How I did the hem

I have a couple more pictures and information on how I did the hem on my skirt. First, let me give credit for the idea to the Singer Manufacturing Company circa 1950. Then I took it from there.

First (and I don't have a picture of this), I had overcast stitched the hem in prep for regular hemming and the bottom edge was nice and even. (sewing machine, not a serger, though it wouldn't matter) Then I just decided how long I wanted my skirt and used a double tracing wheel and tracing paper to mark this line all around. Don't be afraid to mark it like you mean it - you will cut it off. You could use a ruler or other marking tool. But I found it very helpful to have this clear line all around the bottom. I made my hem (scallops) about 5/8" from the bottom (um, cause that was where my tracing wheel was set - I'm just that lazy).

Then I flipped the skirt to the inside and ironed on tearaway stabilizer. I put some foil on the ironing board to protect it - but that's a bad idea, the stabilizer sticks to the foil. Nice try, though After one attempt at that I was just careful where I ironed and pulled it up quickly from the foil. If you look really closely on the top of this photo, you'll see my originally finished edge. I put the stabilizer all the way around the hem. It really wasn't necessary to hang the stabilizer off the edge, I wanted to be sure the feed dogs touched only stabilizer, but it would have been sufficient to go to the edge of the fabric. The stabilizer is important to get a clean line with no puckering and without pulling crooked. Do not skip this step.

Then I used the scallop stitch on my machine - a deco stitch, not embroidery. I made it as long as I could and as wide (7mm in my case). I placed the right edge of the foot (looking at it) on the marked line. And sewed. One caution: Make sure your scallops are going the right way for your hem and either flip the stitch or your fabric if it isn't. Then, as you can see above, I just trimmed off the bottom edge. It was easier and cleaner to do this with the stabilizer still on. Then I tore away the rest.

Feel free to copy at will, LOL. I enjoyed doing this and am quite pleased with the result. Trimming was a bit tedious, but not hard. I used regular, small embroidery scissors (straight blade) and worked from the back - the thread is easier to see against the white stabilizer.

Oh, and I got to use a deco stitch on my machine. FUN!