Just a short blog this week to share my new favourite technique - lettuce edge hems! Named after their resemblence to lettuce leaves, lettuce or curly hems were first invented by fashion designer Stephen Burrows, and were an iconic look in the 1970s New York disco scene. They've made several comebacks since, particularly in the 1990s as the hem of t-shirts, and are popular again now both as a nod to 1990s fashion and as an interesting way to upcycle garments. For me, it requires much less fabric than a double-fold hem so is a perfect finish when you are sewing with remnants and don't have loads of fabric to play with.
The pattern
I used the Tilly and the Buttons Fifi set as the base pattern for these shorts, adjusted slightly for the small amount of fabric I had left. My original Fifi set was made from Atelier Brunette cotton lawn with french seams as the pattern suggests (see left), so a completely different look.
How to make the lettuce hem
I used my Brother 734Ds overlocker / serger. I unthreaded the left hand needle, and turned up the tension on the lower looper to 7 and the upper looper to 6 (they normally sit around 4). I left the right needle tension on 4 as usual. I'd definitely recommend practising first to play around with the tensions until you get the right effect. The trick is to pull the fabric from the back and the front at the same time so that it is stretched out as it passes through the overlocker, similar to sewing knicker elastic on a sewing machine. I found that the more firmly you stretch, the better the result....so it's really handy if you have some pent up aggression to let out!! But it is counter-intuitive to normal overlocking / serging so takes some practice!
There are useful tutorials on Tilly & the Buttons website here and on So Sew Easy here . I used a coordinating thread but it would also look great with a contrasting thread, particularly if you were using remnants and wanted to tie in a top and bottoms so they look like a set.
I love learning a new technique and am now roaming the house looking for garments to upcycle...Mr Sewing Celeriac needs to keep a close eye on his boxer shorts haha. What new techniques have you learned recently? What's your favourite technique? Please share below!
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