French Haute Couture inseam

This is a sewing tutorial that shows you how to make a beautiful “French seam”. This can be used instead of a zigzag stitch on a woven fabric garment. It takes a little longer to make, but the result is spectacular and looks very haute couture. So let’s get started:


Haute Couture French Stitching:

1. When cutting out your pattern pieces, add 1.5 cm seam allowance.

2. Let's say you're making a skirt. Normally, you would place the side seam, right side to right side. When you make a French seam, you place the wrong side to wrong side. At first, it looks like the finished garment will have the seam on the outside.



3. Sew a straight seam, 0.75 cm from the edge of the fabric.

4. Trim away the rough edge, leaving about 4 mm of “clean” edge along the seam. The reason you don’t sew 4 mm in from the start is because the fabric naturally moves and can distort the seam a little. It looks better this way, and with a little practice it’s quick.

5. The next step is to iron the seam open or flat to one side if the edges are too delicate. You are still working on your “right side”, the outside of the skirt.

6. Turn the skirt inside out, so that you are now working on the inside (wrong side). This is where you will make your French seam. Iron the seam flat and nice, edge to edge, so that the seam really stays on the edge.

7. Now sew along the freshly ironed edge, with the presser foot against the edge, about 0.75 cm. Make sure that your raw edge (the one that is now on the inside) is covered by the last stitch. Otherwise you will get ugly little threads on the outside of the skirt, which are very difficult to cut away. It is better to use a wider stitch if you are not sure that 0.75 cm will cover the raw edge.

8. When you are done with the last seam, move the skirt back to the iron and iron it flat to one side, making sure the seam is smooth and nice on the outside.

Voila, now you are done with the seam on the inside of the skirt. Very neat and super professional!