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Blind-hemming with a Single Layer of Fabric

Sometimes, you need to hem something so it won’t show through from the front. In a perfect world, you’re working with two layers of fabric. But what happens if, oh, I dunno, you’ve got yourself a crazy corset that’s mostly lined, except for the gussets? Then you need to know how to blind-hem with only a single layer of fabric.

Fabric choice is kinda key, here. I’m using a sateen, which, like satin, has fairly long surface carry-threads. It’s still possible to do this with a plain-weave fabric, but infinitely more tedious. Here’s the trick:

two back threads picked up on needle
Take very teensy stitches which pick up 1-2 threads from the back of the fabric.
checking for needle in front
Here's a quick check - if you can see the silver of the needle clearly from the front, you've picked up too many threads in back.
hem from right side of fabric
From the right side of the fabric, the most you should see is a series of faint dimples rather than actual stitches...
stitches from wrong side of fabric
Did I mention that you want really teensy stitches? Here they are, from the back of the fabric....
back side with larger stitches
This set is still invisible from the front, but they're about 1/32" longer than the other set - making them visible and, imho, sloppy looking.

I should probably mention that I have a major advantage with teensy0tiny stitches like this. My mutant super-power is micro-scopic vision. Like Scott Summers, I wear glasses to shield the world from my powers. When I take them off to do handwork, that 20/500 prescription suddenly turns into a killer advantage…  ;)

One Comment

  1. Nua
    Nua October 12, 2019

    you are funny, so enjoying this process, thanks alot

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