no overlocker? no worries. - sew much easier
TRANSCRIPT
No Overlocker? No Worries.How To Finish Your Seams (Nicely) Without An Overlocker
Another Sewing Guide from Sew Much Easier
How To Finish Seams Without An Overlocker
Frankly, I was terrified of them - all those threads, plate change, and a blade that could bite. Ouch.
A few years later, I went on to Fashion School - where we were expected to produce professional results, because our garments would be turned inside out for close inspection on the finishing. No dodgy business allowed….
Of course, I didn't have an overlocker at home. None of my friends had one, either.
For years, I didn’t have an overlocker.
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Let me shows you the methods I use instead…
Zig Zag Details on Page 6
French Seam Details on Page 8
Turn & Stitch Details on Page 5
Mock Overlock Details on Page 7
Pinked Seams Details on Page 4
Bound Edges Details on Page 10
Seam Finishing Methods
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Without Using The Overlocker
How To Finish Seams Without An Overlocker
Press seams open. Then just trim the raw edge with your pinking shears (or use pinking rotary cutter, if you have one). You can actually cut out your pieces in pinking shears instead of normal scissors - this is my favourite hack to save time!
Suitable for: Woven fabrics that don’t fray easily, and not intended for heavy wash and wear. A tightly woven cotton / cotton blend is ideal. While Liberty fabric "pinks" beautifully, this method isn't so good for a loose weave like linen or silk dupion (read on to see what I do with these fabrics).
1. Pinked Seams
4How To Finish Seams Without An Overlocker
Press seams open. Assuming your seam allowance is 15mm (or 1.5cm), turn 5mm (or 0.5cm) of the raw edge under, and run a straight stitch close to the fold. Simple and uses minimal amount of thread (especially important if you're running low on thread and it's 2am).
Suitable for: Light to Medium weight woven fabric that (hopefully) presses crisply. Might be too bulky for heavier fabric like denim or cord - I'll share another method for these. Keep reading.
2. Turn & Stitch (aka Clean Finish)
5How To Finish Seams Without An Overlocker
You can press seams open or to one side, and zigzag over the raw edge.
It's faster if you press seams to one side, because there's only one row of zig-zag you need to do (great when you're short of time, or sleep, or both).
Suitable for: Just about any type of fabric - except for sheers and really delicate fabrics, in case the machine eats them up.
3. Zig-Zag
6How To Finish Seams Without An Overlocker
Most machines these days have some sort of mock overlock stitches, and they work perfectly well (if a little slower compared to a real overlocker). They are often called overedge or overcast stitch in your sewing machine manual.
Take a look at your sewing machine - even some of the most basic models have a decent selection to choose from!
Suitable for: Just about any fabric! Some stitches are designed specifically for knit fabrics - so play with your machine and try a few stitches on your fabric to find the best stitch type.
4. Mock Overlock
7How To Finish Seams Without An Overlocker
A perfectly neat way to fully encase your raw edges, and surprisingly easy! First sew your two fabrics WRONG sides together using a 1/4″ (or 8mm) seam allowance. Then, trim the seam allowance down to 1/8″ (or 4mm) and press. Then turn fabric so RIGHT sides are now together - stitch a 3/8" (or 1cm) seam to encase raw edges.
French Seam is one of those things that's easier to do than to explain.
So I’ll show you how it goes step-by-step, in the next page:
5. French Seams
8How To Finish Seams Without An Overlocker
I like to use my Quarter Inch Foot for French Seams.
It's a lot easier and produces such perfect seam that I often skip the trimming :-) Suitable for: Sheer / light weight / delicate fabric, and best for straight seams because it doesn't curve so well. Perfect for kids wear because it make sturdy seams and no itchy overlocking!
This is How You Do a French Seam
9How To Finish Seams Without An Overlocker
Some called this "Hong Kong Finish" and considered it a high-end finish, because the traditional method can be really time consuming - but there’s a fast way (see below).
Suitable for: Loose weave fabric like linen and silk dupion (two of my favourite fabrics), and just about anything you can feed through the bias bind foot slot. I've even seen these on denim, and you can use colourful binding too!
6. Bound Edges
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To save time, you can simply use a Bias Binding Foot and whiz it through!
Watch this 5-min video now: https://vimeo.com/236584402
How To Finish Seams Without An Overlocker
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There - No Overlocker, No Worries!
How To Finish Seams Without An Overlocker
There IS hope.
Let Janome AirThread Overlocker help…
Because it practically threads itself :-)
How does it work? Click below to view details…
If threading scares the bejesus out of you…
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Of course, nothing beats having an overlocker…
Learn More
How To Finish Seams Without An Overlocker
Secret Behind the SceneCome along & Discover the Truth that No one talks about…
"I just don't understand how people spend so much on sewing machines,
then use cheap inferior feet!" Said K, somewhat exasperated.
"If only they knew the risks…”
"Risks? There are risks?" I asked. This was how it all began…
Continue Reading Here… www.sewmucheasier.com/not-all-presser-feet-made-equal
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I confess that I'm a fabric addict. I love nothing more than geeking out over the ins-and-outs of sewing machines - and all the bits that come with it. Presser Feet are my specialty :-)
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Shelley xoxox
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