French Seams For the Armhole/Sleeve Junction

I've been asked a number of times how I do a french seam at the armhole of my blouses, so I put together a little tutorial to demonstrate the process. It might sound difficult, but if you can sew a regular french seam you can do an armhole french seam easily.

The NUMBER ONE rule for sewing with french seams is to make sure you are using a somewhat thin fabric. I've attempted them before on fabrics like bottom weight denim and the outcome is bulky and happy-hands-at-home looking.

Invisible zipper tutorial

I'm sure there are tons of invisible zipper tutorials floating around the internet, but I sometimes get asked about how I install one, so thought I'd do a tutorial about it. I am a self-taught invisible zipper seamstress. I used regular zippers in all my garments for years and years, mostly using the lapped zipper method. A few years ago I had to use an invisible zipper in some long forgotten garment, and was so pleased with the results that I vowed never to go back!

I thought my recent yellow linen dress a good subject to document the process on, since it has numerous intersecting seams that come together at the zipper.

Bias tape finish for necklines and armholes

Warning: Picture Heavy!

A couple of thoughts before we begin:

- This technique is not for a beginner as several of the steps are very fiddly.
- This technique is also not for someone who likes to hurry through their sewing. It requires patience and finesse. If you are in a rush it will likely frustrate you.

Okay, here we have an armhole of my current project, a knit dress. It is sleeveless but has a bit of a drop shoulder. You want to cut a piece of bias tape as big as the hole with some left over. This piece actually proved to be too short. I always stock double fold skinny bias tape because it has other uses, but you can also use the single fold bias tape. This is regular "Wrights" brand polyester/cotton bias tape available at any fabric store in a variety of colors. The brown isn't the perfect shade to match, but is close enough. IF you are using this technique on a sheer fabric, the tape color has to be spot on.

The easy way to ease in sleeves - picture heavy

Hi there! I got several requests last time for tutorials on my seam finishing techniques. These have already been done! Here is the tutorial for french seams, and here is the tutorial for bias tape covered seams. You can look through any of the tutorials I've already posted by clicking on "tutorials" under the label section on the right side.

Do you dread easing in sleeves.? I use to get so tired of ripping out the seam when puckers were discovered after it'd been stitched. How frustrating! Let me show you a trick to make this process a whole lot easier:

1. Start with a sleeve that has it's vertical seam sewn and seam allowances pressed open. This is the two piece sleeve from my current project.

How to sew tight curves

Making sure your garment is well pressed is the number one most important key to achieving clothes that look well made. Trimming the seams to make them lie as flat as possible is the number two. I'll demonstrate with a pocket flat from my current project, another jacket.

1. Sew the two pieces together, right sides facing in.