The Kenneth King Hem

A recent visit to the Threads website had contributing editor and sewist extraordinaire, Kenneth King, offering a tutorial on how to hem a curved, lamé hem. First, lamé is the fabric from hell. But to sew a tiny hem on a curved piece of lamé is work only intended for the deepest depths of Hades. I was really intrigued with his technique and anxious to give it a try.  The Sand Dollar top gave me the perfect opportunity. I tweaked the process a teeny bit  but have to say it is brilliant.

I needed a tiny hem on the front skirt of this smocked top, per the directions from AS&E. I have a tute on the right for baby hems that has worked for me quite well, particularly with sheers but this method is so fast and easy. Here's how I did it on the Sand Dollar top:

The first thing you do is find the right stabilizer. He suggested adding machine tape or Solvy for sheers. What I used is a roll of paper stabilizer I bought at least 20 years ago that is thinner than adding machine tape and I felt it worked perfectly. I would love to be able to tell you exactly what it is but I haven't a clue. I just know that it is like manna from heaven in that I never run out. I have used miles of this stuff. Anyhoo, get your strips of stabilizer and line them up and pin them with a perfectly sharp edge on the garment fabric right side. This is a tweak. He sewed his first and then cut back the stabilizer. My hem was a straight line so I cut the garment edge fresh with the rotary cutter and then lined up the edge of the stabilizer and pinned. Now to the machine.



I adjusted the stitch length to 2.0. The smaller the stitch the easier to rip out the stabilizer. Then I put on my trusty edge stitching foot and clicked it 6 clicks to the left (Pfaff). I did a trial run on some stabilizer and you can see above the measurement is right at 1/8 inch. Gotta remember that. Six clicks is exactly one eighth!I stitched the hem  SLOWLY making sure the blade butted right up to the edge.

Next it was to the ironing board. I found it easier to make the next step happen if I first pressed the tiny seam toward the garment away from the paper. (Tweak) Now you roll the hem over so the tiny hem is tucked behind the rolled edge. Press flat like you see above.

   Back to the machine! Place the blade of your edge stitching foot in the ditch between the paper and the rolled hem. Click your  needle two clicks to right of center if you have a Pfaff. This will give you the specified 1/16th inch edge stitch. Now stitch the hem in this ditch, S L O W L Y. This is not rush time.

Back to the ironing board! Just press it all nice and flat on both sides. Lookin' good, heh? Now pull your paper stabilizer and watch it magically come off with no effort or fibers left behind, easy easy peasy.

Here is your hem on the wrong side.

 And here is your hem from the right side. Not too shabby,  huh?  I think it is slightly perfect if I may say so myself! But here's the best part:  Truth be told I put the hem in and forgot that I hadn't measured the skirt length yet. So this perfect little hem went in 3 1/2 inches beyond where it was needed. I cut my hem again and redid the whole process but for the heck of it I timed myself from start to finish. 11 minutes!!!! That's all it took to get this great little hem beautifully done on sixty inches, yup, of fabric. THIS IS FAST. I love it. I can't thank Mr. King enough for continually sharing his expertise with all of his adoring fans.  Check out his tute on the Threads site. We are so lucky to have him feeding our passion.....Bunny

ETA: I am back to say that I recently , for a friend, altered a bias chiffon gown, two layers. It was all cut on the bias front and back and was lovely on her, so jealous. Both the lining and top, went from floor length to knee length. I used this method but first took what was cut off and made samples with the Ditch and Stitch paper method and then with the Solvy as the chiffon was quite sheer. The paper method was the clear, no pun intended, winner. The solvy was futzy to work with and difficult, IMO. The ditch and stitch went together quickly, even on the bias and curves. It was critical to sew slowly and to rotary cut sharply. I did extend my #6 to #7 after sampling to prevent unraveling. Biggest lesson learned on working on critical garments like a gown, make those samples first. Was the hem stiff from paper? Not in the slightest. I actually ended up starching the edge of the hem to improve the finish. Was the paper showing through? Not at all and this was quite sheer. So I say, other than maybe with a black chiffon, move forward with the Ditch and Stitch paper to do this hem on sheer fabrics with confidence.  In the end, this method handled those bias curves beautifully. MAKE SAMPLES FIRST ALWAYS. ........Bunny,,,,07/10/2022,,, yup, this post has been this popular this long with over 2 million views!