How to Sew French Seams

The recently sewn Rachel Comey Vogue pattern 1247, used French seams in the construction of the top. Upon reading this on the instruction sheet my first thought was actually three thoughts; What? Why? and How?

What is a French seam? It’s a construction method used where the seam allowance is enclosed as the seam is sewn. It has the appearance of a plain seam on the right side of the garment and of a little tuck on the wrong side. It is used on straight seams and seams that are visible such as sheer fabrics.

Why use a French seam? For sheer fabrics and unlined jackets it gives a very neat appearance. With other fabrics, like the cotton top I made, It makes you feel oh so chic and smart when sewing this couture self-finihed seam.

And how do you sew a French seam? Well, it wasn’t that hard. It required some double checking before sewing and a little extra time but the results were worth it. Here’s the simple run down on how to sew a French seam:

Sew wrong sides together – wrong sides together (it bares repeating) – this is where the double checking is required since we’re all use to sewing right sides together). The Rachel Comey Vogue pattern 1247, came with 5/8″ seam allowance, however, you sew this seam with a 3/8″ or 1 cm seam allowance (with the wrong sides together). You will use the remaining 1/4″ of seam allowance soon.

Trim the seam allowance down to a generous 1/8″. I used a rotary cutter because it was a straight seam  and therefore quicker than scissors.

Press the seam and then press the seam open.

Flip the garment pieces just sewn together so the right sides are now touching and you can’t see the seam you just pressed open.

Line up the seam so it lays on the edge and press. (Wrong side of the garment is facing you).

Sew the seam again (right sides together this time) using a 1/4″ seam allowance. In this step you are enclosing the seam allowance you trimmed down. You are also using the last 1/4″ of your 5/8″ seam allowance.

Press this to one side. This is on the inside of your garment.

This is the seam on the outside of your garment. (On the right, in the above photo, the shadow is making it seem more like a bump than it is).

This is the inside of my Rachel Comey Vogue top. It had six pieces sewn together for the front plus a center bust dart. That’s a lot of seams and yet it looks super neat and orderly.

This is the outside or right side of the top. The seams look completely ordinary. There is no design element added to the outside of a garment when you use French seams only the inside is affected which makes it fitting for sheer fabrics.

The fact that you can’t tell French seams were used with this cotton means I could have sewn this top with plain seams finished with pinking shears or zigzag stitches. I used French seams because the pattern instructed to and I wanted to give it a try.

In the end French seams are not hard or intimidating. They’re easy (a bit more time) and beautiful (on the inside, where it counts) and they make your garment a little extra special.

You may want to read my review of this Rachel Comey Vogue pattern 1247 here.