Mini Tutorial: How To Finish A Leather Hem With Topstitching

Topstitching is perhaps the most widely used technique for clean-finishing a leather garment's hem. It is a permanent hemming technique that adds a. decorative element to the face of the finished hem. 

1. Start by folding the garment's hem allowance edge towards the wrong side of the garment. Finger press the fold to crease it as best as you can. While finger pressing will not make it layer completely flat, it will help direct the fold in the steps to follow. 

The resulting folded edge should correspond to the garment's hemline. It helps to transfer the hemline directly in the wrong side of your lather material so you can follow it in the folding process. To transfer the hemline, simply measure the hem allowance distance form the garment's unfinished hem edge using a ruler or gage pointer and mark the resulting line with a pen (as shown above). 

2. To keep the hemline flat and folded in the stitching process below, insert paper clips perpendicular to the folded edge as shown. Leather cannot be pinned as you would with conventional fabrics, thus paper clips make a wonderful tool for keeping the hem allowance edge flat and evenly folded throughout. 

3. Working from the wrong side of the fold, topstitch next to the hem allowance edge, following it as a guide in the stitching process. The topstitch should be appleid at about 1/4" down form the open edge. Similar to pins, remove each paper clip as you approach it. 

4. For a more decorative finish, you can apply a double row of topstitching. Apply the second topstitch right below the first one (applied in Step 3 above) at the desired distance. 

5. Last but not least, it helps top hammer the finished hemline with with mallet (preferably a leather one, if you have it) as this will smooth out and flatten the finished folded edge, as well as add some additional flexibility to the finished hem edge.