Herringbone-stitch hem
Now that my sewing table is set up, I’m getting around to a bunch of sewing and mending that I’ve been putting off since we moved in. I just finished replacing a hem that had fallen out of my silk jacket.
The original hem was probably a machine sewn blind hem stitch, but I used a hand-sewn herringbone stitch this time. Either one is appropriate.
You might know this better as an embroidery stitch, as seen on crazy quilts. Actually, my big Erica Wilson’s Embroidery Book was the only book I had with a diagram of this stitch.
You see this stitch mostly used in the hems of womens clothing, because the wide spacing of the stitches lends itself well to easing the hem, and the tiny horizontal stitches are truly invisible from the outside of the garment. The blurry background below shows the shadow of the hem (I haven’t pressed it yet), but in the clear forground of the picture there are no stitches to be seen from the right side of the jacket.
Thanks for the reminder of how well herringbone stitch works for hemming; I’d forgotten.
Maybe you can help me, I am looking for the hem stitch that was used on pillowcases. It took a special needle in the sewing machine to do the hem stitch. When finished it had an open weave effect. I have looked in all of my books and visited alot of websites and haven’t found it represented. I also enjoyed your demonstration of the Herringbone-stitch hem.
Thanks for you help.
Brenda
I remember my mom teaching me this stitch when I was young, and needed it today. Thanks for posting! I couldn’t have worn my pants tonight without your pics!