If you don’t know already, I basically learned to sew by watching “Sewing with Nancy” on PBS.  It was my favorite show as a kid.  She always had the greatest tips I could file away for when I actually made clothes for myself (and not just Halloween costumes, which was where most of my sewing efforts ended up in my elementary to middle school years; costumes and Barbie clothes.)

One of my most-used techniques is the “wrapped corner” she demonstrated one day long ago. It’s a great technique for getting a nice point on a collar, and the sailor collar on the Goodship Dress is no exception!  Follow along to make a perfectly crisp corner:

1. Stitch your outside collar seam – that’s the one that does not eventually get attached to the neckline.  On the Goodship it’s the long, straight edge.

2. Press your seam allowances to the under collar side of your collar – that’s the part that doesn’t show unless you flip up the collar in quintessential 80’s style.   On the Goodship, it’s likely a contrast color.

3. Stitch those seam allowances down to the under collar.  I like to use an even zigzag stitch (see below) at about a presser foot’s width away from the seam.  You don’t have to trim this on the Goodship  collar.

4. Fold the collar right sides together, then sew your collar side seams – the short sides on a regular collar that do not form the neckline.  Goodship collar has two curved side seams.

5.  Clip the curviest part of the side seams up to, but not through, the seam you just sewed. This might seem strange,  but do not clip the corners.

6. Fold the side seam allowances over the understitched seam allowance at the corner. This is not a right angle on the Goodship collar,  but you don’t need a 90 degree corner to have a crisp corner.

6. Place your fingers inside the collar and pinch this stack together while you turn the collar right sides out.  Repeat for the other corner. (If you have a tiny corner on a tiny blouse, you can use a tool like a hemostat to hold the corner for you.)

7. Press your collar wrong sides together, smoothing out those curves side seams (As you can see, I didn’t make it to that step yet), then admire your beautiful collar point.  It will stay lovely once you press it, because that nice fold is holding everything in place.

I hope you get a lot of use from this quick tip.  I know I use it every single time I sew anything with a corner!

I have recently rekindled my romance with a certain smarty-pants stitch on my sewing machine.  I know you have it on yours, too, because even my 20+ year old Kenmore Machine has it.  It’s the Blind Hem stitch.  It looks like #7 here:

The straight part sews along the folded hem, and the little triangle jogs over to the front of the dress to catch a tiny bit.  Here’s a finished hem, prior to a final pressing, up close:

One instance in which this hem is particularly useful is when you have a deeper fold (+1”) on a somewhat curved hem (like the Goodship Dress) where the folded up part of the hem is a bit wider than the portion of the dress where you attach the fold to form the hem.

Of course, you can use the blind hem on a straight edge as well…it’s great for trouser legs and far easier to alter than a topstitched hem.

Getting a successful blind hem is pretty easy once you get the prep done.  I’ll use the Goodship Dress as an example in the following photos.  The pattern calls for a 1 1/4” hem.

The first 1/4” is folded under on its own.  I like to use the serger to finish this (and to mark the placement of the fold!)

After the initial 1/4” fold, the remaining hem allowance is 1”.  I use my handy dandy seam gauge to measure:

and steam a crease into place like this:

Now comes the unusual bit; you fold back the hem to the right side of the dress:

with just a bit of the  first 1/4” hem fold showing after you flip it over:

You can use your regular zigzag presser foot, but if you have a blind hem foot, use it.

It looks like this:

Next, select the blind hem stitch I showed you up above, and align your fabric so the straight stitch falls to the right of the center bar and the single pop-over stitch jumps over to land on the left side.  The tinier the bite this little pop-over stitch takes, the less visible the finished hem will be from the right side of the dress.  (If you look at my finished hem in the second photo of this post, you’ll see a pretty big bite taken, but I kind of like that effect.)

Here’s how the set up looks on the machine:

I’m lifting the hem here, so you can see the fold on the right side of the dress:

When I get around to the contrast pleat, it’s easier to see the full stitch:

Here’s an extreme close-up of the wrong side of the completed stitch:

The final step is to fold the hem back in line with the wrong side of the dress:

And press in place.  Notice the graffiti on the wall?  Thanks, Ella.

Keep your eyes peeled for that adorable fabric.  The print is Modern Home from Monaluna, which just made its debut last week (so it’s not available yet) at International Quilt Market trade show in Houston.  Yes, there’s a Llama peeking out the brighter blue window near the right shoulder.  The solid is available now here.

I hope the blind hem tutorial has been helpful, and that you’ll add this versatile finish to your sewing bag of tricks.