Even though it may the reason for a nightmare when sewing (especially if you’re very new in the business), it’s impossible not to love what you see in the end when working with the sheer fabric.
First thing first, sheer fabric is made with thin thread and/or low density of knit, which gives its see-through appearance and kind of flimsy sort of type. Hey, this kind of fabric may even become transparent when wet.
Most popular sheer fabrics out there are nylon, rayon, silk and gossamer. They come in a nice variety of colors and you may see it a lot on windows as it’s very used for curtains. It’s also very popular for dancewear, lingerie and is common for the hot weather as it gives some low sun protection.
The lightweight fabrics bring to the table lots of good things and they’re not only pretty looking, but also give dimension and volume to any of your garments. At the end of the day (project), you do end up liking so much your sheer project, forgetting all the pain you had to handle when working it.
Hemming a sheer fabric is no easy task and you can definitely try the simple/easy way when you want to play it on the safe side.
There are many techniques to hem the lightweight fabrics and some stand up as they are simple, yet highly efficient and pretty looking. We all want a narrow hem that has a professional vibe to it and clean and neat raw edges in sheers, after all.
Hemming, as everything else in sewing, requires not only some skills, but also a lot of patience, especially if you are trying to always get perfection in your sewing projects.
First thing first, you need not only your sheer fabric, you also need to have handy some medium thickness cotton thread, a sharp needle (some typically go with a 70/10 needle), scissors and a good pressing iron, on steam.
You may start with a temporary stitch (aka “basting stitch”) no farther than ¼” from your raw edge. You continue by folding and pressing the raw edge, with the pressing iron on steam, getting some help from the previous line of stitching.
Now it’s time to run a second stitching stitch, let’s say 1/8” from the edge you just folded. Trim the raw edge away with some sharp scissors, as close as you can to the second line of stitching.
Enclose the stitched-down raw edge by folding it again and use the iron for pressing it.
Make a regular stitch length to stitch the closest to the inside fold. You’re getting to the final line of stitching like this.
Don’t forget to remove all the basting stitches- you do want your sheer project to look nice and clean! Press again for the final touch and…enjoy the view!