French seam tutorial


I have a degree in French but French seams were never on the syllabus, more’s the pity. I would have certainly paid attention to that lecture.

Despite that, I have picked up the method for finishing seams, and it’s a great one for neat and tidy seam finishes on clothing, and because they are sewn twice, they are super strong and suitable for all kinds of sewing projects including bags and totes.

I originally wrote this post for the Fiskateers blog, but am posting it here too. If you’d like to go and read the original, click here.

1. Take your two pieces of fabric and pin with wrong sides together. The right sides will be facing out. (I know this seems counter-intuitive, but hang in there!)
2. Sew the two fabrics together, then trim the seam allowance to 1/4″. 
3. With a hot iron and with the right sides facing up, press both raw edges to one side. 
4. Next, place the wrong sides up, and press the two fabrics along the seam line. The right sides will now be facing in. 
5. Pin the pressed edge, then sew with a seam allowance of more than 1/4″.
6. To finish, open up the fabrics with wrong sides up and press the seam allowance to one side. The raw edges will be concealed within the seam.

Recent Posts