Felled Seam from
19th-century Chemise
My favorite way to learn how to hand-sew is studying garments that were hand sewn. In my collection I have a French chemise from the mid-19th century. I enjoy looking at the sewing and trying to reverse engineer how it was done. There are numerous ways to do flat-felled seams (4 of them I teach in the “Hand-Sewn Seams course). I think this is another way to do a self-encased felled seam. To make a sample just cut two 12”/ 30cm by 3”/7.5cm piece of fabric and grab a needle and thread that compliment your fabric. Give it a try!
19thc. French chemise flat-felled side seam (outside).
19thc. French chemise flat-felled side seam (inside).
How to make seam:
1.Pin RIGHT SIDES together
2. From the INSIDE baste the raw edges for the side seam back 1 cm or 3/8” between the hem and the sleeve opening.
3. Whipstitch seam from the INSIDE.
4. Take out basting and press the seam allowances in the same direction away from the body of the garment.
5. Trim the only top seam allowance down to half the width.
6. Baste the non-trimmed side over top of the trimmed seam allowance.
7. Open your seam.
8. Fell the fold over.