The Upholstery Forum

I wonder if anyone can give me some pointers on doing french seams in tight areas? I'm doing some low back VW seats, and they look awesome, but there's a fairly tight U bend at the top/side of the backs, and it is basically the last step, so I have a lot of bulk and fabric. A couple of times it's gotten jammed, and I've ended up with irregularities or less-than-straight lines... or I just lack the coordination to hold it all in place

I'm sure 80% of it just comes down to practice/experience but regardless, I'd be very open to pointers. I've just been using a normal flat foot.Is there a better foot I should be using?

I find it easiest on those tight section to take it a few stitches at a time. You dont want to try to force the material to lay flat on the bed like when doing straight french seams. Instead you want to allow the material to naturally stay folded up around the sewing feet as much as possibly while still allowing a view of the needle and feet. This will allow the cover to sort of roll through the machine easier and more naturally. And just take it a few stitches at a time and focus on keeping it nice and smooth.

You are correct thought these things take some practice to master. Hope this helps!

I'm no expert but here's my $0.02 worth. I use a standard foot the edge of the foot is used as my guide for the offset. For the parts where you are making a tight curve I used a washable/disappearing marking pen to scribe the line I want to follow and use my right hand to roll the drive wheel instead of motor power. I also used scraps to make mini versions of the corners to practice. I must have done 6-7 corners of practice before I tackled my project. It allow easy manipulation of the piece so you can focus on stitching so you can figure out how you want to manipulate the seam when you get to the big piece. I also extended my table to support the work piece. And I agree with only go a few stitches at a time but would add be sure to leave the needle down when you wrestle the work piece around.

Usually with a lot of bulk on the backside, I like to go through before and and eliminate some of the overlapping material. No use sewing through 4 layers when you can cut some off and sew through 2. Might be able to even go and trim just some of the sew foam off the seam allowance to reduce bulk. Once this is done, and it takes tome and experience to know what to cut and what to leave. You can do like the others, a few stitches at a time, or hand turn the machine

I am glad you asked @cate.bolt ! I was wondering the same thing. I have tried multi times and just am not happy with the result. Thanks everyone for the responces.