Materials For Practice

White Muslin, 4x3 Inches.

Cotton, No. 80-100.

Needle, No. 10-11.

Application

Pillowcases and underclothing.

Use

To join two straight or two bias pieces of material, so that the raw edges will be completely hidden, and a strong seam will result. It is used for seams in underclothing, pillowcases and laundry bags.

Fitness

Double sewing makes it strong; the turned-in edges keep it from fraying, and the effect is neat and pleasing.

Rule

This seam is to be twice sewed and may be made on straight or bias material. Baste together the edges of the cloth, having placed one a short distance below the other (about 1/8 of an inch in white muslin). The upper edge will later be hemmed down over the short edge. (Fig. 17.) Running and backstitching No. 2 or fine running may be used for the first sewing of the seam, as its wrong side is attractive. The first sewing of a fell may be also stitching or overhanding. The difficulty with stitching is the need to do the work on the wrong side of the seam so that when completed the right side of the stitching stitch may show. (For overhand and fell see below.)

Make the seam as narrow as possible for strength. When the first seam is completed, take out the basting stitches, open the seam flat, and turn the wide edge of the material over the narrow. Hem the wide edge carefully down, turning in the raw edge with the needle as the work proceeds. (Fig. 17.) The fell seam should be narrow and even, and lie perfectly flat on both sides of the material. A bias fell is often required in underclothing. It is made in the same way as the straight. Care, however, should be taken to begin the sewing at the wide end of the material on account of the fraying.

Practice

First on two straight pieces and then on a bias seam. Take white muslin, 4 x 3 inches, divide it into two gores, as described in the practice piece for the garment bias. Lay one bias piece against the other, having wide ends to wide ends and narrow to narrow. Proceed as by rule, using the running and backstitching No. 2 for the seam. Let the hemming-stitch, used for felling down the wider edge show distinctly through the material, so that it may be strong.

Fig. 17. - The Fell.