Better late than never!
Welcome to week 4! How is your sewing going so far? I know some of you already completed your project but some of you are waiting on me so I apologize for my lateness. If you are wanting to learn to sew, go ahead and check out our first lesson, second lesson and third lesson.
This week I was planning to do a tutorial on putting in zippers and hemming but I figured, why reinvent the wheel when there are some great tutorials out there already.
So, you want to put in a zipper? Each of the following tutorials has a different feel to it so check them out and chose one that makes the process easiest for you.
Tutorial with lots of pictures
Putting in a regular or invisible zipper with interfacing
Glue set a zipper tutorial from Sew Mama Sew
Invisible zipper tutorial with invisible zipper foot
Zippers are intimidating but they really aren't that difficult once you know how to put them in.
Now to hem your garment, or whatever you sewed. Your pattern instructions will give you measurements for the hem. For example, many skirt or dress bottom hems will be an 1 1/4" or more. I am not a perfectionist when it comes to hems. I usually iron the bottom of the garment up to 1 1/4" (whatever the pattern calls for or I feel like) using a measuring tape in several spots on the dress. Then I eyeball the rest. Once I have that crease ironed I open it back up and turn the edge up 1/4" and iron. Then I fold both creases again and I have my hem ready to sew.
It is usually a cleaner stitch if you stitch on the top of the garment but if you are just starting out, don't worry about stitching on the underside so that you can see the edge of your hem and make sure you are always in the right place. If you turned up your original crease at 1 1/4" and then opened it and pressed the edge up 1/4" then your hem is now actually 1". I would stitch 7/8" from the edge. Make sure your line is straight because this is one of the more noticeable stitches in your garment! If you've chosen contrasting thread this will matter more. If your thread blends then you shouldn't have too much to stress about. I am truly sorry about the lack of pictures here!
Want to sew a blind hem? Try this tutorial. Make sure you practice on scraps before trying this on your project. It took me quite a few tries to get the blind hem right.
Any other loose ends that need to be finished? Anything stumping you? Well, what did you make?
