[Lisa Mitchell]

I finished all the seams on my classic shirt with flat felled seams & have been pleased with the finish but I’m having a problem with the hem. I’ve ended up with a raw end at the dot where the side seam stops and we’re told to cut into the front seam allowance at an angle. I can’t seem to figure out how to correct that. Can anyone give me some advice. I can’t find anywhere that this issue has been addressed & would appreciate any input. Thanks

[Lightning McStitch]

Hi @lisam can you add a photo to help us find a work around?
The one time I made a shirt and french seamed everything, I also squared off the hem as it was a casual All Day Shirt for my husband.
Right at the side seam there’s not much if any curve to the hem, and given it’s only a fairly narrow hem, I’d just try hemming it without any clipping.
You should be able to do a double fold hem even with the thickness of your flat felled side seam. Sometimes a little encouraging whack with a hammer is needed to get the fabric flat enough to be stitched. 🙂

[Lisa Mitchell]

@lightningmcstitch thank you so much for responding to my post. I managed to finish my shirt but I’m not pleased with the result & would like to make this shirt again. I need to figure this out so I made a mini muslin of the area I’m having trouble with (creating a reenactment,if you will 😊) & have attached 2 photos. As you can see the right side works but when you flip to the wrong side there is the raw edge. It looks bad and would probably fray over time. The thickness of the fabric is not an issue. I’m just having a mental block about how this works & have searched online & in books to no avail. I appreciate your offering to take a look.

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[Lisa Mitchell]

2nd photo didn’t load the first time. Here it is….

[Lisa Mitchell]

2nd upload not working but you get the idea

[Lightning McStitch]

Ah yes, I see that my “don’t clip it at all” idea wouldn’t work. I was thinking of the curve at the side seam being more like the gentle curve of the men’s shirt, or the kid’s sketchbook. I’ve made a few Classic/recital shirts so you’d think I’d remember!

I wonder what happens if you clip the seam allowance with the opposite angle? I might try and have a play with a fabric scrap too.

The easier cheat would be to smooth out the curve at the side seam and just redraw your hemline. The Geneva blouse has a curve that you could borrow if you already have that pattern.

[Lightning McStitch]

@lisam cheat’s solution ?

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[Lisa Mitchell]

@lightningmcstitch I think you are right about solving this by redrawing the hemline. I don’t have the Geneva blouse pattern but I do have a different pattern that would probably work.

I know a lot of people love this shirt pattern, including me but I can’t find any mention of this issue in the reviews I’ve read which leads me to think I’m not reading the instructions correctly. It bugs me not to be able to figure it out.

Thanks for taking the time to help.

[Enbee]

I’ve only made this (or the recital shirt) twice, but I like to French seam everything, and it bothered me to have a raw cut at the vent, too. I found this tutorial – I haven’t flat-felled many things, so I’m not sure whether this method will work for that finish, but I thought I’d throw it out there. My first attempt at doing this technique with French seams wasn’t as neat as I’d have liked, and I could still see a bit of a spot where fraying seemed likely, so I bartacked across the two hem seams. But my second attempt looked pretty good!
http://longislandsewing.blogspot.com/2017/03/french-seams-with-side-vent.html

[Liesl Gibson]

Just catching up with you all after a few weeks of travel and illness. Here are two ways I handle the corner of the hem:

a shirt gusset tutorial

machine bartack tutorial

I hope that helps!