You can use a lightweight, double-sided fusible stay tape when blind-hemming knit garments. The 1-inch-wide variety of the paper-backed adhesive is a good choice for this or for creating a topstitched hem, as shown in “How to Hem Knits Faster with Stay Tape.”

1. Apply 1-inch-wide stay tape within a 1-1/2-inch-wide hem allowance. With the garment wrong side up, place the double-sided fusible stay tape 1/2 inch away from the hem’s cut edge.

2. Set the hem crease. Without removing the stay tape’s paper backing, fold up the hem allowance along its upper edge and press to crease. Let it cool, then remove the paper backing.

 

3. Press the hem, fusing it in place. Then turn back the hem allowance to stitch the blind hem on the 1/2-inch-wide unfused extension of the hem allowance. The stitches go into the hem allowance edge and periodically catch the garment with the zigzag.

 

4. Steam the blind hem to finish. From the right side, it is almost invisible. Once it’s blocked it’s all set.

 

Continue to Sew Ripple-Free Zippers in Knits

Editor’s note: This is the fifth of a six-part article about stay tapes, based on the feature “Stay Tape Know-how” by Pamela Leggett, Threads #215 (Fall 2021). For more expert advice from Pamela about applying stay tapes continue to the article’s other sections:

• 4 Essential Stay Tapes for Knits
• How to Stabilize a Shoulder Seam with Stay Tape
• Use Stay Tape to Stabilize a Foldover Neckline Finish
• How to Hem Knits Faster with Stay Tape
• Sew Ripple-Free Zippers in Knits

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Pamela Leggett creates Pamela’s Patterns and teaches sewing and fitting across the country and at her Vernon, Connecticut, studio. PamelasPatterns.com

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