Sewing Technique - Slits in Hems, Faced Edges or Turned Back Cuffs

Sewing Friends:

Everywhere you look, you see slits.  You will find them at the bottom of your pants, capris and shorts.  They are at the bottom of shirts, blouses and tops and on long, three quarter or short sleeves with or without turned back cuffs.  Slits are even on necklines.  It seems anywhere there is an edge, you can find a slit.

Slits are a common design feature on most of our clothing.  You can add this detail with little effort.  Here is how to add a slit to a hem, a faced edged or a turned back cuff.

 The most important thing to remember is that you don’t cut the slit until after it is stitched.

The second most important thing to remember is that you use short stitches to make the slit.

First, decide how long you want the slit to be when it is finished.

Example:  Finished slit is 2 inches.

Mark The Slit

Draw the slit on the fabric where you want it to be.   A straight line will do.

Hemmed Edges

If the finished slit up into the garment is 2 inches, the hem must be 3 inches deep.  Add length to your pattern pieces to have a 3 inch hem allowance.

Faced Edges

If the finished slit is 2 inches, the facing must be at least 3-5/8 inches wide to allow enough space for the slit and a seam allowance.

Turned Back Cuff

For a 2 inch slit in a cuff, the cuff must be turned back 3 inches.  Because the cuff turns back up over itself, this one is a little more tricky.  You must add twice the length of the slit (2 x 2 = 4″) plus 2 extra inches or 6″ to the finished length of the sleeve.

Prepare Edge to Stitch Slit 

For folded up hemmed edges, press up a 3 inch hem allowance to the right side.  This is opposite of what you normally do.  The two right sides must be together.

For faced edges, place two right sides together as you normally do.

How To Stitch The Slit

• Set your sewing machine stitch length to short stitches (18-20 per inch).  On some machines, that is about 1.5.
• Start stitching at the bottom of the slit about 1/8″ away from one side of the drawn line and stitch to the point.
• Take 2 short stitches across the point
• Stitch down from the point to about 1/8″ on the opposite side of the drawn line.
• The stitching will be 1/4″ apart at the bottom of the slit tapering to the two tiny stitches at the point.

Slash The Slit

After stitching is completed press the slit well to meld the stitching.

Then, slash the slit between the 2 rows of stitching right up to the point.

Turn and Press

Turn right side out with the stitching on the edge.

Press well to set stitching on the edge.

Finish Turned Back Cuff

For the turned back cuff, make the slit in the bottom of the folded edge.

Turn up the sleeve bottom edge to form the cuff up over the sleeve to the outside.

Note:  Turn the cuff back before you stitch the hem to allow for “turning of the cloth”.

Pin and secure the hem.

Now, admire your slits!

That’s about all there is to add a slit to a hem, faced edge or a turned back cuff.

Remember that slits help divide the figure and we all need that.  So start sewing garment hems and faced edges with slits for a more flattering fashionable look. 

It just makes sense!

To Your Sewing Success,

Marian

1st Step To Sewing Success Sewing Courses
Sewing Success Sewing Blog
Sewing Project Tips Sewing Blog

Bookmark to:

Stumble it!

This entry was posted on Friday, August 10th, 2007 at 2:24 pm and is filed under Sewing Techniques. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.