Sewing with a hemmer foot

I'm not gonna lie, I was totally tempted to title this post "It's Hemmer Time". But since I've had M.C. Hammer's song running through my head a bazillion times since then, I figured that was punishment enough. For all of us.

Anywho, ever used a hemmer foot? I went through a foot phase a while ago. Sewing feet, that is. I bought a couple hemmer feet (4mm and 6mm), one ruffler and one walking foot. And I have to say, although the hemmer foot takes a little bit of practice to get the technique down, it's a big time saver.

For this particular project, (Chic Pale Pink Ruffled Pillow) I'm using the 4mm hemmer foot.

I just love these delicious pink hemmed ruffles

Okay, for a close-up look: here's how each strip turns out after using the hemming foot:

back

front

It sure beats ironing and pinning, I'll tell you that. Especially when you have lots of hems to finish.

The trick to using a hemming foot is holding and guiding the fabric just right, so as to keep it in this area (shown in red).

You first start it out by folding the raw edge over twice, approximately the width that the rest of your hem will be. You make a few stitches to hold it, and maneuver it up into the hemming foot.

*I've included a couple youtube videos I found at the end, that might help.

There's also a technique to holding the fabric taut and at the right angle as you sew.

Believe me, it takes some practice. And sometimes when I feel like I'm a little rusty I do a few test strips to get me going.

With any luck, the hemmed edge will come out the other side looking like this:

Now before I go, here are a couple tutorials I watched that helped me understand the technique of using a hemmer foot. Hope these will help you too, or maybe you've found one on your own.

Happy Hemming!

Everyone seems to have their own technique (hers is a little different than the first).