French Knickers Sew-Along... Ribbon Trimming the Leg Openings

In our last Sew-Along post we sewed our major seams to construct the body of the Ma Cherie French Knickers. There are many ways you can choose to finish your leg openings and during the sew-along I'm going to show you lots of them. The big three are ribbon edging, lace trim, or a simple hem.

A good way to choose your trim is to lay your options out on your unfinished knickers and see what you like best.

Today, as it rains sheep and reindeer here in Norway, I'm going to show you how to trim your leg openings with ribbon.

I am using 1/2" silk ribbon and I'll be attaching it with a 3/8 seam allowance. Start at the 'under bit' (crotch seam) on one leg opening and pin your ribbon along the raw edge. (If your ribbon has a right side, pin the ribbon RIGHT side down to the WRONG side of the leg opening.)

At the 'under bit' seam fold your raw edge up for about 1/2". This will ensure that your ribbon raw edge will be concealed when you press it to the outside. Pin the ribbon all the way around the leg opening until you reach 'under bit' seam where you started.

Overlap your raw edge about 1/2" over the first so that it too will be concealed when you press it to the right side.

Since it's black over black and hard to see, I have outlined my raw ribbon edge in pink so you can see the overlap.

Stitch all the way around the leg opening with a 3/8" seam.
Next, press the ribbon out towards the leg opening.

 Fold the ribbon up so that it is on the outside (RIGHT side) of the knickers and press again. Now all you have to do is top stitch the ribbon in place on the outside, very close tot he ribbon edge. Start at the 'under bit' seam again and stitch all the way around. You can use a thread that matches your ribbon or go with a contrasting color like I did.

 Repeat this process for both legs. You now have a clean finish to the leg openings and hopefully a pretty one too! If you prefer, you can also reverse this process and have your ribbon stitched to the inside instead. This would result in a very neat hem on the outside and cleanly concealed edges on the inside.

We'll go over using lace to trim the legs later so if that's part of your plan, stay tuned!