When I made my Secret Sewing shirt I finished the top lace hem with a technique that I taught myself. I haven’t seen it anywhere else, I might not even be “real” sewing. I use this hem when I am sewing with a lightweight woven fabric, and I want the hem to be very, very flat. It also comes in handy when I am making a rounded hem, and I don’t want to do the work of a rolled hem, especially if I am planning to add an embellishment to the article anyway. It is both simple and quick, and it looks great.

To do this hem you need to have a garment to finish, an iron, and a length of lace or binding to finish the hem with.

Iron out your garment and have a nice flat hem line to finish. Lay the length of lace on the edge of the garment’s wrong side hanging halfway over the edge. For a hem on a neckline (as shown here), if the lace has a top and bottom you will want the lace to lay with the bottom side out, so that when it is folded down to the right side it will be facing in or down. It is opposite for a bottom hem.

With a zig-zag or straight stitch (zig-zag if it will not disturb the look of the lace) sew along the edge of the lace.

After you’ve sewn the lace, carefully trim the fabric even so that it does not hang over the edge of the lace.

Turn the garment to the right side and fold the lace hem over. You may want to iron here. Sew with a straight stitch along the bottom edge of the lace. This will enclose the raw edge of the fabric and finish your hem.

From the wrong side you will have a perfectly flat and even hem, even along a curve, and from the front you will have a clean and trim lace embellished hem. Voila!