I recently wrote a detailed guest post for the nice folks at Janome about using a serger to make a lettuce hem on knits. I used this technique and a Janome 1100D serger (which they’ve generously lent to the Oliver + S studio) to make the pair of pajamas I blogged about earlier this month. If you’re interested in how to make a lettuce hem using a serger, click through to Janome’s site for instructions.

You don’t need a serger to make a lettuce hem, however. Here are some easy instructions for making a hem using an ordinary sewing machine. A machine-stitched lettuce hem requires one additional step that isn’t necessary with a serged hem, but the result is very similar.

First, mark the desired length of your hem and trim the fabric to be approximately 1″ longer than the finished length. Fold the excess fabric to the wrong side, press the fold, and pin the fabric in a few places to hold it temporarily.

Set your sewing machine to a short zigzag stitch. If you have a satin stitch setting, this works great. Otherwise, just set your zigzag stitch so the stitches will be very close together and create a smooth stitch. The stitches also should be at least 1/8″ wide so you have enough room to stitch over the folded edge of the fabric.

Once you’ve got everything set up, test a few knit scraps to check the settings and get comfortable with this stitch. You’ll need to stretch the hem as you stitch. The more you stretch, the wavier the edge. Keep the fabric stretched as evenly as possible while you work. It’s easiest to do this with a tube shape rather than a straight piece of fabric, since a tube gives you something to hold in front and behind the needle as you’re working. (Sleeves and pant legs work perfectly.)

As you stretch the fabric, stitch over the folded edge of the hem so the needle falls off the fabric on the right side of the stitch and stitches the fabric on the left side. Here is the stitched hem from the wrong side of the fabric.

Once you’ve finished stitching, turn to the wrong side of the hem, and trim the excess fabric. I’ve found that the easiest way to trim is to stretch the hem until it is straight, and trim as closely as you can to the stitches while holding the stretched fabric. (This is the step that isn’t required if you use a serger, since the serger trims the excess fabric as it folds and stitches the hem.)

You’ll notice, initially, that the hem is stretched and distorted. It won’t look very lettuce-y at first, but if you give it a few minutes to recover, you’ll see that, as the knit returns to its original shape, the hem will curl up to reveal a sweet little lettuce-y edge.

Easy, yes? We used the lettuce hem on the Hopscotch Dress and Nature Walk Pants pajama combination for S. How will you use it?

This is the very first prototype I made for the Hopscotch Skirt pattern.

As you can see, my design initially included a tie at the waist. When I finished making the sample I decided this was just one too many details on the skirt, which already includes fun pockets and the button placket. Because I wanted to focus on the button placket, I eliminated the tie from the final pattern. But it’s a cute design detail, and I wanted to show it to you in case you want to add a tie to your own skirt.

The ties get sewn into the side seams when the front and back panels are sewn together. I gave each tie a little pleat so it could fit the waistband but would still be wide enough to make a nice puffy bow in the front.

For reference, each tie on this size 3 sample is 25″ long and 1 1/2″ wide. You could also use a ribbon instead of self fabric. Maybe you’ll want to eliminate the pockets and include the tie instead? Play with this idea and see what you can do with it.

S is here to show you the Nature Walk Knit Pants made up in a few of the new City Weekend interlock knits. The Nature Walk Pants are the quiet sibling of the Nature Walk Pullover. Because these pants don’t draw attention to themselves, many people have been surprised when they’ve seen the pants in person. They’re very easy to make, quite versatile, and extremely useful.

S has been wearing them a lot lately. To demonstrate how they’re as great for girls as they are for boys, I thought it would be nice to show you a few examples of the pants in action.

Every Tuesday the kids in S’s kindergarten class are expected to wear sneakers and comfortable pants to school for gym class. I made her two pairs of the pants in a plain navy interlock (not from the City Weekend line) for gym day. She likes them because they’re very comfortable, with a minimum of seams. She’s a very skinny kid, and we usually have trouble finding pants that fit. But this pattern works well when we lengthen a small size to fit her.

For weekend and everyday wear, she likes the pants in the Cafe Dot interlock from City Weekend. It’s cute and fun, not so serious like her school gym pants.

And the best part? If you combine the Nature Walk Knit Pants with the Hopscotch Dress pattern (also designed for knits) it makes wonderfully comfortable and cozy pajamas. I shortened the dress to a tunic length–somewhere between the top and the dress lengths–and added a lettuce edge hem to both the sleeves and the pants to make this pajama set. The top is made from the Park Ramble print while the top’s trim and the pants are the Cafe Dot.

Interested in trying this yourself? I’ll show you how to do a lettuce hem shortly.

Several of our pattern testers recently posted photos of their finished fall garments to the Flickr group, and we thought you might like a peek at them for some additional inspiration.

A few Hopscotch skirts and knit tops, to get you started.

This Hopscotch knit top was sewn by TribecaYummyMummy, who tested the pattern for us earlier this summer. This is one of the polka dot interlocks from our upcoming City Weekend fabric collection. And check out the coordinating Hopscotch skirt, made with Heather Ross’s Far Far Away II.

Here is another Hopscotch top and skirt, made by April.

I love the neutral palette and pops of orange she picked up from the print and carried through on the neck trim and the skirt buttons.

And one more Hopscotch skirt, sewn by Karen, another one of our reliable and dedicated testers.

A few School Photo dresses have also popped up. This one was made by Gail, who tested the pattern and is also one of our Boutique Sewer participants. (By the way, Gail says this is her favorite Oliver + S pattern ever.).

And yet another School Photo dress, sewn by the prolific and precise April, who made this with a heavier wool herringbone. (Warning: I don’t suggest that you attempt heavier fabrics with this dress on the first try. I think it would be rather challenging and was impressed that April made this work so well. And so beautifully, no less. Also, I think it was smart of  April to select a printed cotton for the ruffled collar and the sleeve binding, since the herringbone could be scratchy against delicate skin. The rest of the dress is lined, so it’s not such an issue elsewhere.)

And one more adorable School Photo dress, View A sewn by Katy Dill. Visit her blog to see a second version of the dress (View B) and for a chance to win a copy of the pattern.

So there you have it: a little additional sewing inspiration. Now, go have fun! I can’t wait to see what you make with the new patterns.

Did you know that September is national sewing month? What better way to celebrate than by sewing with a new Oliver + S pattern.

Our four new styles are now available for purchase on our website and through our retailers worldwide. Happy sewing!

This top or knit dress comes packaged with the Hopscotch skirt pattern and provides you with many different sewing options.

The top/dress portion of this pattern is designed for knit fabrics with at least 25% stretch. The City Weekend knits are great for this and have much more than 25% stretch. But you’re certainly not limited to just our fabric. You can use jersey, textured knits, or any interlock fabric as long as it has at least 25% stretch. I’ll explain more about different knits and how to measure stretch in another post.

I like the styling of this top because it looks great on children at every age. The front yoke is slightly gathered, and the binding at the neck takes advantage of the stretch in knits. It fits over the head without being too wide when the top or dress is worn.

And isn’t it nice not to have any closures like buttons or zippers? That alone might convince you to try sewing with knits. Remember how I said that sewing with knits is fast? The lack of closures certainly contributes to this.

Of course you can make this style with long sleeves (View A) or short sleeves (View B), and either as a top (View A) or a dress (View B). Mix the two views to get lots of options. In the photo above we combined the short sleeves from View B with the View A top.

The dress version looks great with sandals in the summer or tights and boots in the winter. We mixed two different City Weekend interlock prints to give the dress in this photo a contrast yoke.

The dress could also be used to make a cute, comfortable nightgown. And, speaking of sleepwear, you could combine the top (View A) with the Nature Walk pants to make a set of extra-comfortable knit pajama set for some special little girl.