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Sewing Back-to-School: French Seams

This post is part of the Sewing Back-to-School series, 30 days of helpful sewing articles by guest bloggers. Feel free to check out the original Sewing Back-to-School post for schedule and previous posts!

Hi all,

  I’m Angela and I blog over at Cut to Pieces.  Sweet Sara invited me here to share a little bit about French Seams with you all.  It sounds a little naughty, but maybe that’s just because I’m up way too late working on this! lol.  French Seams are a really wonderful way to add finished seams to any project without using a serger or a lining.  I first learned about french seams when I was garment sewing, but I’ve used them for more than that now.
French seams are relatively simple to do (despite their fancy name) and have a lot of impact.  They are probably most commonly used for sheer fabrics as a way to both prevent the fabric from fraying at the seams and provide a tidy seam from BOTH the front and the back.  The only tricky thing is if your seam allowances are REALLY strict.  Then you just need to be accurate. 😉

(image courtesy of http://sewingcafewithlynne.blogspot.com)

Today I want to show you how I use french seams on a tote bag I made. The technique is absolutely the same, but it’s a slightly different application than you normally see. Heck, I used french seams when I was making the crib sheets for my daughter. You can turn any straight seam into a french seam!

French Seams tote

To make a french seam, you place WRONG sides of your fabric together.  This is counter intuitive for most of us who sew.  We’re used to sewing right sides together and flipping that inside out.  But that is truly the first step here.  Depending on your total seam allowance for the whole seam, you will do a small seam allowance that is roughly 1/3/ to 1/2 of your total.  Generally speaking you are safe with a 1/4″ seam allowance.  Sew the wrong sides together.

French Seams tote

French Seams tote

In working on my tote, I had to do a lot of these seams before the next step.

French Seams tote

Press this seam and then flip the fabric so that it is now RIGHT sides together.  The seam should be in the fold.  Press the fold.   Sew the fabric right sides together with a 1/2″ or so seam allowance.  See how all the raw edges are enclosed?

French Seams tote

French Seams tote

Both sides of the seam are smooth and clean! And in this case, the seams actually provide functional stability for the bag. So they are extra helpful.

French Seams tote

Totally smooth!

French Seams tote

This tote bag had 8 french seamed sides! And they all joined….of course I did the tricky one. lol. But I have a super cute market tote in the End! I think I’ll take it with me to the Sewing Summit.

French Seams tote

I hope you all try a french seam or two. I promise you’ll be happy with the results!

Thanks for having me Sara!

27 thoughts on “Sewing Back-to-School: French Seams

  1. This really makes a difference to a bag. Makes it much fancier. Thank you so much!

  2. I’ve been doing french seams since I learned how to do them a few months ago – and the quality difference is AMAZING! great tutorial. I had to teach my self after looking at pictures I couldn’t quite figure out 🙂

  3. Kristy says:

    Thank you for taking the time to show this so clearly and simply! I getting ready to sew them for the first time and this is going to help so much. 🙂

  4. Elena says:

    You rock! You’ve really inspired me to make this for my Summit tote!

  5. Katie says:

    I learned how to do these in my first sewing class {@ Joann’s…learning to make a pillowcase :D}, but haven’t been able to remember them!

  6. diana says:

    How did you do it at the corners? You know, where you have 3 seams joining?

  7. jednoiglec says:

    Angela, your tutorial is wonderful. So far I was convinced that French seams are used only in sewing clothes, but now I know what loveliness we can sew using these technique!

  8. Anita says:

    I want to see pictures of the tricky one! that’s the one I’m worried I’ll flub! =) The bag is adorable! Love it!

  9. Katy Cameron says:

    I’ve just done a dress entirely with French seams, but would never have thought of making a bag with them, great idea!

  10. This is great and very helpful and on my list of to do things! Thank you both for sharing this!

  11. O. says:

    Love that bag and I am going to give a french seam a shot soon.

  12. Angela says:

    Hey all,
    Angela here. Joining together three seams can be a little tricky. It’s probably most commonly known as a “Y” seam. Maybe that’s one of Sara’s lessons! lol But the short and sweet explanation is that you stop sewing a 1/4″ (or whatever your seam allowance is) away from the end of each seam. That way you are able sew them all together. It also helps to sew away from the joint sometimes rather than to it. You may also want to clip a little from the corner to help it stretch in each perpendicular direction.

    Clear as mud? It’s definitely a little tricky to do and even trickier to do with french seams. But give it a whirl!

  13. Suzanne says:

    It was great to see French seams in action in a bag. thanks!

  14. diana says:

    Thanks, Angela! It was obvious, I think, but I was always afraid of those Y seams in bags.

  15. Tori says:

    I love your fabric choices! : )

  16. Elena says:

    Angela: the bottom is what’s stumping me. I see you attached all pieces first, but then which French seams do you start with? Bottom or sides?

  17. tusen says:

    I have to try this, thanks for sharing.

  18. Kay says:

    Excellent tutorial. Thanks so much!

  19. I love French seams; I will use them any chance I get because they make the item much more professional looking and it’s a much faster finish than turning under and edge stitching a seam. Very nice

  20. lili says:

    Hello, nice bag ! That’s funny, I am french and in France, we call that “une couture anglaise” , what’s mean an english sewing ! Sorry for my bad english. Have a nice day

  21. Barbra says:

    is there a photo of the whole tote after completion

  22. Barbra says:

    I might be missing something, but is there an actual tutorial on how to make this tote?

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