Join instructor Katrina Walker to learn to sew bound and faced hems. In this episode of the Sewing with Silk video series, you’ll find out why and how to apply these lovely and long-lasting finishes.

Bound hem

This method is similar to a Hong Kong seam finish. It protects the hem allowance’s raw edge, and adds a little weight so the garment hangs better.

Press up the hem allowances, and apply a bias strip of silk charmeuse just as you would on a Hong Kong seam finish. If the bias is narrower than the hem allowance, there is no need to trim the excess on the wrong side.

Faced hem

This versatile hem is helpful for occasions when you have a narrow hem allowance, or a markedly shaped hemline.

Prepare a straight facing by interfacing it and adding the Hong Kong-style hem finish. Trim the facing piece to the same size and shape as the edge to be faced.

Place the garment and facing right sides together, with the hem edges aligned. Sew the hem seam. Understitch the seam allowances to the facing. Grade the seam allowances. Fold the facing to the wrong side, press, and hand-sew the facing’s upper edge to the garment.