The french seam is a luxe way to finish seams and is usually seen in high fashion clothing. This kind of seam is good for lightweight and fine fabrics such as organza, silk, chiffon, see-through, or any other fabric if you don’t have a serger/overlock sewing machine. Follow this step-by-step tutorial to sew a perfect french seam.

Step 1: Place your two pieces of fabric right sides together. This step is counterintuitive because typically you would do wrong sides together. You will see later why with french seams this step is different.

Step 2: Sew the fabric with right sides together as close to the edge as possible. If it’s too difficult to sew right on the edge, you can sew with as small as a seam allowance as you can and then cut off the excess fabric as you will see in the next step.

Step 3: Cut off excess fabric so that you only have 1/8 inch left.

Step 4: Spead the fabric out on an ironing board with right sides up. Then sew the seam to one side.

Step 5: Fold the fabric together with right sides touching each other and wrong sides facing out.

Step 6: Press the fabric with an iron so that it is easier sew for the next step.

Step 7: Now sew as close to the seam as possible without actually sewing the seam. The effect should be like a casing.

Step 8: Open the fabric and voila! Now you are one step closer to sewing couture.