How To: Fake Layering

One of the things that I learned in school was how to make it look like something is layered when it really isn't. This is VERY simple in my opinion. You really only need to know how to stitch straight lines. In this "How To" entry I am going to show you how to do the fake layers. We are going to go through this like we were adding to the bottom of an existing shirt. The "shirt" is going to be the angel fabric and the layering will be the solid blue.

For the demo, I just cut 2 pieces of each fabric the same size as each other. Again, Shirt = angel. Layer = blue.

Step One: Sew right sides together with whatever seam allowance you want. I use 5/8 in. Then serge the seam allowance to make it look all pretty and finished. If you don't have a serger, don't sweat it. You don't REALLY need to. I just like the finished look.

Step Two: Create the upper layer. Take your shirt and place it right side to right side with the layer. Where you want your the fold (or hem) of your shirt. Fold the shirt back up on the hem fold wrong side to wrong side. Make sure that the serged edge is up underneath the shirt part so that when we stitch it, it will be secured and out of the way.

Step Three: Stitch the edge. What I did is two straight stitches side by side to give the finished double needle look that a lot of "store bought" clothes have. I measured the first row of stitches by placing the edge of my foot on the edge of the fabric. Then the second row of stitches by placing the edge of the presser foot on the first row of stitches and sewing another straight line.

Below are two pictures of the finished product. The first is how it looks on the right side. The second is how it looks on the wrong side. I apologize for the lack of straight lines on the back. My machine made the *chunka*chunka* noise and freaked out... didn't realize my bobbin thread was running out. Anywho, the bottom is why you make sure the serged edge is folded up behind the shirt. The top/secure stitching holds it in place.

If this were a real shirt/skirt/whatever you would then hem the blue part for the finished look. But because this was focused on making the layered look I didn't bother with a bottom hem. If anyone has any questions and needs clarification on any of these steps, please feel free to message me. I will be more than happy to clear things up. Hope this gives some easy creative ideas to people to add a new dimension to an old piece of clothing.