Staystitching, matching curves

On pattern instructions it may look as if staystitching doesn’t actually do anything. But it’s a hidden extra that’s important for quality.

Stay-stitching is support stitching. This support is needed for a couple of reasons :

– Prevent distortion : Support a bias edge so it won’t pull out of shape while you’re doing other sewing.

– Prevent tearing : When you clip or notch into a seam allowance so the fabric can lay flat, staystitching prevents the end of the cut from tearing further into the fabric.

Some staystitching does both functions, such as staystitching round a neckline.

Here’s a written tutorial on curved necklines from Tilly and the Buttons.

Key topics :
– position of stitching,
– direction of stitching,
– matching curves.

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Where to staystitch

Most patterns tell you to staystitch the neckline.

Stitch just inside the stitching line (say up to 1/8″ – 3mm closer to the cut edge). You want the stitching to be in the seam allowance, but it needs to be quite close to the final stitching line. (Some people say do it on the final stitching line, but if you do that you’ll have problems unpicking it later.)

Some experts staystitch any edge that is on the bias so might distort when the fabric is handled.
That includes princess seams, armholes, waistlines, hip curves.

If your fabric is slippy or floppy, pin it to some tissue with a pattern tracing on it, to keep the fabric in shape while doing this staystitching. Pull away the tissue gently when you’ve finished the staystitching.

If you’re using a stretch or loosely woven fabric, a bias edge/seam may need more support – unless you want the stretchy seam drape for the style. That’s a different topic, but some options are to add stay tape or elastic into the seam.

Many patterns tell you to staystitch round an inwards corner. But you can often strengthen inwards corners enough by changing to a shorter stitch length (1.2 – 1.5 mm) about 1″/ 2.5 cm either side of the corner, as you’re sewing it.

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Method of sewing

Some people say shorten your stitch length for staystitching, some people say lengthen it ! so use a regular length, say 2.5.
Though if you’re staystitching to prevent tearing – do use a shorter stitch, say 1.5-2.

No need to backstitch at the beginning and end of staystitching.

Sew ‘with the grain’

This reduces the amount you may distort the fabric with the stitching.

There are good diagrams showing directions of sewing in this pdf from the Sewing and Craft Alliance.
Notice scoop and deep V necklines are staystitched in different directions.

These directions are correct.
For some reason many patterns get this wrong.
The rule that works in most situations is ’sew from wide to narrow’.

‘With the grain’ means following the direction of the longer threads at the edge of the fabric.

Here’s a diagram of what ‘with the grain’ means – the lines represent the threads in a weave:


Against the grain:

This is like stroking a cat or dog – stroke it the right way and everyone’s happy – but the wrong way can cause ruptions.

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Pivot round the curve

How you do the stitching is also important.
Do make sure the fabric is lying flat as you sew – that makes it unlikely you’ll sew in some distortion. You’re sewing along a bias edge, and it’s easy to pull the fabric out of shape if you don’t take care.

Don’t pull the fabric straight while sewing round the curve, or you sew in a distortion – which is what you’re staystitching to prevent !
Here’s a note on pivoting round a curve.
Sew slowly and you may find you have time to move the fabric so it’s always flat and undistorted around the stitching area, without having to stop and lift the presser foot.
Or it’s a great help to have a knee operated presser foot lifter for doing this ! Enough practice and you may develop foot-knee co-ordination skills so you can sew round curves quite quickly 😀

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Matching curves in staystitching

If you’re sewing an edge that curves back on itself, such as a neckline, sew it in 2 steps.

Turn over the fabric for the second stitching, so you sew both sides of the curve in the same way.

If you don’t do this, you may find the two curves are 2 different shapes.

No need for the two lines of stitching to overlap if they meet on a straight section.

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Matching curves that show

It’s a good idea to do this ‘sew from the other side to get both curves the same’ 2-part directional stitching whenever you have 2 curves that need to match, such as :
– both ends of a curved collar or collar band,
– both sides of a curved jacket corner, or cuffs.

To get these corners to match, I also find it helpful to draw the stitching lines.
Perhaps make a card template for the stitching line, so it’s easy to draw matching curves.
A Way We Sew uses interfacing as the shaping template on collars and cuffs.

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Staystitching may look like a trivial sewing step, but for best results it needs to be done in quite a specific way.

Or, if you want to avoid this stitching process, you can follow some experts (e.g. Burda patterns) and use fusible bias stay tape (check it’s bias, regular fusible stay tape won’t bend easily round corners).

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Originally written November 2014, links available February 2021

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Hems

This excellent pdf has good general advice with many technique photos. Both hand and machine sewn hems, many sections on curved hems, mitered corners at end.
Free pdf from Colette patterns on sewing hems.

Here’s an extract from that, a photo tutorial just on sewing hems by hand. Methods vary in speed and quality. A hand sewn hem can be nearly invisible, a thing of beauty 😀

Here are some specialist resources on individual techniques :

Blind hem
I used to find blind hems very counter-intuitive until I saw a video.
It’s easiest to get good spacing, and the tiniest stitches, if you have a special blind hem foot. That has a flange which controls where you stitch – run the flange along the fold. Control the ‘bite’ of the zigzag by changing the width of the stitch.
You can sew a blind hem without a special foot. You do need the special stitch, which alternates a few straight stitches with a zigzag.

This video from Angela Wolf at Craftsy shows a single fold hem, and using the blind hem foot. It’s best to finish the bottom edge before making a single fold hem.
This video from Melly Sews shows sewing a double fold hem without the special blind hem foot. She bastes the hem, and folds along the basting to make a reference line, then removes the basting after doing the blind hem stitching (the basting may be caught in the stitching).

If you prefer a photo tutorial, there’s a very detailed tutorial on making a double fold hem from Colette patterns.

Very narrow hem (hairline) – tutorial from Allison, without using a rolled hem foot – similar to next method.

Narrow curved hem – many web tutorials.
For a machine sewn hem, I like the clear photos in this one from Victory patterns.
Instructions for both single fold and double fold hems.
Yes, 3 lines of machine stitching – trying to get away with only 2 is ‘more haste less speed’ if you want a quality result !

For a more elegant finish, attach flexi-lace hem tape (try from Amazon), then sew the hem by hand.

Many of these techniques are time consuming, but worth it for a quality finish.

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First written November 2014, links updated June 2021

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Pivot round a curve

Sewing a gentle curve is not much of a problem.
Sewing round a sharp curve well is a skill.
I find it helpful to mark the stitching line around tight curves.

Make sure the fabric stays flat while you’re stitching.
Don’t force the fabric round a curve.
If you pull the fabric straight to make it easier to sew, you pull the fabric out of shape, and it’s likely to stay that way.
Do (stop – lift presser foot – pivot fabric – lower presser foot – stitch) to release the fabric distortions round a curve.
I find sewing slowly does reduce the need to pivot.

Reason for taking this trouble : draw some practice curves on paper, and stitch along them by pulling the paper straight instead of stopping to pivot. You’ll find the feed dogs crumple the paper. You want to avoid a similar effect on fabric.

This is another of those sewing processes which looks like a hassle extra step, but makes a big difference to the finished quality.

This is very much easier if your machine has 2 facilities :
– ability to stitch one stitch at a time under the control of the foot pedal – rare on the cheapest machines.
– a knee operated lever which lifts the presser foot, so you don’t need to use your hand for that – only on mid-price machines and up.

2 skills to learn.

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Sew 1 or 2 stitches at a time, using the foot pedal

This amount of control isn’t possible on some cheaper machines.
On other machines it may take some practice to find the right amount of time and pressure on the foot pedal that gets just 1 or 2 stitches.

Check if your machine has any special help with this. My newest machine has a speed control.

If you have difficulty sewing one stitch at a time using the machine foot pedal :
rotate the fly wheel by hand, one stitch at a time.
(Rotate the wheel so the top moves towards you.)
This is called ‘walking’ the stitching.

If you have to make the stitches by hand, the whole process of sewing a sharp curve is quite slow. You have to both lift the presser foot and rotate the fly wheel by hand.

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Develop a knack for stitch-pivot

The pivoting needn’t be slow if you can use the foot pedal to sew 1 or 2 stitches at a time.

Here’s the sequence of steps :
Stop with the needle in the fabric.
Lift the presser foot lever just the small amount needed so the fabric can move freely. You may be able to do this with the top of your hand or finger.
Much easier and quicker if your machine has a knee operated presser foot lifter. Or a foot pedal which operates the presser foot.
Pivot the fabric, so the presser foot points along the next section of the curve.
Lower the presser foot.
Sew one or two stitches.
Repeat.

The sign that you need to lift the pressure foot and rotate the fabric is that the fabric isn’t laying flat in front of the presser foot.

With practice you learn to co-ordinate hands and foot (and knee) and can do this quite quickly.

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You’re sewing along a bias edge, so it’s easy to pull the fabric out of shape. Make sure the fabric is lying flat and on grain as you sew, so you don’t sew in some distortion.

Here’s a pdf of a spiral. Print some copies and practice sewing round the spiral in both directions.

When you can sew round that smoothly, you can do anything 😀

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