THE Q & A SERIES - UNDERSTANDING SEAM ALLOWANCES

Hello Emily,

I am working on the free Wide Leg Pants pattern and I am confused by the seam allowance.

Instructions say 1/2” seam allowance, but there is also a “stitch line” on the pattern pieces. One of the waistline pieces seems to have a 3/8” stitch line... is that correct? Or should I be using 1/2” on all pieces?

Long story short, need to know if I should check the seam allowance on each pattern piece or not.

Thank you!

Hanna

Hi Hanna,

Thanks for getting in touch. I am pleased to hear you are making the Wide Leg Pants pattern!

Let's start with a little definition of seam allowance, for those of you who might be just starting out, or are thinking of learning to sew!

Seam allowance is the space between the cutting line (the edge) on the fabric and the stitch line. It is the part of the garment that will be on the inside of the finished garment and can be finished in a range of different ways (for some inspiration you can check out my free e-book, The Little Book of Seam Finishes).

I include the stitch line on my patterns (PDF only - they are not on printed patterns) so that you can easily make alterations to the patterns without needing to draw in the stitch lines yourself (it is recommended that when making pattern alterations you work from the stitch line and then add back on the seam allowance for accuracy). The the cut line is marked in black and the stitch line is marked in grey.

Seam allowances on In the Folds patterns vary and will always be detailed in each step. Throughout the instruction booklets the seam allowances are marked in bold so that they stand out if you are skimming through. In saying that, although seam allowances vary, I do keep them consistent, so that hopefully once you have used a couple of my patterns you get the hang of my standard seam allowances and don’t need to keep checking back to the instructions.

For example, the majority of the seams in the wide leg pants pattern have a seam allowance of 1.2cm (1/2"). This is the seam allowance for the side seams, inner leg seams and crotch seams. This is the seam allowance I use for most seams on my patterns.

The waistband has a 1cm (3/8") seam allowance as it's shaped and a reduced seam allowance helps when sewing curves like this (you will see 1cm (3/8") seam allowance on most of my patterns where there are curves - such as armholes and necklines).

For seams where there are zips (for example a centre back zip), I normally use a 2cm (¾”) seam allowance.
Hem allowance varies on my patterns, because I always see the hem treatment as part of the design. Hem allowances on In the Folds patterns is generally between 1.2cm (½”) and 8cm (3⅛”).

If you are drafting your own patterns and would like to know more about adding seam allowance, you can check out this tutorial here.

I hope this helps!

Happy sewing,

Emily

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resources mentioned in this issue

The Peppermint Wide Leg pants pattern can be downloaded for free here.

The Little Book of Seam Finishes can be downloaded for free here.
How to add seam allowance to a sewing pattern. Tutorial can be found here.

P.S. Would you like to know what the Q & A series is all about? This page tells you a little bit more about the motive behind the series. Past issues from the Q & A series can be found here.

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