Sewing Up Skinny Bits

Sometimes when you are sewing up the bits you are sewing are so skinny that when you come to turn the work the right way round, its almost impossible to turn the work because its so skinny and tight. But not to worry, there’s a top tip!

I find that I have this problem most often with arms with attached hands, especially for the tea cosies with bodices and skinny arms. The shaping usually says that the wrists goes into about 4 or 5 stitches and when you have taken some of that to sew the seam, it doesn't leave much room to turn the work.

What I do is to sew the hand first, and turn it the right sides out. Then I put the right sides of the sleeves together ready to sew; but then I tuck the hand inside the sleeve, so that it is completely enclosed in the sleeve. Then taking care not to sew through the hand inside, I sew the seam of the sleeve in the usual way.

When you turn the sleeve, the tricky bit at the wrist has already been done and it actually gives you something solid to grab hold of to help you turn the work. It's a great technique and really helps - try it!



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