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From: MaryW
Date: 05-28-2004, 08:38 AM (1 of 4)
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If you can help, please respond here. thanks. I joined an assembly compeny tomake hair-cuting capes. The fabric is a sheer polyester. I must use a machine hemmer attachment, but the hem has curves. I'm trying heavy spray starch next, but have not got alot of methods for hemming the curves with a hemmer. Do I need a special make of hemmer? Can you give mehtods for sheer curve hemming with machine hemmers? MaryW
owner/editor of Sew Whats New |
User: MaryW
Member since: 06-23-2005 Total posts: 2542 
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From: MartySews
Date: 06-03-2004, 06:46 AM (2 of 4)
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I would use a serger and do a rolled hem. Go slow around the curves and it should have a nice professional finish. Happy Stitching! Marty 
It takes one moment to change a life.
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User: MartySews
Member since: 02-23-2003 Total posts: 504 
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From: plrlegal
Date: 06-03-2004, 04:28 PM (3 of 4)
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The type of foot you are talking about is probably a 1/4" rolled hem foot and it takes practice, practice and more practice to use these feet to get a finished nice looking rolled hem. I probably have every size rolled hem foot that is made for a machine for my Singer Quantum starting with the 1/4" and going up to I think almost an inch. These feet can be purchased individually in the different sizes, depending on what brand of machine you are using. If this project is for a company that sells these capes to beauty salons or distributors for beauty salons, they're not going to allow a serged rolled hem to be done on them, I'm pretty sure, Patsy Patsy
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User: plrlegal
Member since: 05-19-2001 Total posts: 318 |
From: paroper
Date: 06-04-2004, 12:03 AM (4 of 4)
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If your material is somewhat crisp you should be able to master using a narrow hem foot. The wider the curve, the narrower the hem and the crisper the fabric the better. The narrow hem keeps down the amount of excess fabric you are going to have to "bury" in the hem. However, if you can find the time to do it, the easiest way would be to run a gathering stitch that would go at the top of the inside fold. This would help you get rid of the excess fabric at the lower fold. This is not so practical if you are doing hundreds of pieces. Marty has a point...if you can run a serge around the bottom and turn it up in a narrow hem, it would be the easiest hem...but I don't know that it would be acceptable, certainly not as nice as a rolled hem. I'd look at one that has been done and see how they did it. The biggest problem that I have with the hem foot is that I tend to sew the outside and slip the inside...that can be a real problem because then your fabric rolls and all kinds of stuff. You have to keep the raw edge straight so that it is feeding as close to "straight" in to the hem as possible...that is what you would be trying to do with the baste. You might find it would be easier to run a bias tape of some sort around the edge...certainly might be more dependable and easier (at least in the beginning) and I know that I have seen it on barber capes. As far as starting the hem, do a short row of stitching and leave a tail. Then, use this as a handle to feed your fabric into the hemmer. When your fabric feeds through to the other side, back it toward you to straighten your hem and use the string to guide your first stitches through the hemmer. As you stitch, guide your fabric with both hands, but hold your right hand back toward your body and maintain a slight roll in the fabric (around your finger) as it feeds into the foot. pam
Bernina 200e, Artista V5 Designer Plus, Explorations, Magic Box, Bernina 2000DE & 335 Bernette Serger, Bernina 1530 Sewing Machine, Bernina 1300 DC Overlock (with coverstitch) |
User: paroper
Member since: 02-03-2004 Total posts: 3775 |
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