Hemming a satin dress! need tips!

I hardly ever come on here, I hope people check this often. I am working on a dress made from some very drapey satin. The dress has princess seams and pleats. ( I know, not a good idea for satin, not my choice) I need to figure out the best way to make this hem look good. I'm afraid a machine hem will look warbly, and I really really don't want to do it by hand. Does anyone have any ideas??? I will do by hand as a last resort.

Do you have a rolled hem foot for your machine? Give that a try on a scrap of the material, and see how it looks.

A rolled edge hem works for very narrow (1/4") hem on satin, but if using a wider hem (2+ inches), a blind hem stitch on the machine might be the answer - each "pick" will be evenly spaced. It is difficult with hand stitching to get the even spacing - and with satin the stitch placement is visible.

And rather than fold the raw edge under to get a finished edge (again, with satin, the bumps created by folding the raw edge under will show), finishing the raw edge with lace hem tape (I think Wright's is called Flexi Lace Hem Tape) might be a better option.

Good Luck!
 

On both silk and polyester satin I find that a hand stitched hem using either fine silk thread like the YLI one or a rayon embroidery thread works best.  You need a fine thread and a fine needle, and to be careful only to pick up threads on the wrong side of the fabric.  Also, fail miserably to pull the thread tight, or you'll get a row of horrid little dimples showing on the outside.  Note that on this example the satin fabric was made up matte side out.

     

The last picture is the hem from the outside after pressing gently...

Hi I hope this will help.


Instructions:

1.) Preheat the iron to the satin setting. Check the manufacturer's directions to determine the correct setting. Do not set the iron higher than the recommended temperature for satin; satin is a delicate material that may melt when exposed to high heat.

2.) Determine exactly where you will cut off the excess fabric if you have to shorten the dress. This measurement will be the length of the finished garment plus 1/2 inch. The extra 1/2 will be used for the hem. Trim off the excess fabric. If you are not shortening the dress, omit this step.

3.) Fold the raw edge of the dress under 1/4 inch toward the inside of the garment. Press the fold with the hot preheated iron to sharpen the crease and keep it in place.

4.) Fold up the edge of the dress 1/4 to the inside one more time. Press to sharpen the crease.

5.) Stitch the hem into place with the sewing machine. Keep your line of straight stitching just under 1/4 inch from the folded edge of the dress. Press the finished hem one more time.

Hi there,

I just made a satin scarf and hemmed around all 4 edges with a double folded 1/4 " (o.5cm) hem.  I found that any larger size hem looked too "puffy", i.e., it did not keep flat and crisp.  I also added some machine embroidery stitches along the edge, it was a herringbone stitch and this really made it hang nicely.  Not sure if the embroidery will look good with your dress or not.  Hope you figure it out. 

I also would suggest if you have a serger to serge it first.

MissThreads