Rolled Hem - Corners

Many people have written asking about how to do corners when doing a rolled hem. I have been trying to work up a tutorial for a while but I did about a dozen corners until I got one that was passable to show you - aside from the very first one I tried just to see if I remembered how to do it which of course, I didn't photograph! It is difficult to photograph and stitch at the same time and my daughter doesn't have the slightest inclination to help me out, so you'll have to forgive the photos. I hope they give you a little bit of an idea anyway.

One thing to note before we get started. I received lots of photos of what readers were trying out after following my rolled hem tutorial and I just have to tell you that when you are stitching into the roll, you do not exit out on to the front of the fabric. That is, when you catch a couple of threads of the roll to secure it down, you do so on the back of the work and you enter and exit the rolled fabric without ever coming out on the front.

Okay, so the corners: they are tricky but with a little practice (and some spit) you can do it!

When you get to the corner intersection of your Four-Sided Stitches, go up over a couple of ground threads and this time you do exit out onto the front of the work, catching one ground thread and the roll to secure the hem. This works great if you are stitching tone-on-tone, you'll never see this little stitch. However, if you are stitching with a thread colour that will be visible, go up a little farther so that when you roll the top hem over, your catching stitch will only be visible on the back of the work.

In the case of this hem, I have ten ground threads of fabric to roll. On the already rolled hem, I trim off the last bit of the roll (in this case about 4 threads):

This will make the top roll easier and less bulky but you must be careful that your edge does not unravel. Use a needle to wrap the top roll tightly - spit on your fingers for a better grip! Take your time with this step, if it's not a good roll, it will show.

The little catching stitch will now serve to hold down the roll as you turn the work and start your stitching as previously done when securing the rolled hem - that is, by entering the roll like the first photo here above.

The rolled hem corner works in theory just like a folded hem corner (not mitred), that is, one fold over the other with a little bit snipped off the edge of the hem that will be hidden. The photo above is the backside of the corner after completing the stitching.

This is the view from the front side:

I wish it was a little more even, but as you can see - I need to practice! I will be hiding my corners with tassels as they do in Assisi embroidery.

If anyone has any other tips for making this easier, please post a comment!