How to Sew a French Seam / Double Top Stitch - YouTube

Eric: This video is brought to you by Sailrite. Visit Sailrite.com for all your project supplies,

tools, and instructions. In this short video, we’re going to show

you the process of creating a French seam. Nothing sets off an upholstery job, like this

cushion, better than a French seam. French seams are used for the upholstery in vinyl

and leather products often seen in luxury vehicles and boats. On the underside of a

French seam, a reinforcing strip of fabric- for us, Grosgrain polyester binding- is used.

This helps to provide the strength of that seam. We’re in the process of creating a

cushion for a power boat. Here’s Cindi explaining how it’s done.

We have our three pieces cut and marked, and I’m going to sew these two pieces together

first; right sides together. I’m going to start down at this end. You can see that our

marks are very close. So I’m going to use those as my guideline as I go down and make

sure that they stay close on all the edges.

Eric: When patterning, we created these marks as match up marks. This is the top plate we’re

going to sew together.

I want this to be a fairly accurate ½” seam. So I’m going to use this magnetic

seam guide and attach it to the base of my machine using the ½” on the seam gauge,

and then I’m ready to stitch.

Eric: This will be the first of three stitches. This first stitch is a ½” from the raw

edges of the fabric. She’ll be careful that the edges are lined up perfectly as she sews

along the length of the fabric assembly. She’ll also ensure that the matchup marks are coming

out directly on top of each other as she sews this top plate together. If this assembly

didn’t have shape, the matchup marks would not be important. But as you can see here,

there is a rounded shape to these two panels that are being sewing together. So for us,

keeping the matchup marks directly on top of each other is important.

The first stitch is done. Now we’ll talk about the reinforcement for the bottom side.

We want to do a top stitch finish on either side of this, which is sometimes called a

French seam. In order to do that, we need to flatten out these two seams. I’m going

to use this Grosgrain ribbon and attach the Seamstick to it and then attach that to the

seam to hold it in place while I’m stitching. Eric: This is a 1” Grosgrain ribbon that’s

available from Sailrite. It will help strengthen this French seam. Without it, the center stitch

is very weak. Basting it in place will help us to avoid from having to line it up as we

sew.

So this will hold the seam in place while I’m stitching, but it also makes the seam

stronger.

Eric: It is important to press down the ½” flanges from the first stitch flat as its

being basted.

We’ll be sewing closer to the center so this doesn’t have to be exactly centered

on the backside.

Eric: Since the topstitch is approximately a ¼” from the first stitch, the Grosgrain

ribbon does not need to be perfectly centered.

For this stitching I’m going to stitch with the edge of the foot along my seam on either

side.

Eric: Notice the right side of the presser foot is directly on top of that seam, or first

stitch. For a more professional look, go slow and be sure to guide the fabric so the foot

is directly on top of that first stitch.

I’m going to turn it around and do the same thing on the tan side with the edge of the

presser foot at the seam line.

Eric: By flipping the panel and starting from the opposite end, we’re still sewing with

that first stitch right up against the right side of the presser foot. This last top stitch

completes the French seam. A few things to consider…we’re using a V-92 thread; sometimes

even heavier threads look best with a French seam or contrasting colored threads.

For more free videos like this, be sure to check out the Sailrite website or subscribe

to the Sailrite YouTube channel. It’s your loyal patronage to Sailrite that makes these

free videos available. Thanks for your loyal support.