As I've been working on my reenactment dress, I've been learning some cool techniques from Lizzie; my favorite one is the blind stitch, which I used to hem my dress.
To do a blind stitch, first make sure your hem is pretty even on the bottom and doesn't curve. I'm not sure how this stitch would work with a curved hem.
Press down 1/4 inch on the bottom edge, evening out any 'lumpy' edges, making it more or less where needed to make it even.
Then press it up to the length that you want it; my hem is quite large, to become like a hem guard, which you can trim off and wash when the dress becomes dirty.
Using one strand of matching thread, lift up the large hem and stick the needle in up through the 1/4 inch fold so that the knot is hidden. Pull the thread all the way through.
The next part is the secret to the whole stitch: take your needle and pick up literally one or two threads from the fabric, barely securing the fold to the fabric. Pull the thread through all the way.
I know the picture isn't very good, but you can picture it, right? Next, push the needle back into the fabric right next to where you first came up, and slide the needle about a needle's length through the 1/4 inch fold and poke up a needle's length away.
Picking up only one thread may seem like it won't be very strong, but unless the hem is too long and you trip on it, the hem doesn't get pulled on very much. Once you poke up a needle's length way, begin again by picking up one or two threads.
Even though I used contrasting thread, it is still practically invisible; you may not know what you are looking at, but that is the hem on both sides!
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