Featherweight Skill Series - Foot Hemmer Part 2

Thank you for coming to my Featherweight Skill Series! There are thousands of us who love our little 221s but need or want a little more "know-how" on using them to their fullest potential. I hope my posts and videos will help you get more know-how and confidence in using your beautiful Featherweight. Enjoy the classes!

Class #6 - Foot Hemmer Part 2

Class supply list:

Your fully threaded sewing machine, the Foot Hemmer, two or three practice strips of fabric, ric rac or another type of edging. I set my stitch length at 8.

Let's get sewing!

I went through a 50's kitchen phase in the 90's. I loved the pink and turquoise dishes, the cracked glass and chrome table sets, and the lines of the atomic age. Alas, it was a phase. Not much of this stuff is in my house now, but a few things were spared from the bargain hunters of our annual garage sale. Here's one if them. 

A retro apron!

I liked the look of the scallops and ric rac borders. 

Check out the ric rac sewn on the edge of the pocket.  

 

When you look at the back of this pocket edge, you see two lines of stitching. 

 

With our Foot Hemmer, we can achieve this edging and the addition of the ric rac in one seam! Here's how -

Fold your edge over to start the roll and load it into the Hemmer.

Set the needle into the fabric and take a stitch back to set the seam end.

 

Lift the presser foot to slip the edge of the ric rac into the needle opening. Turn the hand wheel to take a stitch into the ric rac.

Ric rac can be wobbly to sew, with its wavy edge. It can pop out of place and not be caught under the needle if you aren't watching it closely. The wider the ric rac, the more wobbly it can get. I would recommend using the narrower ric rac until you get used to handling it and then move up to a wider size. If you want to begin with something easier to handle, choose a piece of edging lace or an edge ruffle.

I found it easiest to hold the edge of the ric rac to the edge of the fabric while slowly advancing the stitching. Keep the edge held up and to the left a little to ensure enough fabric feeds into the scroll.

Here's the back of the finished strip. You can see there is only a stitch or two that catches the points of the ric rac.

I used a bright thread so we can see the stitches. Red thread would blend in better!
 

And here's the front. I love how the ric rac looks like it's floating on the edge of the strip!

I plan to make a few of these to use as borders on my three practice motifs from this lesson.

(A video of sewing with these techniques will be added here soon.)
 

Some other techniques that you can do with the Foot Hemmer:

Add something to the inside of the hem-
When I refer to something, it can be lace or piping or a ruffle with a flat edge or whatever you come up with that would look interesting...I chose lace.

Fold the edge towards the front of the fabric and to start the roll in the foot. Set the lace near the edge on the top of the fabric. I pinned it in a couple spots so it wouldn't shift as much.

Place the fabric edge into the foot. Take a stitch forward and back to set the seam end.

Slow advance the hem all the way to the end, making sure the rolled hem is catching the lace.

Here's the finished look!

Very professional!

 

Sew two edges together to make a French seam-

French seams are a great way to keep the insides of a project looking finished and reversible. They are typically done in two seam passes. With the Foot Hemmer, you can do them in one.

Just like the last example, layer your fabric, right sides together, edges staggered. Pop in a few pins to keep the fabrics from shifting.

Note: If your fabric is lightweight, you can line the edges together. Medium weight fabric will get too bulky for the scroll so it should be staggered. Heavy fabrics will not feed through the scroll and is not recommended. Try different weighs of fabric to see what will work in your Foot Hemmer.
 

Begin sewing slowly and make sure that the rolled hem is catching both fabric edges.

Continue to carefully sew along the entire edge.

All done!

 

The back is a neat and sturdy French Seam!

The front looks great too!

Lace Entredeux (lace inserted between two)

This is a beautiful, French sewing technique that can be found on antique garments or delicate linens. Entredeux can be done with the Foot Hemmer in one pass.

Set the edge into the scroll so it rolls to the back and set the seam edge. Place the lace into the needle opening. Use the hand wheel to catch the edge of the lace.

Sew the narrow hem while holding the edge of the lace in place to continue to get sewn in the hem.

The right side of the fabric hides the solid edge of the lace. Sew another piece of fabric on the edge of the lace to fully complete the Entredeux technique.

 

Homework: Take your fabric strips and add an edging (like ric rac or lace) along the inside and the outside of the hems. 

I hope you have been encouraged to use your Foot Hemmer. What did you choose to sew onto your narrow hem? Please share your pics on our Facebook group page, Featherweight Skill Series, so we can see your creations! 

If you like the series, share the link with your friends, pin it to Pinterest, join my Facebook group... Most importantly, "Let's get sewing!"

Next time, we will learn about the Adjustable Hemmer. See you then!