How to Sew a Hem
In this video Gabby Young takes you through her top tips for achieving the perfect hem. This tutorial is for a basic hem, you will find as you progress in your dressmaking that you will want to learn all different kinds of hem. We have lots of dressmaking tips and tricks available on the blog, let us know in the comments if you have any tutorials you would like us to share.
Hemming although a little time consuming is easy to do, here’s how to sew a basic hem!
- Choose how much you want to bring up the hem of your garment by and then halve that, fold over the bottom by the first half measurement and press well with an iron. For example if the seam allowance is 3cm, then turn up by 1.5cm and press well and then turn up again to achieve a neat finish, hiding away those raw edges of the material. Use a hem gauge or ruler to ensure the hem width is the same all the way around.
- We recommend having a dedicated iron for your dressmaking such as the Prym Mini Steam Iron which is ideal for hemming and pressing when dressmaking. If you press the first fold really well you shouldn’t need to use pins to keep that fold in place. When you fold up the second time it’s a good idea to use pins or clips.
- Sew along the edge of the second fold, backstitch at the beginning to secure the thread. You need to sew as straight as possible as this line of sewing will be visible on the exterior of your garment.
- Once you have sewn all the way around make sure you overlap the stitching and backstitch to secure the thread.
Let us know in the comments if you have any questions