Interlocking Hem
Emily SteffenDescription
Whether you’re adding fabric to lengthen curtains or a garment, this interlock sewing technique creates an enclosed seam that’s strong, attractive, and bulk free.
The Interlock Stitch
This stitch begins by pressing the raw edge of one fabric piece toward the right side according to your desired finished seam width. Press the raw edge of the piece to be joined the same amount toward the wrong side.
Nest the raw edge of each piece within the fold of the opposite piece. Then, edgestitch the fold of each fabric piece to complete the interlock stitch.
The resulting seam looks very similar to a flat-felled seam, which is typical on jeans. The difference is that the flat-felled seam is stitched first, with wrong sides together. One side of the seam allowance is then trimmed down, and the other seam allowance is folded over and topstitched down.
Another similar encased seam is called the run-and-fell seam, which is created the same as the flat-felled seam, but the fabric pieces are stitched first with right sides together. Then the same process is followed to trim one seam allowance and fold the other over, then topstitch. The difference is that the two lines of stitching are visible on the right side for the flat-felled seam, but for the run-and-fell, only one line of stitching is visible on the right side.
All of these seam techniques can be used to join any fabric pieces together, as for garment seams, such as jackets or jeans. The seams are very strong, as two lines of stitching are used, and are excellent to use with bulky fabrics such as wool and denim, as the seam is very flat.
For more enclosed seaming techniques, check out five types of enclosed seams and this video on French seams.
Hey, I'm Emily Steffen. And I wanna show you one of the coolest ways to lengthen anything. When we first moved into our house, we realized our ceilings were really tall, but we didn't have a lot of money to buy new curtains. So I decided to lengthen some of our curtains, but I didn't want there to be a raw edge on the back of it. So I'm gonna show you what I did to lengthen it. So take the two pieces of fabric that you are gonna use. The green was the curtain that I wanted to lengthen, and the white was the part that I was going to add. You will fold about a quarter of an inch, an inch, half an inch, whatever you see desired, and press forward. And then you will fold and press the same width backwards on this material. And then iron the same towards the back. This is the magic in this hem, is you will lose your raw edges, because you will be folding these two pieces together. So if you flip it over back here, there is no raw edge. And out here, there is no raw edge. So I'm gonna run a stitch across the top, which will be the top of this back, and then run a stitch across the bottom, and voila. And then flip it over, and run a stitch across the top of the other color. So when you're done stitching, you will have a finished edge on the front side, and a finished edge on the back side. And this is perfect for lengthening shirts or skirts or of course, the curtains that we had in our new home. And the reason why this is extra cool is that if you were to wash any item, you don't have any raw edges that will fray or come apart.
This is brilliant. So simple. I can think of many places to use this.
This is often called a flat felled seam, although this one is wider than most.
Thanks so much!
Very clever!!