lettuce edge hem: tutorial

have you ever seen that ruffled look on the hem or sleeve of a garment?

that’s a lettuce edge hem—and it adds such a nice touch to a garment. i particularly love it on little girls’ clothing.

a true lettuce edge hem is done with a serger. but you can use your regular sewing machine to get a similar look if you’re sewing on knit fabrics—and it’s SO easy!

*how to*
set your machine to a zigzag stitch
make the STITCH WIDTH as WIDE as it will go
make the STITCH LENGTH as SMALL as it will go (while still feeding through)

pull your fabric tight both front and back as you feed it through.
the knit will curl up slightly and you’re going to sew right on top of that curl.

the fabric normally:

now pulled tight by holding it both IN FRONT OF AND BEHIND where it’s sewing:

you want the stitch to run OFF the edge of your fabric on one side, enclosing the roll of fabric.

and that’s it!

as the fabric relaxes it will curl up even more, and you have a fun little detail on your hem!