Make flat-felled seams for purses, totes and appliance covers with this easy straight stitch technique.
You see flat-felled seams every time you wear jeans, and you know there are no raw edges inside or outside, and they last forever because of the double-stitched technique. Flat felled seams are essential for
strength and durability in some sewing, particularly crafts projects. If you
want a seam to be smooth on both sides and not fray, a flat felled seam is the
solution. The flat felled seam also adds strength to the area where the fabrics
meet. Like jeans, you may wear out the fabric in the areas that get the roughest
use, but the flat-felled seam still holds.
You can use the flat felled seam for
any areas that require stitching two pieces of fabric together. If your pattern
doesn't call for a flat felled seam, you can still use it with a 5/8 inch seam
allowance, unless the fabric is a heavy corduroy or similar weight. In that
case, you may need to add about 1/4 inch to the seam allowance so you'll have
plenty of fabric to work with. For a 5/8 inch seam on the pattern, adding 1/4 inch would
be a 7/8 inch seam allowance. With a heavy fabric, make a sample first as some fabrics are just too heavy to make a flat felled seam.
You can use your ordinary sewing machine
and presser foot for a flat felled seam. You'll want to use a sewing machine
needle for heavy fabric, as it sews through three layers of fabric for the flat
felled seam. We use a seam gauge to measure the seam as
we sew.
When you sew an ordinary seam, you
stitch the WRONG side of the fabric, with RIGHT sides together. When stitching a
flat-felled seam, place the WRONG sides of the fabric together and stitch on the
RIGHT side. Stitch the 5/8 inch seam allowance on the right side with wrong sides together.
 |
| Stitch on the RIGHT side of Fabric |
 |
| Open Fabric to RIGHT Side and Press |
 | ||||||
| Trim ONE Side of the Seam Allowance to 1/4 inch |
Open the fabric at the seam edge so you can work with a single layer. Trim ONE side ONLY of the seam allowance to about 1/4 inch from
the seam.
Fold the seam allowance from the wide
side of the seam under the trimmed seam allowance. Press or pin if necessary. Fold the fabric back so the uncut seam
allowance is on the bottom and the cut seam allowance is at the top. Press the
long edge to meet the cut edge, pressing the entire length of the seam. Flip the edge of the seam allowance over so the open edge is on the underside and flat. Press if necessary.
Here's what your completed flat-felled seam
looks like on the front or top side: |
| Stitch Close to the Edge of the Folded Side |
 |
| Wrong Side of Fabric is Flat |
The back of the seam is smooth. This
seam works well for purses, totes and handbags as well as kitchen items like
toaster covers to make a neat inside appearance.
Happy stitching! I've been working on a quilt top this week, but I stopped to make eight washcloths from a towel that was fraying on the sides. I used a double zigzag stitch around the edge and washed them to see if they frayed. They didn't, so they should hold up for a long time.
Linda
cajunC
