If you’ve ever admired the delicate, fine hems on floaty summer dresses, silky blouses, or sheer garments, chances are you were looking at a rolled hem.
The best part? Rolled hems are faster and easier than the traditional “fold-press-sew” method — and you can sew them on either a serger (overlocker) or a regular sewing machine!
In this guide, I’ll show you what a rolled hem is, how to sew one using both a serger and a sewing machine, and which of our sewing patterns are perfect for trying out this beautiful finish.
What is a rolled hem?
A rolled hem is a narrow, tightly stitched hem where the thread is rolled tightly around the raw edge of the fabric. By encasing the fabric edge, it is giving your hem a “rolled” appearance. It creates a fine, clean edge that can either blend seamlessly into your garment or provide a pretty contrast if you use a decorative or brightly colored thread.
It’s worth noting that a “rolled hem” can also describe a technique where the sewist first folds over the seam allowance, stitches, them trims the excess and folds the previous seam over again. This is also known as a micro hem or narrow hem — we will not be talking about this technique in this article! The idea is to teach you how to do a rolled hem without all the headache of folding, pressing, and stitching several times!
Which projects and fabrics are most suited for a rolled hem?
This hem finish is a go-to technique for your summer wardrobe, or for any flowy garments souch as evening dresses, or blouses.
It works perfectly with lightweight fabrics like viscose/rayon, georgette, chiffon, and silk, offering a clean edge without adding bulk or weight to your seams. The aforementioned fabrics are obviously all woven fabrics — which is what rolled hems work with best.
I wouldn't discourage trying them with knit fabrics, but from experience doing a rolled hem on knit fabric usually causes the hem to curl, looking more like a lettuce hem rather than a regular rolled hem!
How to sew a rolled hem
With your serger/overlocker
If you have a serger at home, consider yourself lucky! Using a serger is hands-down the quickest and easiest way to sew a rolled hem. The machine trims the fabric edge, rolls it under, and secures it with thread in one smooth pass.
The only thing you need to know is that it requires a few important adjustments including removing a needle and the part of your serger that holds distance between the two upper threads (also called the stitch finger). Those can be some finicky adjustments, but they are well worth the effort.
I’ve created a video tutorial to show you exactly how to set up your serger for a rolled hem, including adjusting the tension, stitch length, and stitch width.
Just make sure you sew a few test hems. I highly recommend keeping the knife in to clean your fabric edges and make sure your needle always hits the fabric!
Now every serger is different — so always consult your manual — but for what it’s worth, my Brother 1034DX suggests the following settings:
- Step 1: Remove the left needle
- Step 2: Remove shank (also called stitch finger)
- Step 3: Set lower looper thread to a higher tension (7 is the recommended setting)
- Step 4: Set stitch length to R (shortest length, equivalent to 5)
- Step 5: Set stitch width to R (shortest length, equivalent to 1)
Now you can go ahead and sew!
By the way – in case you lost your manual, you can find a huge repository of sewing machines manuals in PDF format here — give it a go!
With your regular sewing machine
No serger? No problem! You can still sew a gorgeous rolled hem with your regular sewing machine using a narrow zig-zag stitch.
Start by selecting a regular zig-zag stitch. Then reduce the length of the zig-zag to the minimum (somewhere between 0.5-1mm, depending on what your sewing machine allows).
You will want to align your fabric so that the needle hits the fabric, then the edge of the fabric, back and forth. This back and forth motion (along with the very narrow and tight stitch settings) will cause the fabric to curl into a rolled hem.
It takes a bit of practice and playing around with the settings (sometimes increasing the tension and also the stitch width helps!) but it is well worth it.
It’s also worth noting that pulling back the threads at the beginning of the seam helps avoid issues!
Perfect rolled hem patterns
Technically, any light summer patterns (skirts, blouses, dresses or flowy pants lend themselves to rolled hems, whether you’re planning on using them for necklines, bottom hems or armhole hems. Just remember that the rolled hem doesn’t necessarily consume any seam allowance, so be sure to cut the seam allowance away from your fabric.
Put if you’re looking for some gems from the Sew Into That sewing pattern collection, I’ve got you covered with three summer essentials: the Casablanca Palazzo Pants (also gorgeous in a shorts version), the Oaxaca Wrap Blouse or the Valencia Wrap Skirt !
