Hem Away Your Circle Skirt Hemming Blues!

I know I'm not the only one out there that loves a circle skirt but absolutely dreads the hemming of it.  I've heard through the grapevine of a different way to hem them so I gave it a try.  The results are in and it's love! 

The way to do this is by using bias tape.  You can choose between either Extra Wide Double Fold Bias Tape which will give your skirt some structure almost like horsehair braid as you can see in the version I made for Sutton.  Or you can choose  Single Fold for more traditional style hem.  The bonus you also get a super cute pop of color at the hemline depending on the color you choose! This technique will work for both knits and woven fabrics. 

Applying the bias tape is really easy.  You may need to cut off some of your length in order to get the correct hem depending on what hem length your pattern has.  If you go with extra wide double fold bias tape it'll give you half an inch hem. If you go with single fold it'll either give you no hem if you want the bias tape to show, or half an inch if you decide to do the double flip that I'll explain below. 

Let's get started! 

For the double fold bias tape, you'll lay it on your skirt ( I usually start near a side seam) with the bias tape right sides together with the edge of your skirt.  Stitch along the fold line all the way around your skirt until you reach the beginning.  You'll slightly overlap them and then cut off the excess. 

Next, you'll fold your bias tape up away from the skirt as it naturally wants to do and you'll be left with what looks like this

Then you'll fold your bias tape down one time at its main fold so it'll look like this-

Now take it and flip it down one more time towards the top of your skirt. You should have the bias tape on the inside and the main fabric on the outside. Go ahead and clip it all the way around.

Finally, you'll take it to your sewing machine and just topstitch 1/8th away from the edge of the bias tape and you're done! Super clean and cute hem! Don't judge my topstitching I rushed it a bit ;) 

The instructions for single fold bias tape are very similar.   If you want your bias tape to show, first cut your hem off. Then you'll apply the bias tape the same way as we did the double fold but you'll only need to do one flip under and topstitch.  If you don't want the bias tape to show you can leave a 1/2 inch hem and just add a double flip to where you'll then have your fabric as your hem. 

Easy Peazy!! It takes a bit longer than your traditional hem obviously but totally worth it for the extra touch of color and a clean hem!  Plus I love that extra body! 

If you use this trick make sure to share in the group! I want to see your work!  Finally, don't forget to grab your pandas from the pre-order closing on 9/1! 

Happy Sewing and Rocking

Michelle