Open Welt Seam
Begin by sewing a Plain Seam Using Basting Stitch.
Set machine stitch length back to regular stitch length.
Follow instructions for Welt Seam: pressing to one side, opening flat, topstiching 1/4 inch from seamline, press in place.
Remove basting stitches.
My notes: they always show just yanking the end of the thread to remove basting stitches, flour-sack-style. This never works for me. I always have to use a seam picker/button hole knife.
My notes: This material was pretty unforgiving of basting stitches, showing the needle holes once thread was removed. On a "real" project, I'll need to do a test run first to make sure it doesn't show so much. Also? I love this seam and am trying to figure out a project in which to use it.
The Book says: "An Open Welt Seam forms a small tuck and emphasizes a construction detail." And it "adds interest to a plain fabric."
ETA: See completed assignment using Open Welt Seams HERE: 
1 comment:
You wanted to think of a place to use this open welt seam. Think of any fairly STRAIGHT line that you might want to bring visual attention to on a garment. How about a yoke running across the chest (front or back)? If you made this seam with the seam allowances ironed "up" toward the shoulder line, the "fold" that would exist after you unpicked the original seam line basting stitch would be "down" relative to the collar -- and it would look like you had painstakingly installed a "flat tape" in the seam when you stitched it. You would also have the benefit that the loose, downward extending "fold" would tend to cover up the line where the original stitching was removed. OH -- and you could have managed the "holes" issue in your original fabric by using a super fine needle in your machine when you stitched that first, removable basting sititch. For vertical straight lines, you could think of lines from hem to waist on a pencil skirt or a gored skirt or a straight-legged pant. And if you didn't want the "flat tape" look, what about pulling a length of yarn through the fold area after you've released the line of basting stitches?
Cheryl
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