Peggy Sagers: There's a Japanese proverb that says, "Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher."

Today we get that one day to spend with Ella Pritsker.

She will show us designer finishing methods that will make us happy to sew and improve our sewing projects.

Albert Einstein said, "The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education."

So, education move over, here comes some learning.

Finishing methods today on "Fit 2 Stitch."

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ male announcer: "Fit 2 Stitch" is made possible by Kai Scissors, Reliable Corporation, Plano Sewing Center, Elliott Berman Textiles, Bennos Buttons, and Clutch Nails.

Peggy: I'm delighted to have Ella here on the show today.

Ella has just got techniques that are just, you know, we call them couture.

The fact of the matter is, is technically they're not couture because we're not in Paris, France.

And yet the methods are just incredible.

And I don't want to waste a minute of time, show me.

Ella Pritsker: Absolutely.

I love sharing techniques because these are tools that enable us to enjoy our sewing.

Peggy: And I think if we're not ready for them, we just don't do them, but there's so many watching who are ready for them because it takes our sewing, I think, up a level.

Ella: Right.

When you know how to do it, it is so much easier and so much more enjoyable, your sewing.

So, the first thing that we are going to discuss today is how to do all of these techniques.

And in order to do that, we need to cut a few bias strips because all of the techniques today are based on strips that are cut on the bias.

The bias is a 45 degree angle of any fabric.

So, the reason we use it on a bias is because then we have these very supple, very flexible, and sort of stretchy trims that we can do so much with.

Peggy: And that's the good news and the bad news.

Ella: And that is the good news.

And the only bad news is that it is a little bit difficult to navigate especially if it is something that is shiny and slippery like silk charmeuse.

And silk charmeuse is what produces the best finishing.

When we use silk charmeuse it makes the garment so beautiful and beautifully finished.

It gives--really gives it a very rich-- Peggy: It does.

Ella: Finishing.

Peggy: You see it on so many high end garments.

Ella: Yes, absolutely.

Peggy: Chanel, they all have this on it.

Ella: Chanel, Poirier, Valentino they all use these techniques and they are the ones that make the garment look so much richer, so much more beautiful and the finishing is very pretty and it counts.

So, the first thing that we're going to do is we're going to cut a few strips on the bias and we're going to measure out an inch and a quarter and then you can use scissors or you can use any other tools that you're used to.

Peggy: Make sure they're sharp.

Ella: Make sure they're sharp and you can draw your lines or you can use a cutter of any kind.

Peggy: So, we start with an inch and a quarter.

Ella: Inch and a quarter.

Peggy: Okay, perfect.

Ella: So, once you've cut several strips, then you wanna join them and you want to join them on a 90 degree angle and then sew them from corner to corner.

Peggy: So, you're leaving a little bit of seam allowance here.

Ella: That's correct.

About a quarter of an inch seam allowance and then you sew it from corner to corner.

It is best to pin it and then this is how it looks.

So, once we've sewn it, we are going to press it open, which is what I have right here.

And once you press it open, you're just gonna snip off all the little ears here, and then you have this very nice continuous trim, and you can make it as long as you need it.

Peggy: Okay, and so, nothing hard about that I would just say just exact.

Ella: Absolutely.

Peggy: Just precision.

Ella: Precision.

Peggy: More than anything else.

Ella: Yes.

Precision is key.

Peggy: Don't go bigger than a quarter in seam allowance you'd suggest pinning that-- Ella: Yes.

Peggy: To get the details just right.

Ella: Yes.

Peggy: Okay.

It's beautiful.

Ella: And then make a stitch that is narrow, maybe 2, 2 1/2-- Peggy: Smaller as opposed to--shorter as opposed to longer.

Ella: Correct.

Peggy: Otherwise it won't hold tight.

That makes a lot of sense.

Ella: That's correct.

Peggy: So, that stitch length you would do at what?

Ella: About two.

Peggy: Okay.

Ella: A very short stitch length.

Peggy: Okay.

Ella: Whichever it is on your dial on your machine.

Peggy: Okay.

Ella: Everybody has different machines, but a small stitch length and that way you don't have to back stitch it and you can just press it open.

So, it really is best to use a small stitch length.

Peggy: Okay.

That was a great tip.

Ella: Yes.

Peggy: It is.

Ella: You don't want to back up anything on a bias trim because it makes it a little bit bulkier and the beautiful part of this, all of these techniques, is that our finishing is going to be seamless and without any bumps.

Peggy: I'm so excited.

Okay, let's keep going.

This is so cool, but this is the prep work.

Ella: This is the prep work.

Peggy: Figure out how much length you need.

Ella: For all of your techniques that we are discussing today, this is the prep work.

Learning that is really just such a great idea because you will use it in so many ways beyond even what we are discussing today.

There are so many uses for this.

Peggy: Okay.

Ella: So, the first technique that we are going to discuss today is called a bias trim finish.

It is used on this dress.

We used it to finish the armhole and the neckline.

So, I will show you how to do this step by step.

So, the first thing that we're going to do is we're gonna take that bias trim that we just cut-- Peggy: Okay.

Ella: And we are going to fold it in half, just like so, and press it really nicely, so that it's nice and flat, just like that.

So, you have already joined it and you already have a good length of your trim.

And then you're going to fold it in half, just like I showed you here.

Once it's folded and pressed well in half, then we are going to sew it to the edge that you are planning on finishing, just like we did here on the neckline.

You're going to put right sides together.

So, this is the right side of your garment and this is the right side of your trim.

And you're going to sew it with a quarter of an inch seam allowance or whatever seam allowance that you desire.

It could even be smaller or could be just a tad wider.

And then once you've sewn it to the garment, you are going to press it up with your iron.

Just press it very nicely and flat.

And then, you're going to run a stay stitch just right next to edge right here.

And once you've done that, and just watch out that you retain consistent width from the edge.

And then you're going to press it under.

And once you press it under, then all you have to do is stitch it again on the other side.

So, once you pressed it under, this is where you're going to stitch it on the very edge.

And once you've stitched it on the very edge and if you've done everything precisely, you've stitched it on the very edge, you will have a very consistent width from the edge.

And your garment is going to look beautifully finished-- Peggy: That is beautifully finished.

Ella: On the inside and outside.

Peggy: Okay, so let's say we're right here.

Wrong sides together.

It doesn't matter because the bias, if it's a curved line or a straight line.

Ella: Correct.

Peggy: Just keep the seam allowance the same going anywhere you're sewing.

Ella: And that is the beauty of bias strip.

See, when things are cut on a bias, when strips are cut on a bias, they're very easily manipulated to go around a very curved line, like a neckline or an armhole.

And you will retain--if you retain the same stitch of your width from your edge, you will have a consistently beautiful finish.

Peggy: I actually feel empowered.

I can do this.

Ella: Yes you can.

It's easy.

Peggy: You know the thing about it is the problems I have are like, when I'm pressing it and my bias stretches and so I start off with a 10 inch and it ends up being 12 inches.

Ella: Well, that's a good thing.

Peggy: Okay, tell me why that is a good thing.

Ella: Sometimes--well the good thing is bias stretches and that is the beautiful part of it.

So, once you sewed it to one edge, so concentrically the second edge is going to be a little bit bigger.

Peggy: Okay.

Ella: So, by the fact that it stretches a little bit, it will lay nice and smooth.

Peggy: Because of the-- Ella: Correct.

Ella: So, if it wasn't cut on the bias, if it was on the grain, then it wouldn't stretch and then your seam would pucker and so would your finishing.

And who wants that?

Peggy: Oh, I love it.

So, when that stretches a little bit, I don't need to freak out-- Ella: No.

Peggy: And cut a new piece.

Ella: Take it easy.

Peggy: Okay.

I love that.

Ella: It will all work out in the end.

Peggy: Okay, all right.

So, you know, it's funny because a lot of times when I think I'm going wrong, I just stop and I don't continue.

Whereas if I'd continued, I would have seen that it would have worked.

Ella: Well, for this particular sewing technique, as well as all of life, just keep going.

Peggy: That was great, Ella.

Ella: Just keep going.

Peggy: Profound by Ella, just keep going, I love that.

Ella: It'll all work out in the end.

Peggy: So, this is particularly good on this case, necklines and armholes and finishing on the inside.

Ella: Yes.

Peggy: Okay, tell me about this dress.

Ella: This is the same bias strip, but finished differently.

So, we sewed it on on one side and then we flipped it over and sewed it on another side.

Sometimes, you can do that whole process in one seam.

And for that, you would use a special tool-- Peggy: Okay.

Ella: That is called a bias tape maker and you just take your bias strip and you insert it into one side and with the use of your little pin here, you're gonna advance your little trim here.

Peggy: That's the hardest part, is getting the little tail.

Ella: The hardest part.

Peggy: Which is probably why you cut it in diagonal.

Ella: Yes.

Peggy: Does it automatically get cut as a diagonal when you cut the strips?

Ella: It does, but I also make sure that it is cut on the diagonal when I get it started.

Peggy: And that sets it.

Ella: So, once you get it started, it gets really easy.

So, if it doesn't want to come out, then you just grab a pin and do just like that.

And so, once you pulled it through, get your hot iron ready and press it as you pull it through.

Peggy: Oh my goodness.

Ella: Once you press it as you pull it through, then it will be, then it will create this double folded trim that you can utilize then on a technique-- Peggy: On the edge.

Ella: Like this on the edge.

You can use that on the edge here.

Peggy: This is beautiful.

Ella: Of anything like an organza, this particular ruffle here is an organza.

If you had to do it by hand, it would take forever.

So, having tools that help you is very important to finish for all the different finishing techniques.

Peggy: I see this so often in high-end garments where that edge is just another fabric that's been brought in.

Am I limited by my fabric density or the weight?

Ella: Not at all.

You can use anything.

Peggy: I can do all kinds of stuff.

Ella: You can use anything from like in this case it is china silk, you can use organza, you can use silk charmeuse which makes a very beautiful finish.

And you can even use mesh.

Peggy: I just love this.

You know, it's interesting to me where as I have a tendency to think that these methods are so difficult, they're not difficult.

It's maybe there's more steps involved.

Ella: There are some steps, there's some know-how, and some patience.

Peggy: Patience.

I'll go with that too.

Ella: You have to be patient.

You can't rush through this.

And you will master the technique as long as you keep doing it.

Repeat it again and again and give it a try.

You know, if it doesn't work out the first time, don't give up.

Just keep going.

Peggy: I like that.

It's like life.

I like that.

That was a good statement.

Okay.

Ella: So, the first thing we are going to do is we're going to take our strip of bias trim that we've already prepared and then we're going to sew it again with a quarter of an inch seam allowance to the edge of the garment that we are finishing.

Peggy: You're still at one and a quarter inches?

Ella: I'm still at one and a quarter inches.

Peggy: Okay.

Ella: But you of course don't have to do a one and a quarter inch, it's just what I found convenient for me.

For other techniques, or I should say for the same technique, to have a different result.

Say you wanted to have a quarter inch finished by a strip.

Maybe you want to have it a half inch, just like in this case.

Peggy: You can go and then choose, you can change.

So it's a changeable number.

Ella: Yes.

So, once you stitched it on, then what you wanna do is you wanna press it.

You wanna press it up.

Once you pressed it up, then you're going to press it down.

See this one right here, I've already pressed up.

And then I'm going to turn it over and I'm going to press it down.

And in order to press it down, I'm going to really feel with my fingertips that this charmeuse bias tape is hugging the edge of the garment that I'm finishing and I'm pressing it down with my iron.

So, I'm going to press it up and then press it down.

Then after that, I'm going to turn it over-- Peggy: Beautiful.

That is so pretty.

Ella: And I'm going to stitch it right in the middle where this and this fabric meet.

Some people call it stitching in a ditch and they're afraid of that, but there's really nothing to be afraid of.

You just have to know how to do it.

And this is probably the only time when you're actually looking at where the needle goes because most of the time when you're stitching you're looking that the edge is parallel to whatever number you want.

But in this case, is the technique where you're watching where the needle goes.

And you wanna start slow.

You wanna really go mindfully with this technique so that it ends up just being in the middle of these two.

And then once you've done that, then all you have to do is, like in this case, press up your hem.

Let's say you're finishing your hem and then you just finish the hem like we did in the skirt, but-- Peggy: Go back for this, just for a second.

Okay, so I've got--I'm here, I've sewn that on, I got that.

This part--I folded this down and I could see that inside here, I actually folded it right against the top of the fabric.

So, that's how I know where I folded it down.

Ella: Yes, here you want to really feel with your fingertips as you're pulling this trim down across so that it hugs the edge.

And then that will give you a precise width on the right side.

Peggy: Okay, and so, then once I do this, that's when I do this and I fold it up to do the hem?

Ella: Yes.

Peggy: So, you don't have to worry about this unfinished edge?

Ella: You don't have to worry.

Now if you are-- Peggy: Oh my goodness, that is just beautiful.

Because I've seen this on pockets.

I've seen this on all kinds of things or show us.

Ella: So, what we do is we finish the edge of the waistband with that trim and we use the lining of the garment that we are lining and then we cut all the bias strips from the lining and we finish the edge of the waistband as well as the edge of the hem.

So, our hem-- Peggy: This is beautiful.

Ella: Our lining and our waistband are all finished with the same technique.

Peggy: So, it's fair to say that this would take, if there's 1,2,3,4 times you're stitching that as opposed to one time hemming it, it's going to take you 4 times longer or 5 times longer.

Ella: You will probably get the speed up a little bit once you master the technique.

Peggy: I just think I like the fact that-- Ella: It's worth it.

Peggy: Yeah.

Ella: It's worth it.

Peggy: That I really, especially as you wear it and know it, I agree with this.

This is beautiful.

Ella: I mean, this just like it would make you feel special-- Peggy: And nobody but you sees it.

Ella: To wear a garment like that.

And you feel special.

You know what's in this garment and how it's finished and how much love and care you put into it.

So, it'll make you feel that much more special to wear that.

Peggy: Talk to me about this because I love this.

This is very high-end looking.

Just the way that this has happened, this is really beautiful.

Ella: This garment is where you let the technique shine.

You really use the technique to demonstrate the beauty.

So, it's the same exact technique.

In this case, we just found a beautiful silk file that had a little bit of lurex to echo the weave of this fabric.

And this file was cut on the bias and that's why it has all the ridges.

And so, we stopped at this stage right here, we turned it down.

And then at that point, we took some pins and finished this technique by hand.

So, the first part of that technique was done on the machine and then the second part is done by hand.

So, we are going to pin that in place and then once you've pinned a good amount then you can take your little needle with thread and then you can finish it by hand.

And what you want to do is go very, very close to the edge and just try and catch it right into the seam that you have stitched prior, and then you just-- Peggy: So, in your example-- Ella: Catch it at the edge.

Peggy: You're using a white fabric with a blue trim.

Ella: The reason I used the blue fabric is so that you could see the technique demonstrated.

Peggy: And I appreciate that.

We all appreciate that.

Ella: And you know, just like in this dress, or in this dress, our trim is going to be different, right?

Different color.

But the thread you wanna use is the thread of the garment.

Peggy: Okay.

Ella: The color of the thread.

Peggy: Okay.

Ella: And you want to do that because you want it to essentially disappear.

Even if you make some stitches that are not quite as perfect, you don't want to see them on this side and you don't want to see them on this side.

You can do this by hand for a very soft and supple finish.

If you wanted it to be more rigid and give the finish of the garment more body then you can do it on a machine.

Peggy: By machine.

That is interesting to me why the machine makes it so much more rigid.

It does, it clearly does.

When you want something to be really soft, that hand stitching really is the only way to go.

Ella: Hand stitching-- Peggy: It's a great point.

Peggy: I don't think we realize why people hand stitch versus machine stitch.

Ella: Yes, and sometimes you have to hand stitch yards and yards and yards of fabric to finish it so that it's flowy.

So, it has that vivacious feel to it that it doesn't become so stiff.

Like, in case of this dress, I definitely did not want the finished neckline to be very stiff.

I wanted it to be a little bit stretchy, a little bit supple, and so we finished it on the other side by hand.

Peggy: Okay.

Show me this, because this is just amazing what you've done here.

Ella: So this is the last technique that I wanted to introduce today and it is called narrow hem.

This technique also is used on silk scarves as well as the hem of the garment and it is very simple.

It takes some time, considerable time, but it's also very, very worth it.

So, the first thing that we're going to do is we're going to fold it a half an inch and stitch it right at the edge, right here.

So, we stitched it right at the edge.

And then the second step would be to cut away once you've stitched all of it, to cut away all of that seam allowance and just leave enough that the stitch remains in place.

The third step would be to turn this again.

So, once we've cut everything off, to turn this again and stitch it in the same stitch.

And you have one stitch on one side and pretty much the same but doubled stitch on the other side.

Peggy: You made that so easy.

Ella: It is easy.

Peggy: I mean that's remarkable.

Ella: You just have to have some patience.

Peggy: And again it doesn't matter because it's so small if it's a straight line or a curved line.

It will do-- Ella: That's correct.

Peggy: It will do this.

Ella: And if you're stitching it on a machine, it will give it a very nice, stiff edge.

And then to get a supple edge, you would want to finish the second stitch by hand.

So, once you've turned it over and instead of stitching it on a machine-- Peggy: Oh, that is interesting.

Ella: Then you can finish the second stitch by hand.

We've used that on this, on the hem of the skirt and also to finish the flowers of the belt for the skirt.

Peggy: And show me these, because I've noticed when I was just looking at them, like, look at this, how it hangs.

It's just--it's beautiful.

Ella: It's so lovely.

The finishing technique allows this to be sort of ruffly and very nice without having to have the bulk of having seam allowance tucked underneath.

So, it's very flirty.

Peggy: So, a fabric like this, would you do the last step by hand or could you do these both by machine?

Ella: So, you can do this by machine because what we want here is almost like a ruffly texture because of the texture of the fabric and the fact that the skirt is so short and kind of really fluffy and somewhat playful.

So, we want to do this by machine.

Peggy: It's amazing how beautiful this is.

Ella: And then in this dress, the same technique was used twice.

The first time on the hem, it was used by machine in both instances, the first stitch and the second, to really punctuate the fact that the hem of the dress is straight.

And then the second time we used it on neckline here.

And to give it a very supple, soft finish, we did the second stitch by hand, it does.

Peggy: Thank you, Ella.

This was amazing.

Ella: Thank you.

Peggy: Just so appreciate you sharing your information with us.

Ella: Thank you so much for having me.

Peggy: Thank you, Ella.

You've heard the expression, "Beside every great man, there is a woman."

The woman beside the great designers such as Calvin Klein, Christian Dior, and Gucci is Diana Broussard, the queen of accessories.

She'll share her knowledge of accessories, their history, how to make them, how to wear them next time on "Fit 2 Stitch."

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ male announcer: "Fit 2 Stitch" is made possible by Kai Scissors, Reliable Corporation, Plano Sewing Center, Elliott Berman Textiles, Bennos Buttons, and Clutch Nails.

To order a four DVD set of "Fit 2 Stitch" Series 13, please visit our website at fit2stitch.com.