by Jen Moore

Created on: July 26, 2008

Flat felled seams take a little extra work than ordinary straight seams, but they can make all the difference between a rough, shabby looking garment and one that looks like you paid a fortune for it in a boutique. And once you get the hang of the flat fell, you might even find that you prefer to always use it to finish your seams, to take advantage of its strength, durability and crisp, finished look.

The first thing to remember when making flat felled seams is you will probably need more than the normal seam allowance. Measure before you cut! If you're using a major commercial pattern it is be possible to do a tidy flat fell with only the given seam allowance, but it might be a tight fit. While you're learning, it's best to give yourself a little extra room. An inch is a good-sized seam allowance, unless you've got a very fragile fabric.

To start your flat felled seam, first stitch a straight seam inside the extra-wide seam allowance, right sides of the fabric together. Then open up the garment and lay it out flat on the ironing board, as if you were going to press the seam open, but instead just press both halves of the seam allowance to one side.

Now (carefully, so you don't burn your fingers on the iron!) fold the seam allowance under, so the raw edges of the fabric are close to the line of stitching. Press it flat so that the raw edges are on the underneath and you have a crisp fold on top. If this makes your seam too bulky, you might want to trim away one half of the seam allowance and fold the other half around that raw edge. Make sure you still end up with the fold on top and the raw edges next to the stitching.

All that's left to do now is to stitch that fold down to the garment, and you're done! You have a lovely flat felled seam which is much more sturdy than a regular straight seam and leaves no frayed edges to come undone in the wash. You will see now that this seam will show an extra line of stitching on the outside of your garment, so you will want to be extra-careful of matching thread colors - or perhaps you could use a contrasting thread for a different look. You can also use flat felled seams to insert boning in corset-style tops or bags that need help holding their shape, since it creates a small pocket in the fabric.

There are some variations on the basic flat felled seam; the one I've just described for you is a wrapped flat fell, but you can also start off by folding the fabric edges around each other in a "Z" shape (a double fold, like on the long seams of your jeans) or you can finish the raw edges of the seam allowance with a serger and then stitch it down (a fake fell). With a little practice, these finishing techniques can become second nature and help you to make your sewing that much more lovely and durable.

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