I love sheer fabrics, chiffon, voile and georgette are among my
favorites along with lace. Garments made from these fabrics
look cool and refreshing. There's the added plus that they can be
slimming as well.
The tips here can be used for any of these fabrics and for
crocheted fabric. Sewing sheers can be a bit tricky. You'll want to
keep the garment as sheer as possible and this can be
accomplished by using as few facings, interfacings and
underlining as you can. A pattern that has few seams and darts is
best for a sheer garment. You may need to use an underlining in
the collar and cuffs to keep seams from showing through or if the
fabric is a little too sheer for your taste you may want to add an
underlining to the garment. If an underlining is necessary or
desired use organza or organdy to keep the sheerness. Fit your
garment before cutting.
Hairline seams are perfect for enclosed areas collars,cuffs and
facings. French seams work well on straight seams and are
extremely good for fabrics that ravel.
If you're planning to use elastic in any area of the garment such
as a sheer ruffled sleeve buy the clear elastic and apply with long
straight stitches or zig zag stitches.
Let your garment hang for 48 hours before hemming to allow for
stretching. A hand rolled hem makes a very elegant finish for
sheer garments with full skirts or you can make a very nice
machine hem. Wing needles, twin or triple needles can produce
some very interesting effects at the hemline, sleeve and
neckline.
Starting with a 5/8" hem allowance, staystitch at 1/2". Press
under at 5/8" and stitch at 1/16". Trim close to stitching being
careful not to cut the stitching.
For those unfamiliar with making a hairline seam this is an easy
method:
Stitch along seamline with right sides together using 12 to
16 stitches per inch. Stitch again with a narrow zig-zag
positioning so that the needle goes into the fabric next to
the original seam.
Trim the seam allowance close to zig-zag using small sharp
scissors, embroidery or appliqué scissors work very well.
Turn right side out and press with the tip of the iron.
Three Step French Seam:
Stitch WRONG sides together using a 3/8" seam
allowance and short straight stitches. You can use your
serger for this.
Trim the seam to 1/8" with your pinking shears if possible.
Fold fabric with RIGHT sides together, press seam edge
and stitch 1/4" seam. Press to one side.