Seam Finishes: Creating a French Seam

The term French Seam just sounds fancy and it’s definitely my favorite way (so far) to complete a seam finish. In the industry, it is a very common seam finish and is considered more “high end.” It’s not recommended to do this on curved seams because it can buckle so in my video tutorial here you will see it’s done on a straight edge. Like most seam finishes, this is used to prevent fraying and gives your garment a really clean look as you cannot see any stitches when looking at the front of the garment.

You can practice creating french seams by using a 1/2” seam allowance which is what I used.

Step 1. Place the wrong sides of fabric together and align the edges.

Step 2. Sew 1/4” seam allowance

Step 3. Trim the seam allowance with scissors 1/8”

Step 4. Press the seam open with an iron

Step 5. Fold the fabric, encasing the seam. The right sides should now be together.

Step 6. Sew another 1/4” seam allowance (this gives you a total seam allowance of 1/2”) and don’t forget to backstitch!

Step 7. Turn the garment to the correct side and iron the seam to one side.

That’s it! Super easy and beautiful looking. Good luck sewers!