A Blind hem is a fantastic way to create an invisible hem for your projects. If you look in your cupboard you are bound to find several pairs of pants and a skirt or two that use this technique. Did you know that you can stitch invisibly on most modern machines?
What you need
- Matching thread
- Iron
- Blind hem machine foot
- Ruler
- Pins
Because a blind hem works best on wider hems of over 1 inch you may need to add a little extra seam allowance to your hem. Just check your pattern for the current hem allowance and adjust accordingly.
HOW TO SEW A BLIND HEM WITH YOUR MACHINE
If you are using a lightweight fabric, press the raw edge up by 1/4 inch (6mm). Alternatively, if your fabric is really bulky you could simply serger or zig-zag the edge.
Press the edge up again by the seam allowance. Here I am making a 1 inch (2.5cm) wide hem. Place pins along the hem vertical to the edge as shown.
Fold the hem under towards the backs so about 1/8 inch (3mm) is poking out of the edge.
Make sure your machine is threaded with a matching thread for the best results.
Now set your machine on the blind stitch setting. You will want a width of 2-3 and a length of 2-3. This is what the stitches generally look like. There will be some variations between machine brands.
Most machines will come with a special foot for blind hemming also. If your machine doesn’t have one don’t worry – you will just have to concentrate a little harder to sew straight.
Position the fabric underneath your machine so that the zig-zag part of the stitch just pieces through the folded top edge of the fabric. If you have a blind stitch foot the guide will be aligned with the folded edge. Keep it aligned as you sew. Make sure you don’t sew over your pins!
Fold the hem down and this is what it looks like on the back.
This is how it looks from the front.
If you give your fabric a good press it will help meld the stitches into the hem making them even more invisible. Use some steam or water spray if it is a stubborn crease.
I used a contrast stitch so you could see what I was doing, but here is the same fabric with a matching thread. Invisible!
HOW TO SEW HEMS
- PART 1 – GENERAL HEMS – 5 Types of Hems
- PART 2 – NARROW HEMS – How to sew a narrow rolled hem – with your regular foot
- PART 3 – NARROW HEMS – How to use a rolled hem machine foot
- PART 4 – WIDE HEMS – How to sew wide hems 5 ways
- PART 5 – CIRCULAR HEMS – How to sew circular hems
- PART 6 – BLIND HEMS – How to sew a blind hem with a blind hem foot
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