row on the other.

Alternative method

This approach is easy and requires no special equipment. Katrina demonstrates this on dupioni. On one seam edge, fold the seam allowance to the wrong side. For a 1/2-inch-wide flat-felled seam, fold and press at 1/2 inch. A fabric folding pen makes is easy to fold precisely.

Place the other fabric on the folded end, with wrong sides together, and align it inside the fold. Use a glue stick if desired to secure the layers.

Sew parallel to the fold, at 1/2 inch. Open out the layers, and press the seam allowance to one side, to enclose the raw edge. Edgestitch along the fold.

The finished seam has two rows of stitching on the right side, and one row on the wrong side. If you prefer only one row on the right side, start the process by folding the first edge to the right side,…

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About This Video Series

In this 20-part workshop, textile expert Katrina Walker introduces us to silk fabrics. She covers the gamut from silkworm to crafting beautiful silk garments, so you never need to fear working with this luxury material. Episode topics include sericulture: how silkworms are cultivated, and how the silk filaments are harvested from cocoons. You'll learn about the many categories of woven silk fabrics, including crepes, satins, and jacquards. Katrina also offers advice for matching your fabric…

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