Narrow Hemming Foot

If I could keep only one specialty presser foot it would be my narrow hemming foot. I have many actually...they are quite easy to find amongst the paraphernalia you find with vintage sewing machines and we have well over a dozen of those.

Traditionally, to make a narrow hem, you would:

1. Fold up 1/4" of the raw edge
2. Stitch very close to the fold
3. Trim off the raw edge, very close to the stitching (a duck-billed appliqué scissors is superb for this)
4. Fold up again and stitch this time close to the inner fold, right over the previous stitching.
   

There is nothing wrong with this method and sometimes it is preferable. It can produce a hem narrower than you can get with a 1/8" hemming foot, and it is also sometimes easier to do with difficult fabrics such as bias, springy, stretchy, or textured fabrics.

However, for most applications, the narrow hemming foot is like a little miracle of efficiency...once you get the hang of it. In other words...it does take a bit of practice and patience at first. Rip strips of muslin or calico and go for it.

The two I use most of course fit my modern Pfaff. One makes an 1/8th inch hem and the other 1/4 inch. I've been trying for weeks to take some photos while using them but it seems everything I hem lately is black. So today, given a slight break in the action, and since we are "sewing with our feet" at our ASG meeting this week, I thought I'd hem some muslin strips to photograph. However, I found that plenty of good tutorials already exist online so I am instead going to point you to those then offer my own tips for success and suggest some fun variations.

Here are some good tutorials:
Threads Magazine
Jan Andrea at home
Sew News

Basically, I became good friends with my hemmer foot when I used to make dog bandannas by the dozen. When you are getting paid $2 for a thing, and you have 60 of those things to make, you learn to do it efficiently. The bandannas were triangular so I got practice using the hemmer on both cross grain, lengthwise grain, and bias. And, because I was in "production mode," I also taught myself how to start the edges without pins. (I'm not even sure I can do that anymore!)

Here are some of my tips:

• When you must hem past a seam, it is always easier to hem with the seam laying in the direction of the hemming. In other words, so the seam is folded towards you. It feeds into the hemmer much more easily this way. I almost always fold the seams this way at the hem, even if they are pressed in the other direction above.
• Trim diagonal corners off seams before sending them through the hemmer. Less bulk makes it easier to pass through
• Use an awl to help "push" the bulk of a seam through the hemmer. It also helps to give it a bit of a pull from behind the foot. (Note I'm putting the point of the awl right into the top groove of the foot's curl.)

(Let's ignore the imbalanced serger stitch for now, shall we?)

• When hemming bias edges the edges will likely curl. Some of this can be steam pressed out. But if you want to avoid it as much as possible try stabilizing the edge with starch (press two or three light mists of starch at a time into the fabric) or other stabilizer.
  
• You can also somewhat stabilize an edge by first running a straight stitch around.

For fun and interesting ways to use a hemmer try these:

• Use a decorative stitch instead of a straight stitch over the hem.
• Purposefully stretch a bias edge to get a floaty, curly edge.
• Use a narrow hem to seam two lightweight fabrics together in lieu of a French seam
• Insert lace or other trim into the roll of a narrow hem for a one-pass application and finish.