This week is the last blog on seam finishes, for a while at least. Last up is an alternative (and slightly easier finish) to French seams for sheer fabrics.  

French seams look great, but they can be a lot of work. Here is an alternative way to finish sheer, delicate fabrics if you are looking for a quicker alternative. With the right colour thread (unlike mine so you can see the stitches in the photos clearly) it's really neat and discrete. 

1. Place your fabric right sides together.

2. Pin the fabric as normal with a 1.5cm (5/8 inch) seam allowance.

 3. And sew. I like to use a shorted stitch length (around 2mm with fine, delicate fabrics).

 If you are having trouble getting nice, even stitches then a strip of tissue paper underneath can help. Test this on some scrap fabric first as you want to make sure you can remove your tissue paper easily after stitching. Tweezer are your friend here! 

4. Sew a zig zag stitch 0.5cm from the stitching line. This needs to be a short and narrow zig zag stitch to keep things neat and delicate.

5. Trim the excess seam allowance, near to the zig zag stitch but not through it.

6. Open out the garment and press the seam allowance over to one side. Press the front and the back.

From the front you can hardly see the stitching, even with white thread!