You can sew a french seam in 5 easy steps and have a nice neat finish not only on your garment. First you sew fabric right side together, that trim seam allowance, turn inside out and sew wrong sides together.
What’s a french seam?
A french seam is a type of seam finishing, where raw edges are concealed. For a french seam finish, your seam allowance on pattern pieces need to be 5/8 inch.
One french lady told me, that in their country is the French seam called an English seam. Hilarious!
When to choose it?
- Lightweight fabric
- See-through fabric
- No serger/overlocker
- No lining
- Open garment and you can see insides, for instance Kimono
How to sew a french seam in 5 easy steps:
1. Pin fabric right sides together, unlike a standard plain seam.
2. Sew the seam with a 3/8 inch seam allowance from the raw fabric edge.
3. Trim seam allowance approximately in half. This is important so any tiny fibres are visible when seam is finish.
4. Turn wrong side out and press so that the stitched seam is right on the edge.
5. Sewn again with 1/4 inch seam allowance from the folded edge.
Turn Right side up and enjoy the neat results! The french seam is stronger and will last longer than a regular seam.
I love to use french seams finish when working with rayon fabric, great for summer garments.
On a picture I’m sewing a Morsbags, my favorite scrap project. I chose a french seam because there is no lining inside the bag and raw edges are neatly inclosed.
Let me know if you find this tutorial useful. What seam finish you would like to learn to sew next?
