Walking The Line!
In this post, I’d like to look at, and explain by way of a video tutorial, the use of a narrow hemming foot on your sewing machine.
This is in response to a request by a Fashion Sewing Blog reader who wanted to know more about this fantastic little sewing machine attachment.
Before we start, I’d first like to say that although a narrow hemming foot will do the same job no matter the make and model of your machine, the feet can vary in width or look dependant on which sewing machine you use.
A Narrow Hemming Foot
sewing
The picture above represents what a narrow hemming foot looks like.
The foot has a scroll element which folds the fabric as you machine sew, causing the raw edge to be turned in on itself.
The size of the hem can be identified by the size of the gauge at the underside of the foot.
A narrow hemming foot is commonly used to create a dainty rolled finish to a raw edge. It also gives the fashion sewer greater control and flexibility to sew very small hems which are difficult and time consuming to complete by hand.
Take a look at the tutorial video below, filmed for FashionSewingBlogTV for an online demonstration.
How To Sew With A Narrow Hemming Foot
Subscribe NOW to FashionSewingBlogTV for FREE and never miss another fashion sewing tutorial!
1 – Place your fabric on the sewing machine, wrong side up, aligning the raw edge to the outer edge of the hemming foot.
2 – Sew 2-3 stitches and lift the foot. DO NOT cut the threads.
3 – Pull the threads away from the machine to create thread tails. About 8 cms – 3 inches in length.
4 – Place your fabric back under the hemming foot, holding onto the thread tails you’ve now created. Use these tails to ease the edge of the fabric into the scroll of the foot.
5 – Once the fabric is in the scroll of the hemming foot, put it down and start to sew, guiding the fabric with your fingers.
6 – Keep the fabric at a slight angle at the front of the foot.
Have you found this tutorial useful? Please let me know.
If you have any questions relating to this or any other fashion sewing related matter, then please feel free to get in touch.
It’s always a joy to hear from our sewing community!
You can also contact and follow me at Twitter (@ColleenGLea), Facebook and Google Plus.
It’s good to talk!
Happy fashion sewing
Colleen G Lea
(Read more about Colleen at linkedin)
That is pretty helpful though I never remember how a picot and hemming foot looks like.
Hi Melissa
Glad you found it of some use.
Thanks for the comment
Regards
Colleen
Thank you Colleen. I have always liked the idea of the narrow hemming foot. I’ve never been able to successfully use it. In fact, I’ve found it to be so frustrating that I have not even tried it for a couple of years. I just watched your video, walked over to my sewing machine, put the hemming foot on, and did it. It worked perfectly. Thanks again, Denise.
Hi Denise,
I’m so very happy that I’ve managed to help. That’s great news.
Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment.
Great tutorial! It inspired me to run out & get a narrow hemming foot. I love it! Thanks so much for introducing me to this great tool.
Hi Mari,
Thanks for the comment. Hope you get many happy hours of fashion sewing out of it.
Hey Colleen,
I really love your tutorials. OMG, what would I do without you? I have tried using a rolled hem foot with no success. But today, you showed me the proper technique. In the past, when I used it I was at muscle failure trying to insure that the fabric rolled correctly. LOL! When I was done the thread looked botched, crooked and just plain wrong.
Thanks again for doing the tutorials. I am working on learning how to fit items and how to sew by site. Patterns are great but often times what I see in stores, during fashion week, or on mannequins is not in a pattern. I want to duplicate the look so I am learning how to do that.
With the help of your site I am learning how to be a more proficient sewer.
Thanks for everything!
Tawanna
Thank you Tawanna for taking the time to leave such a lovely comment.
I really like your blog. I think you are very professional, organized ,clear and informative in your tutorials. I especially appreciate your pattern picks for sew-alongs . I think they are spot on for a range of abilities while being stylish and not being too ‘so easy’.
One question I have is, what machine do you sew with? Are you happy with it? It sounds really nice in the tutorials ! I have an older White machine with few options for changing feet. I loved the rolled hem foot you recently showed and would so much like to have a few optional presser feet to chose from including the rolled hem, an invisible zipper foot and others. I think I might not be able to purchase extra feet for my current older machine and am looking at different machines to dream about.
Hi Lisa,
Honestly, if you want a dream machine, then I’d recommend a basic Bernina sewing machine but they are very expensive.
There are other cheaper options, for example Brother, Jernome but I’d certainly recommend that you visit a reputable stockist and ask their advice.
Try as many machines as you can and buy what is right for your specific needs.
Hope that helps a little and thank you for taking the time to comment.