Interesting seams - seem interesting?

My sewing kit circa 2006

Hello, my name is Hoppo Bumpo and in a former life I stapled hems. I believe I once also attempted to prevent a seam from coming asunder with a piece of sticky tape. This is the solemn truth. I am not proud of what I did. But desperate times (and lack of sewing skill) called for desperate measures.

If I recall correctly, early on in our relationship even Mr HB did a better job with seams. There was at least one hmmpphh ... gosh you're useless ... here give it to me moment. The man himself, would of course vehemently deny engaging in any perceived big girl's blouse activity, but as he doesn't read the blog, rebuttal is unlikely.

And as to me now? Well this is a sewing blog, so I hope you can see that I have tried to reform. To improve myself. The stapler was set aside some time ago.

These days I look longingly at sewing class descriptions with the words couture and techniques used in the same sentence. Don't get me wrong here. I would love to know how to do some of the fancier seam finishes, but realise I am not yet in the right league for a class like that. I'd be hopelessly at sea with setting in a jacket sleeves and or creating a welt pocket. So for now, I have decided to explore seams on my own.

I thought I might set about to make a seam sampler of sorts. Something where I could learn techniques and uses ... and check durability. I am particularly interested in finding beautiful finishes, which are as tough as nails. I am after all the Queen of Fray.

Which reminds me of a favourite joke.

A piece of string walks into a bar and orders a drink. The bar tender looks at it and then points to a sign. "Sorry mate we don't serve string in here". The piece of string leaves, but outside has an idea. He ties one end and musses a few threads. Ten minutes later the string returns and orders a drink. "Hey didn't I just tell you we don't serve string?" says the exasperated bar tender. "No, I'm a frayed knot" says the string.

Ahem ... I promise not to tell any more jokes ... back to the topic at hand. Over the coming weeks, I am going to trial some seam finishes each Wednesday. The list won't be as extensive as this (whoever knew there were so many seam types?) , but will include interesting things like French seams, Hong Kong finishes and Flat and Mock-fells.

Would you care to join in the experiments for this very casual seam-along? Or are you a frayed knot?

This week's goals

Do a bit of research and reading to learn about ...

• Straight stitch finishes
• Overcasting by hand
• Overcasting by machine
• Creating a clean finish edge
• Pinking a seam allowance

... followed by sewing a sample of each and tossing them in the wash to check out how sturdy the seam finishes are. I'm also going to think about how/if/where I might be able to use these finishes again in the future.