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French Seam Tutorial

Saturday, August 11, 2012



Since this little trench jacket is one of my favourite personal creations, I was pretty ecstatic to see it and the rest of the Toddler Sportswear Chic outfit among the final selections for the Project Run & Play Open Auditions.  And one of my favourite features of the Sportswear Trench Jacket is the fact that there are no exposed seams on the inside of it.  This technique is called a french seam, and while it's usually used on sheer or very delicate fabrics, I found it worked very well with this heavier cotton. 

Here are the steps I used to achieve this clean finish:


1.  Line up your two pieces of fabric
2.  With wrong sides together, stitch about a half inch from the edge
3.  Trim as much of the access fabric as possible
4.  Fold over and press with your stitching line on the fabric edge
5.  Stitch, encasing the raw edge inside
6.  Press flat
7.  Stitch a 3/8 seam allowance, sewing the fold down.

Voting continues until tomorrow night, to determine the final two designers for 
Project Run & Play Season 5 .  

Yes, I'd love to be one of them, but vote for your favourite! 


14 comments on "French Seam Tutorial"
  1. French seams are my preferred way to finish seams :)

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  2. Thanks so much for the tutorial. Off to vote for you!

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  3. AH HAH! Learned something new! Thanks! Good luck too.

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  4. You could also do a flat felled seam on your jacket! I think the french seam is a little easier though - a flat felled would just eliminate bulk if you don't want it! :)

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    1. Good point, I love flat felled seams, too! I guess it just depends on the look you're wanting on your garment.

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  5. Are you able to do this with your arm sleeve seams, too...where the arms meet the body?

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    1. Good question, Jill! You know, I've never actually tried. I'll look into it though.

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    2. Hi Jill, I found a great tutorial for arm sleeve seams...I definitely want to try this out! http://grainlinestudio.com/2012/03/15/sewing-tutorial-french-all-your-seams/

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  6. That little trench just slayed me with cuteness! Awesome work!

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  7. Well, life is all about learning, no? Had recently created a pair of pajama pants for my son. Because the material I had on hand was going to fray into nothing I attempted french seams; didn't realize the first seam needed trimming! Thank you for posting this tutorial! Congratulations on being selected for Project Run and Play! Jane

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    1. Life certainly is all about learning! I'm always correcting my own, and learning new techniques. So glad you found this useful....and thanks for the congrats! :)

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  8. thanks really thanks for tutorial...I must follow your blog...loves

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