A Hong Kong seam is a beautiful way to finish seams in unlined garments. It differs from a regular bound seam in subtle ways, but for one thing, there is a raw edge on the back side of the seam instead of a folded edge, in order to reduce bulk.You can see some other bound seam tutorials here and here.
Supplies
(Click fabrics for direct links for purchase at Warehouse Fabrics Inc.)
Metro Linen Turquoise
I’m just doing a sample of the seam on two scraps, but on a garment, you’d do this seam before you sew your pieces together.
The process
Here are the pieces I’m sewing together.
Sew your seam at whatever seam allowance you’re supposed to do. I did 1/2″ here.
Cut a bias strip. I cut a 1″ strip. If you need instructions on cutting bias strips, see this tutorial.You can also use a piece of store-bought single fold bias tape if you want.
Line up one raw edge of your bias strip with the raw edge of the right seam allowance. Pin in place.
Sew about 1/4″ from the edge.
Press bias strip to the right along the seam you just sewed.
After pressing.
Wrap the bias strip around to the back side of the seam allowance and pin. You want it to fit snugly against the edge of the seam allowance.
This is the view from the back side of the seam allowance.
From the front side, “stitch in the ditch” of the seam where the bias strip and the seam allowance of your fabric meet. You will be catching the bias strip on the back side.
This is how it looks from the back. If you’d like, trim the extra fabric of the bias strip away.
Repeat on other side of seam allowance. If this were a jacket, this would be how all the seams would look inside. Pretty, eh? It takes a bit more work, but for some applications, this technique would make a world of difference!
From the outside, the seam looks completely normal.
