Originally Posted by
WhollyHamaca
Hey, y'all. I've used those rolled hem feet quite a lot on thin & slippery fabrics (used to make opera & theatre costumes in a past life, also lots of camping gear on an old OLD long-bobbin, straight-seam-only Singer with just a few attachments). I have a few suggestions that may make a fiddly job easier.
1. I find it a lot easier to get the rolled hem started if you first attach a small square of scrap or ribbon or Tear-Away etc to the beginning corner. This gives your left hand something to hold onto, and you can feed the scrap into the hemmer first to get the roll going. Then just keep going onto the "real" fabric. Cut or tear off the scrap when you're done. If I have it, I use a little piece of water-soluble interfacing instead and it just melts away with a wipe of a sponge -- or the first time out in the rain!
2. Hold the fabric pretty taut in front and back as you feed it into the roll foot. I roll the edge a little in front between thumb and first 2 fingers about 4-5 inches away from the foot at a slight angle UP and also to the LEFT to encourage it to roll into and STAY in the foot. That way you can easily control how much fabric goes into the roll. This gives a straight, neatly finished rolled hem without raw edges sticking out here and there along the way.
3. It's especially hard to roll edges on thin and slippery and ravelly nylon or polyester. I made a down jacket, tent, sleeping bag from ripstop nylon several years ago, and before I sewed anything I first seared all around the cut edges of each piece on the side of a candle flame (carefully!!! or you'll melt the whole thing. Some folks use a solder iron instead but I haevn't tried that yet. I think it would make a mess of the tip). Searing the edges made it a lot easier to sew without all those ravels, and no worries about it ravelling away over time. More to the point of THIS post, though, is that the seared edges also stiffened them just a little and made it easier to feed the stuff through the hemmer.
4. Also helps to cut the corners a little rounded before you start if you need to roll adjacent edges, so you won't have trouble turning as you go (slowly) around the bends. This way you can go all the way around (e.g., for a tarp) in one continuous go without having to stop at every corner and then start the roll again on the next edge.
5. Last tip (then I'll shut up!) is to first sew a straight seam along the line where you want the hem to roll. No need to fold it over, just sew the flat face along the fold line. This makes it easier for the fabric to fold itself over, straight along that line and into the foot when you roll the edge. Don't do this if you'll be bothered by the appearance of an extra line of thread showing on the rolled hem.
Don't want to come off as a know-all. These little techniques have worked well for me, so maybe they'll help other folks, too.
Oh, and sorry for no pix -- my camera has gone into hiding after the Big Move across country. I know, no pix so it didn't happen! I'll try to post some soon if anybody is interested in seeing what the heck I'm talking about!
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