There is a lot of talk about how to do a seam finish but not much about when to do a seam finish
patterns will often just say use your serger if you wish or finish your seams but it doesn't
really tell you when to use your serger do you cut out your fabric first and then search or do you
search over the top of your stitching i mean as a complete newbie to sewing this might seem seem
like silly questions to ask but i assure you they are not silly questions and there is no such thing
as a silly question at least not in my world so let's talk about this uh finish your seams in the
usual manner nonsense and make some sense out of this uh process so you can get on with your sewing
welcome back my sewing friends it is always a pleasure to see your smiling faces
if you are just here for the very first time then welcome my name is evelyn wood and i'm the creator
of vintagesowingschool.com uh and here on this channel we do everything vintage sewing skills
to help our modern day sewing so you can really understand what you're doing in sewing so you can
start creating not just copying things and so you can make and create the things that you dream of
if it's something that you're interested in do hit the subscribe button if you haven't already so we
know i know you know patterns completely neglect just to tell you when to do a seam finish or
uh like what is the process it's really hard to understand and some just say finish your seams or
use your serger if you wish so first let's talk about uh the golden rule of uh sewing and then
why we do this golden rule and then i'll talk you through some of the variations the alternatives
that uh you could see or find to the golden rule just so that you know you can identify it on a
pattern and know why it might be mentioned or you can start choosing what you want to do the golden
rule of sewing is you sew a seam you finish it you press it and then you move on to the next step
so let me explain this though so first of all sew your seam your pattern will clearly tell
you to do this it will say sew your seams right sides together stitch down front to back etc etc
but here's where it sometimes stops and it just completely neglects to tell you the rest of it
and this is where it's just assumed knowledge that you know this so once you sew your seam so it'll
be one of these steps on a pattern here sew your seam the unwritten rule then is that you finish it
so we finish the seams the raw edges so that they don't fray this could mean your surger could mean
a zigzag stitch it could mean a pinking shear could be a french seam it could be a feld seam you
need a finish on your edges to stop the fraying and you do this at this point we haven't moved
on yet so you sew your seam you finish it and then the next unwritten rule is that you press it
you must always press your seam at this point to get it sitting in the right direction and then we
move on to the next step so that's when you have finished this section here and then you move on to
the next piece of the puzzle literally a piece of the puzzle here so why do we do this rather than
you know trying to sew all the seams and then come back and finish it or any other number of
different methods that we could use so this is the golden rule uh in you know high-end dressmaking so
i've seen here on a skirt right so i have sewn my seam that's the seam i've already finished it and
i've already pressed it so now i'm ready to move on to the next step if i had not
uh completed this in its entirety already when i go to sew on my waistband here if this is already
stitched here on my waistband if i come back later and try and finish it then i can't actually
lift this up to get to the very end here and i just i like you will not be able to get to all
of the actual edges like the raw edges after you have sewn other seams so you need to do it one
by one by one so that they are actually completely finished you can get to them easily and everything
is pressed and sitting in the correct direction because it makes it really easy when you go to
sew your next seam because it's already pressed in the right direction that you want it to go
it's all finished and perfect so you can of course if you have say all of the seams on this skirt you
could have done side seams your back your front sew the seams and then go to your serger and serge
all of the edges all together but you haven't sewn any other seams on top of those seams yet
and now you can finish your seams either open or closed this is an open seam if closed is together
there's no right or wrong it just depends on the look that you want uh and sometimes there are
construction reasons why you need to have it open as opposed to close so if your patent mentioned
something specifically i'd follow it for the time being until you know uh otherwise when and where
you can choose so follow that process and you'll be able to finish actually finish all your seams
neatly and properly and easily and everything will be exactly where it needs to be for your next step
so what are some of the alternatives or variations to this golden rule so you might see some patterns
explain different things perhaps on youtube you're seeing someone do something different
and there are times and places for all different types of things let me talk you through some of
the main ones so you can start deciding whether what's right for you and your project so let's say
doing all your same finishes at the end well it's not really possible we just kind of talked about
that and you know why because you once you've sewn this you can't get back into this seam
anymore to actually finish all the way to the edge so no that's not an option at least in my opinion
finishing all of your edges at the start so you would have just your cut pieces of
garments and finishing all of your edges first before you even sew anything together
so this is a thing it's not a thing that i would recommend it seems like a great idea i remember
the first time hearing about it i thought it sounded like a great time saver brilliant
but when you do this i know you know right when you overlock when you do any seam finish you cut
off little bits right or you get a little bit wonky and it's never perfect and that's okay
it's everybody so if you have already done that you've taken a slither off or you've slightly like
you know as we do when we go over the overlocker and then you go to sew your your straight stitch
down here you're going off an edge that is no longer exactly perfect i mean how much
did you slither off so where do you know where to actually make your stitch line right and it can
warp the fabric a lot and it's just it's not what i would do for those reasons because it's just
getting less exact the only um i'd say way that that would work is if you use a pinking shear edge
and you actually cut out your patterns so the pinking shear is this little zigzag edge
uh if you cut out your patterns with your pinking shears to save time of course and
then it's done and dusted all together because you're not really uh taking anything off or on
you may just need to allow for a little bit of the edge but let's not worry about that in this video
so that's the only uh reason why how i see that as working mostly but it is the thing maybe if
you have fabric that is just absolutely fraying and disintegrating as you're touching it then
that would be a case to maybe finish all of your edges first because the other alternate is it'll
fray away before you get to it so that is a time when that might be applicable for your project
what about serging and sewing your straight stitch together in one line aka v4 thread over logger
so absolutely yes this is the thing when you do knitwear yes this is almost necessity because on
your overlooker i surger it's the same thing doing before thread means the three threads are your
that overlock stitch that covers the edge and the fourth one is that straight stitch that
runs along through here and creates your seam at the same time now you must have the four thread
because you need that single stitch to create an actual seam as i said knitwear this is almost a
necessity of what you need to do there are other ways to do it of course but but yes this is when
you would do that for that other than those really needed uh times of knitwear my personal
uh preference is no i would always sew my seam first and then finish the edges separately
uh why because for the reasons again you're going to get a nicer needle straighter stitch first with
your straight stitch machine much nicer stitch you can actually uh reverse off the ends so it's
a lot more stable and it's going to stay there a lot better and then finishing it off separately
trying to do it all together you know it's hard to control your overlocker right it's it's harder to
get to little gaps there's you just you have this teeny tiny little seam allowance left that if you
need to unpick that ah good luck because there's no chance of that really happening very well so it
allows you more flexibility and particularly when you're learning as well having the larger seam
allowance and just a straight stitch with open seams gives you more flexibility to be able to
unpick and restitch without too many headaches at least anyway and just to mention one more time you
can do open or closed seams so open meaning like this or closed is when they're closed together
generally most cases you can choose what you like i like open because you can unpick your straight
stitch and you know readjust it very easily now or in the future and it is less bulky so you're
actually because you've got you know half on this side half on this side you're evening out the bulk
when you get to those seams and you've got four layers on top of each other instead of eight
layers if it was all on one side but as i did mention there is a time and place so sometimes
you have to have open for certain construction reasons or you have to have it closed to one
side for certain construction reasons so if your patent mentions a certain direction follow it for
the time being until you know how to read ahead and see whether it is an option or whether it
is needed for the construction that you're doing because most times you can choose and that's nice
to know if you want to learn more about how to use your straight stitch machine to do a zigzag stitch
i have a video here and if you want to learn more about different types of seam finishes that you
can do there is a video here these are all linked down below that i think that you really enjoy to
watch as well and if you want some more guidance on all of these types of unwritten rules of sewing
that is just where do you find this information i invite you to come join me at vintage sewing
school uh me and the community there of source who are just like you and sharing all our knowledge
together to really understand what we're doing so you can really take your sewing to the next
level there's a link down below and you can even take a free class so for today i thought a little
bit of fun leave me a comment below maybe tell me about what is the funniest thing that has happened
to you with in regards to this silly finish your seams in the usual manner or forgetting to
finish your seams or patton's not mentioning it or something like that tell us your funny story about
um this kind of unwritten rule process let's have a little bit of fun today remember to
read those comments and you know like the ones that you like because sharing all of
our information here is how we all get better at sewing so until next time my friends happy sewing
bye