How To Sew A French Seam
This sewing tutorial video will show you how to sew a French Seam, this is a particularly good method for finishing seams on drapey fabrics that fray a lot such as viscose, chiffon and crepe.
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SewHayleyJane
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0:00 - 0:34
One of my favorite ways to finish a seam on fabric that is slightly more sheer, very drapey, something that is prone to fraying, we're talking viscose, we're talking chiffon, georgette, anything that's very lightweight, is a French seam. A French seam is a really beautiful way to finish the inside of your garment, gives a lovely clean finish, and it is excellent at stopping the fabric from fraying. So with a French seam, we are enclosing the raw edge of the seam in between two lines of stitches.
0:35 - 1:09
Those two lines of stitches need to equal whatever the seam allowance is for your garment. So let's say the seam allowance is one and a half centimeters or five-eighths of an inch. You need to split that in two. So if we're talking centimeters, you would sew your first line of stitching at one centimeter, trim that down, and then you'd sew the next line of stitching at half a centimeter. So normally when we sew a seam together, we would sew with the right sides together so that the seam allowance is on the inside.
1:09 - 1:31
But when we sew a French seam, we actually want to start by sewing the fabric wrong sides together. So put your fabric wrong sides together and put some pins along the seam edge if you need to. And then we're gonna sew our first line of stitching at one centimeter.
1:38 - 2:20
Next, we're gonna trim that seam allowance right down. You want to go just over half of that seam allowance. So we're gonna trim that right down. And then we need to press the seam allowance, so we need to do two different presses. First of all, we are going to press that seam allowance open. So you just start off, use your finger to open up that seam allowance, and then take your iron to press it open all the way, being very careful not to burn your little fingers.
2:24 - 2:55
Once we've pressed that open, we're then gonna bring the fabric right sides together so that that seam line that we have just sewn is now gonna become the edge of the seam. So we want to make sure that that seam line is right on the edge. You might need to just roll it out, and now we're gonna press it again. So we're gonna press it flat this time, making sure the whole way that that seam line is right on the edge. This is where we are gonna sew our second line of stitching.
2:55 - 3:26
If you need to, you can put a few pins in just to hold it together. And we're now gonna sew a second line of stitching at half a centimeter all the way along. Open that out just to check that you have managed to catch all of that raw edge of the seam inside. If you have any straggly threads, you can usually just gently pull them out or trim them right down.
3:26 - 3:57
So now we are going to press that seam over to one side. And that's it. There you have a beautifully sewn French seam. The raw edge of that fabric is enclosed in between those two lines of stitching, so it is not going to fray. This will wash and wear over time perfectly. It looks beautiful from the outside, but it also looks beautiful on the inside as well
One of my favorite ways to finish a seam on fabric that is slightly more sheer, very drapey, something that is prone to fraying, we're talking viscose, we're talking chiffon, georgette, anything that's very lightweight, is a French seam. A French seam is a really beautiful way to finish the inside of your garment, gives a lovely clean finish, and it is excellent at stopping the fabric from fraying. So with a French seam, we are enclosing the raw edge of the seam in between two lines of stitches.
0:35 - 1:09
Those two lines of stitches need to equal whatever the seam allowance is for your garment. So let's say the seam allowance is one and a half centimeters or five-eighths of an inch. You need to split that in two. So if we're talking centimeters, you would sew your first line of stitching at one centimeter, trim that down, and then you'd sew the next line of stitching at half a centimeter. So normally when we sew a seam together, we would sew with the right sides together so that the seam allowance is on the inside.
1:09 - 1:31
But when we sew a French seam, we actually want to start by sewing the fabric wrong sides together. So put your fabric wrong sides together and put some pins along the seam edge if you need to. And then we're gonna sew our first line of stitching at one centimeter.
1:38 - 2:20
Next, we're gonna trim that seam allowance right down. You want to go just over half of that seam allowance. So we're gonna trim that right down. And then we need to press the seam allowance, so we need to do two different presses. First of all, we are going to press that seam allowance open. So you just start off, use your finger to open up that seam allowance, and then take your iron to press it open all the way, being very careful not to burn your little fingers.
2:24 - 2:55
Once we've pressed that open, we're then gonna bring the fabric right sides together so that that seam line that we have just sewn is now gonna become the edge of the seam. So we want to make sure that that seam line is right on the edge. You might need to just roll it out, and now we're gonna press it again. So we're gonna press it flat this time, making sure the whole way that that seam line is right on the edge. This is where we are gonna sew our second line of stitching.
2:55 - 3:26
If you need to, you can put a few pins in just to hold it together. And we're now gonna sew a second line of stitching at half a centimeter all the way along. Open that out just to check that you have managed to catch all of that raw edge of the seam inside. If you have any straggly threads, you can usually just gently pull them out or trim them right down.
3:26 - 3:57
So now we are going to press that seam over to one side. And that's it. There you have a beautifully sewn French seam. The raw edge of that fabric is enclosed in between those two lines of stitching, so it is not going to fray. This will wash and wear over time perfectly. It looks beautiful from the outside, but it also looks beautiful on the inside as well