If you've ever tried to hem a circle skirt, you'll know that they can be a bit tricky. There's a good reason for this.
When you are hemming a circle skirt, the stitching line is actually shorter than the fabric edge. This means you've got more fabric than you've got space on the stitching line. Because of this, the fabric edge needs to be slightly eased in. To compensate, all hems on circle skirts either have a small hem allowance or have a facing. Today, we are going to discuss a trick to easily hem a circle skirt with a small hem allowance of 1/2". This trick can be useful on some of our patterns like the Sahara, the Maci or the Lisa.
The Secret Trick to Easy to Fold Circle Skirt Hems
There's a secret to making this way easier. It takes one extra small step that will save you time in the long run. Before you do anything, baste a single line of stitching no more than 1/4" away from the fabric edge right along the fold line. This simple stitching will naturally cinch in the fabric making turning easier.
Look at that nice stitch line! It's important to note that even if you are sewing with knits, you want to use a straight stitch here so that its easy to remove if necessary at a later step.
Now, turn up the hem 1/4" and press. The fold should be basically right at the stitching line you just made or close to it depending on how far away you made your stitching from the edge.
Now fold your hem over again another 1/4" a final time and give everything a good press. You should notice that there's very little manipulation of the fabric to ease it in since our stitching took care of that for us.
Now, edgestitch the fold to secure the hem and you are done! Look at that beautiful finish!
If you happen to have any of that first line of stitching showing, you can remove it now. Also, if you prefer to serge, that's also a great option. Plus, you won't have to remove the stitches later. Just trim off 1/4" of the fabric as you serge. Then, turn the hem once instead of twice as I did above.
That's it! Now that you know how to hem a circle skirt, check out some of our favorite patterns below to test our your new sewing skill!