Learning how to make a curved hem comes in very handy, especially when making dresses or circle skirts. Here is an easy method that will give you a smooth, neat finish on any curved hem.
How To Sew A Curved Hem
Whether you’ve been sewing for a while or you’re just starting, if you’ve ever tried your hand at making a circle skirt or dress you know how frustrating is to get a nice looking curved hem with a neat, polished finish. This is because the folded raw edge is wider than the seam line and the excess fabric would pucker underneath.
This tutorial will teach you how to hem a circle skirt the very easy way, so no more frustration or ugly hemlines! The technique is best used for medium weight fabrics. For light and heavyweight fabrics, you might want to use a serger first.
Learning how to sew a curved hem on a circle skirt or a dress is not only easy but enjoyable too and you’ll absolutely love the end result! It’s pretty tricky to fold and press and sew anything curved and it can get aggravated by the type of fabric you use. But once you get the hang of this method you’ll find that hemming a circle skirt is easy breezy!
There are many methods of finishing a curved hem:
- Folding the fabric, where you fold the raw edge inside once or twice. It depends on the fabric thickness. You can either make a normal, running stitch or an invisible stitch with a presser foot;
- Serging, where you pass the raw edge through a serger and either leave it like this or fold once to make a folded hem on heavier fabrics
- Narrow zig-zag hem, similar to serging. You fold once and use very close zig-zag stitches (buttonhole kind of stitch) to cover the fold. Excess fabric is trimmed out. This is best for sheer fabrics like chiffon, organza or silk;
- Using tape to cover the hem on the wrong side of the fabric;
- Covering both sides along a raw edge with a bias strip;
- Adding lace, trims, frills or decorative stitches along the edge;
- Leave it unfinished if the fabric allows. This works well with leather, polyester, mesh, any fabric that doesn’t unravel.
In this tutorial, we will be focusing on the folded hem, which can either be machine or hand-sewn. Hand sewing looks neater, as you can work every stitch carefully, but it is also more time-consuming. If you do have the time, you can try hemming by hand and making an invisible hem. This is useful when you don’t want any seams showing on the right side of your garment.
For the machine hem, you still need a bit of patience while folding and ironing, but the satisfaction will be worth it!
Other sewing tips you will love:
- 12 ways for finishing seams
- How to sew a rolled hem with rolled hem foot
- How to hem lightweight fabrics
- French seam tutorial
- Tips for sewing with canvas fabric
- How to calculate bias tape
I’ve used this method for curved hem when I made a circle skirt for my daughter and I really loved the finished look, even though I admit, I was a bit sloppy; I could’ve used paying a little more attention on details and sewing more accurately. I thought I should make a separate article on how to hem a curve, for ease of reference.
Just to give you the heads up, if you work with an item that has a small radius (aka a “tight” circle), this method won’t be able to eliminate puckering entirely (for example if you’re sewing a round item the size of your palm or just a little larger). In this case, it would be a lot easier to hem by hand to avoid as much fabric gathering as possible. But for regular items like circle skirts or dresses or blouses with curved edges, this method works wonders!
Be careful to choose the right needle and thread size for your fabric, and that the tension is correct. If you are not sure about the settings, check your machine manual. It is also a good idea to try the stitches on a piece of discarded fabric to make sure the settings and thread are correct. You don’t want to ruin the whole thing and start all over.
Petro
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Ellen Poist says
I keep going to your Easy Peasy Creative Ideas, I click the one for crafts and put in the code and they send me to google. Why?
Petro says
Hi Ellen. I’m sorry, I have no answer to this. There aren’t any other people reporting issues so not sure what might go wrong. Would you be able to record a short video of the steps you take and send it to my email address at [email protected]?
Melissa says
I am making a poodle skirt and I had forgotten this technique from grade school home ec, and my mom. She is no longer here to ask, and she was an excellent seamstress. So thank you very much for your tutorial. It is very clear and concise and the pics are awesome! I think my daughter will look lovely in her poodle skirt!
Petro says
Thanks so much, Melissa! Your comment made my day! I’m happy I could help with my tutorial and hope you’ll find more useful tips on the site in the future! xoxo
Teach You To Sew says
Great job, Petro. This is a really easy-to-follow guide. I’ll be sharing it on Pinterest.
Aisha says
Wow….this has bin very appreciated. Tried d curve hem your way nd it came out much better than i could imagine. Thank you for this.
By the way, this comment is comin all d way from Nigeria, Africa. Your work is seen and appreciaed world wide. Thank you.
Petro says
Hi, Aisha. I’m so happy I could help you make a beautiful project! Thanks so much, your comment made my day! xoxo
SallyAnn says
Thanks for this tutorial. I found your site from Pinterest. I have tried sewing curved hems on a three ruffle half apron and it was such a pain to do. Now that I have found your tutorial I think I can face those curved edges with a new perspective. Thanks again and have a blessed day!
Petro says
Aww! SallyAnn, you just made my day, thank you so much! Have a wonderful day yourself 🙂
Wilma says
Final step was omitted — stitching the final hem. The instructions quit at pressing the pinned up hem.
Petro says
Thanks for your feedback, Wilma. Please read the post again as the final step is right before the final press you have mentioned. You are probably confudsed by the pins showing in that image; I did sew over them and you can see the stitch in that image.
Lorrie says
If you make that first stitching a basting stitch, then you can pull the thread to ease the fullness – just like you would a set in sleeve (or, if you haven’t done that, a gathered skirt). Makes it much easier.
Petro says
Hi Lorrie. Thanks so much for the tip, sounds much easier indeed 🙂
Sandy Deliva says
Exactly.
Sometimes just pinning and seeing won’t remove enough puckers. I have used an ear such many times 😊
Janet Vinyard says
Hi Petro, Very nice tutorial! Your daughter’s skirt turned out so pretty with the bow. Well done! Thanks for sharing this information! Blessings, Janet
Petro says
Hi Janet. I’m so sorry, I just got the notification for your comment. Thanks so much, you are very sweet. xoxo