Hong Kong Finish

This is one of my favourite seam finishes for unlined garments. This finish is used in couture garments, but don't let that intimidate you. It is not hard to do and will make your finished work look so good. You can proudly remove your jacket and hang it on the back of a chair, knowing that it looks as good on the inside as it does on the outside.

With this seam finish, each raw edge is enclosed in a bias strip of lightweight fabric. Use lining fabric, such as rayon or polyester lining, or use lightweight silk if you have it on hand. Be sure to pre-shrink this fabric before using it. You can even use printed georgette to give a pretty finish to your seams. Either match the binding strips to the garment fabric or go for a contrast that will be dramatic.

Jacket from the Ben Silver Spring Catalog
The jacket is made in a cotton/linen blend and the seams are finished with a contrasting Hong Kong finish; they call it the "French Couture" finish.
The price of this jacket is $465 US.

Step One - Cut strips of your lining fabric approximately 1 1/2" wide. Cut these on the true bias. For straight seams, you can cut these strips on the crossgrain of the fabric, but the bias grain helps with turning the edges over ripple free. For curved seams, it is absolutely necessary to use bias strips so that they will curve around the curves. Straight grain fabric will not wrap nicely, but will stick out in points. It will also fray, while bias strips will not.

Silk fabric cut on the bias ready to sew to seam of jacket sleeve

Step Two - Sew the seam of your garment. Before pressing the seam open, lay the bias strip right side down on the edge of the seam. Sew it to the seam allowance only with a narrow seam allowance. I like to use the edge of my presser foot as a guide, letting the edge of it run along the raw edge of the fabric. This is halfway between 1/4" and 3/8" wide. For a very fine finish, you can sew the strip to the seam with a very tiny seam allowance of 1/8 - 1/4". The resulting finish will be narrow and look almost like flat piping.

Bias strip sewed to seam with seam allowance of about 1/4"

Step Three - Press the bias strip away from the seam, i.e. press it over on itself.

Press bias strip away from the seam

Step Four - Then wrap it around the fabric seam allowance to the wrong side of the seam.

Wrap bias strip over to wrong side

Step Five - Stitch in the ditch from the right side. This means stitch right along the edge where the bias joins the fabric. This stitching will sink into the "ditch" between the two fabrics. It catches the bias that has been folded under on the wrong side and holds it secure.

Stitch in the ditch from the right side

Step Six - Carefully trim away the excess lining fabric on the wrong side. Slide your scissors between the bias and the fabric, holding them sideways against the fabric. Trim as close to the stitching as you can. Because the lining strip was cut on the bias, it will not fray.

Trim away excess fabric from underside of seam

Step Seven - Press the Hong Kong finish nice and flat. Press your garment seams open.

Finished seam pressed open and flat

You can also finish armhole seams with this finish. Just remember to start the technique on the side of the seam that will show. This ensures that the raw edge will be underneath and less visible.

Unlined jacket finished with Hong Kong finish
Picture scanned from Power Sewing by Sandra Betzina