Narrow hem tutorial: how to make a narrow hem using a Ban Roll tape
In this tutorial, I am going to show you how to hem chiffon and other slippery lightweight fabric. Is hemming chiffon one of those things you would avoid doing? Well, there is one interesting method of making ultra-neat narrow hems on chiffon dresses and skirts that is not very popular yet but the result looks really professional and can be achieved quite fast.
Here is the narrow hem – do you see any curling, stretching, fraying, warping? Of course not! And look – the width of the hem is the same all over.
A similar result can be achieved with a rolled hem foot but I never had luck with this foot. It especially gets tricky at corners and at the beginning and end of hemming. A lot of times the fabric will slip out and I have to re-sew a section.
So I am using a Ban Roll (ban-rol) tape. Did you hear about it? I can tell you that everybody is writing the word differently.
What exactly is this Ban Roll?
It is a kind of waistband interfacing tape that is very stiff (looks highly starched) won’t curl or roll and is crush-proof. They say that it’s made of 58% nylon/ 17% rayon/ 15% polyester/ 10% thermoplastic resin but it’s woven quite loosely. It’s mostly used in sewing waistbands to make them rigid and keep their shape.
The width of the tape can vary. You can see very clearly threads that form the tape interlacing to one another at right angles. The threads can be easily peeled away to make a frayed edge that will be pulled out after stitching.
Note: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. This means I will receive a commission if you order a product through one of my links. I only recommend products I believe in and use myself.
Where to buy the Ban Roll tape?
I never saw it in small local sewing shops, I bought mine in a Canadian store – Fabricland – but after that, I found it on Amazon. So here is an affiliate link if you decide to buy it for hemming chiffon. I am pretty sure you will need it if you sew garments from silk. It will revolutionize your sewing skills.
I have also found the Ban Roll tape in an online store Londa’s Creative Sewing.
Here are the steps on how to use the Ban Roll tape for making narrow hems
Attention! If you like the video format, at the bottom of this post, look for a YouTube video version where there is a step-by-step tutorial on how to make a narrow hem fast and easy even on chiffon. For a more complete picture, I recommend exploring both versions.
Step 1. Prepare a piece of Ban Roll tape for making the narrow hem
Measure your hem length and cut a piece of Ban Roll tape a little bit longer than your hem. Cut the very edge thread of the tape lengthwise – just one thread at the edge where it’s woven a little tighter than other threads.
Using a pin or a seam ripper pull out a few threads lengthwise – it can be 3-5 threads (it depends on how wide you want to make your hem). The threads going across the tape have to be pulled out while the threads on the downside of the tape are left to form the frayed effect. The width of the frayed edge will be equal to the width of your hem.
Step 2. Place the Ban Roll on the fabric
Place the prepared Ban Roll on the right side of the fabric aligning the frayed edge with the edge of the fabric. Use special pins for silk fabric – they are very thin and sharp and will not make any holes in the delicate silk chiffon.
You don’t need to place the tape at the very edge of the fabric though. You can keep some distance from the fabric edge (like ¼ or even ⅜ inch) if you want to make sure that stitches will catch the chiffon fabric, but later you will need to trim off the excess fabric.
Place the Ban Roll all around the hem and when you come to the starting point overlap it a little bit ( that’s why we cut it a little longer ).
Step 3. Stitch over the frayed edge of the Ban Roll
Stitch over the frayed edge along the length of the hem making sure you don’t catch any lengthwise threads that are not frayed.
Stitch length should be 3.5 – 4 mm, and I usually put tension to 0 on my sewing machine because I will take out these stitches later.
Step 4. Sew the hem
Flip the fabric over the Ban Roll and sew the hem. The narrow hem is wrapped around the frayed part of the Ban Roll.
You can press the hem before the stitching but I prefer to skip this pressing because it works well without. But once the stitching is finished, press the hem with the Ban Roll still inside the hem.
Step 5. Remove the Ban Roll
Remove the Ban Roll by carefully pulling it out. Remove also the first stitches (that helped to keep the Ban Roll in place) and press the hem again.
Enjoy your newly created perfectly narrow hem!
Don’t throw away the tape – the good thing is that you can use the prepared tape over and over again for hemming other garments. Put it aside for the next time you need it. Or make a few reusable “templates” for different hem widths and lengths.
This method also does corners really beautifully! It can be used not only for straight hems but for slightly curved ones.
So, what do you think about this amazing technique? Now all you need is a source for the Ban Roll tape.
Here is another affiliate link where you can buy it: Ban-Rol tape
If you’ve found my Ban Roll narrow hem tutorial helpful but struggled to source the material, I have great news. I’ve recently tested an alternative using buckram fabric – a widely available and budget-friendly option that works beautifully for creating narrow hems on chiffon and other lightweight fabrics.
Check out my latest tutorial, From Frustration to Finesse: A Foolproof Method for Hemming Chiffon and Sheer Fabrics, to see how buckram can simplify this technique and make it accessible no matter where you are.
And here is the YouTube tutorial, after reading the article the short video (5 minutes) will make the whole process clear.
Did you like this guide? If you want to save it for future reference and to use it later when you are ready to make a narrow hem, pin the image below or the first image of this article to your sewing board on Pinterest and follow me on Pinterest for more tips, tutorials, and inspiration.
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Wonderful.
Look forward to trying out easier ways to finish a project
Thank you! Did you try it out? How did it go?
I went to Hobby Lobby today looking to something to help me make a hem in some shear fabric neck scarves (14/14). But was unable to locate anything. I’ll be going back on Wednesday to pick-up me some roll ban, if I don’t find any in my sewing stuff. Thank you
I don’t know where your Hobby Lobby is but I didn’t find the ban-roll tape in my Hobby Lobby (Florida). I am not even sure if Joann carries it. I bought mine on Canadian Fabricland and I found it on Amazon, here is the affiliate link: https://amzn.to/2EI2q3N
Love the concept, but not quite sure how this can work.
I see how I could visually make sure in Step 3 that the stitches aren’t catching the Ban Rol tape fibers.
But how can I avoid accidentally catching some Ban Rol fibers in Step 4 when the frayed edge is hidden inside?
Very creative idea, thank you for sharing.
Thank you for your feedback! The width of the narrow hem is equal the width of the frayed edge. You sew over the frayed edge – don’t be afraid to catch the Ban Rol fibers, that’s the point, that’s why we frayed that edge so we can easily take it out. You have to worry about not catching the part of the Ban Rol that is NOT frayed – and this you can easily see. I hope it helps.
I can not get the ban roll to Frey they way you show bits very difficult
Sorry to hear about your problem. I guess there are different types of ban rolls. Where did you buy it? Mine was very easy to fray.
Thank you so much! Your tutorials have helped me immensely. I have a question about this though, for a very full hem, like a circle skirt, would you cut ban roll for the whole hem or just a small piece?
I always cut the full length of the hem, and if you already have a longer piece from a previous project you can either cut it shorter or use it as is and use it just partially. The longest hem I had was about 1 1/2m (5ft) so not really very long.
Hi, thanks for the great tutorial, however when you flipped over the sample some of the stitches were not formed, with very long unlocked portions. Is this because of pulling out the unneeded thread?
Also would like to know what sewing machine you are using in this video. Thank you!
Thank you Debra! All stitches were formed nicely though. I think you are referring to the first stitch which is a basting stitch “Stitch length should be 3.5 – 4 mm, and I usually put tension to 0 on my sewing machine because I will take out these stitches later“. In the end I pull out the bobbin thread and the needle thread is becoming undone (so I can easily take it out). I hope it helps. As for the sewing machine , I use Janome Memory Craft 6600P – I just love the machine. If you want to get more info on it here is the link
I wish I had seen this before making my dress and sheer embroidered overlay kimono for my daughter’s wedding! I had a heckofa time getting the overlay material to cooperate; but, it turned out well (after a LOT of coaxing).
Thank you! I am happy to hear my tutorial is useful. I know hemming sheers can be a pain and it’s really time-consuming. Now you can use this method for hemming new dresses, it’s much faster. Do you sew a lot with sheers?
Does this work with other fabrics, e.g. linen, cotton blends, etc.?
It does work with any lightweight to medium weight fabric but I guess it should work with any woven fabric. I didn’t try though, somehow I make a narrow hem only on silk, and on linen and cotton, I just make a regular 1.5″ hem, I don’t like the narrow hem on linen and cotton, it looks bulky to me. I don’t use this method on knits also – the knit hem should be stretchy. I hope it helps.
This is a technique I will definitely use for the costumes I am sewing. Thank you.
Thank you!
I have watched a lot of your teaching tapes. They help me understand what is possible with my sewing. I study very hard your way of doing things. Thank you, you will hear from me again. I just started sewing.
Thank you for your sweet note, Ruth! If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask. I may not answer right away, but still, I will try to get back to you.
I’m in Nigeria, I want to learn more from you ..to become an expert in perfect and neat sewing. Please how do i get your video step by step…Thank you
I am glad my articles have such a wide following! I have a YouTube video on this issue, please look at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6XDlG4b6EU I hope it will answer your question
How would you do corners if you are hemming a square?
I think this method is not good for hemming a square. You still can try to do it one side at a time but as for me, I would use a different way. I have a tutorial on how I finish corners – here is the link (if you are interested): https://www.ageberry.com/sewing-hacks-how-to-sew-mitered-corners/ but in this case the hem will be wider. Also, if you need a really narrow hem on a square you can use a rolled hem feature of a serger. Or you can sew the narrow hem by hand – here is a very interesting tutorial (not mine) “How to hand roll a silk scarf” – https://youtu.be/vKD1mQOuQfY I hope it helps.
Hello Olga. Thanks for this tutorial! Here you mention you don’t think it’s a good method for hemming a square. Further up you stated this, “This method also does corners really beautifully! It can be used not only for straight hems but for slightly curved.” I am looking to turn pieces of silk chiffon or other fine fabrics into scarves. I’ve been trying to find a video that shows how to do this using the ban-rol. I am afraid to cut my fabric until I’ve seen if it can be done using ban-rol. What do you suggest? I’ve tried handrolling and found it very difficult for me to do…and very time consuming!
Perhaps it is good for squares, it certainly does not cost anything to try a small piece and see how it comes out. You will have to sew two separate seams, for the two sides of the corner. I have to confess that reading again my article I realize what I should have said is “I THINK it is good for corners” but I really prefer to sew tiny corners by hand.
Thank you for the tutorial of how to make the narrow hem. It is very useful, although I do not sew much. Tanks.
Thank you!
Oh, how I wish I had seen this before I made my silk prayer shawl! Thanks so much! The next one will be a breeze.
That’s exactly what I said when I learned this technique! Only I made many silk garments before.
Any and all tips and hints wanted, Never too old to learn new things.74 years and hopeful of new ideas.
That’s so true! We learn new things every day. Thank you for your feedback!
Oh my gosh that is amazing! I have been sewing for 55 years and never knew this trick!
Thank you, that just salvaged a bunch of projects that I had on the back burner because I would get so disappointed on how awful my tiny hems looked!
Bless you bless you bless you!
Can I use this technique on a hem that’s a bit shorter in the front than the back? I guess the real question is can make any gradual curves in my hemline with the Roll-Ban?
Sorry for the delay (Holidays)! I think you can do it if the curve is not sharp, if it’s very gradual. And not all at once – piece by piece.
Game changer! I always hated working with certain fabrics because I knew I would have a hard time doing the narrow hem. I could never get a nice finish with the rolled hem foot for my machine. My niece just asked me to hem a gown she bought that had a stretchy lining and a sheer overlay. Piece of cake hemming both fabrics using this ban-rol method. Thanks so much for this tip!
Thank you very much!
Thank you for all your wonderful sewing tips. I am excited to try the Ban Roll method. I look forward to your future sewing tips.
Hi Olga. I’m sewing a top with flounced sleeves requiring a narrow hem around the edge of the semi-circle flounce. Do you think this technique will work if I snip the opposite edge of the ban-roll so it will fan out to match the curve of the flounce? I know you haven’t done this, but I want your opinion. Thank you.
I think it has an excellent chance of working, especially if the radius of the curve is not very small. The ban roll fibers are quite large and far apart so I think it will take some curvature. However we will not know for sure until we try, so I suggest try it and see what happens.
Absolutely LOVE your tutorial!!! I’m making a Queen Elsa costume for my granddaughter and I wasn’t sure how I would hem the cape which is chiffon and this was a fantastic solution to my problem. Thank you!
Surely a hem shold be turned under. This seems to leave raw edge sticking out. I dont think it would stand much wear and washing, certainly not round a scarf.
I use roll hem foot. Easy with practice. Agree not good on square corners.
Yes, the hem is fully enclosed in this case. Maybe check my YouTube video at this link https://youtu.be/-6XDlG4b6EU
This has been amazing! I came across this post via Pinterest, and ordered the BanRol immediately. We are putting on an outdoor production of The Sound of Music this summer, and I have *lots* of chiffon for dresses and a huge veil to hem. Tested the method last night, and all in the shop were amazed at the result! Thank you, thank you for this post.
Thank you! If you have some photos, would it be possible to send me a couple to publish in the article? If yes, the contact form is at the bottom of the page, it has my email address on it.
Thank you that is easier than a French?English seam. The tape is pretty expensive though, but you said you can reuse it until you fringed it all up so I guess one roll will make a whole lot of hems 🙂
I saw this on IG the other day and when I saw this link on Pinterest, I clicked thinking, “but can it beat Olga’s hem trick???” Hehehe.
I could not tell, looking at the you tube, but is the finished hem completely finished, with no fraying? In other words, is the rolled hem completely rolled so that there is no fraying when all done?
Indeed it is. the purpose of the tape is to allow easy folding of the hem, after which it can be sewn easily. This is the whole difficulty of the very narrow hem, to fold it exactly at the required distance and keep the fold uniform while stitching. Because the first step (sew the chiffon to the ban roll tape) fixes the material to the tape and the stitch is a simple straight stitch on a piece of straight material, it is easy to make the first stitch uniform. The second step, folding, it is now also easy since you fold exactly at the edge of the ban roll tape that is still intact. And again, the stitch to make the hem (this is the final stitch) is easy because you no longer deal with a 1mm or 2mm hem, you have the whole ban roll width as a support.
This is an elegant piece of engineering for the dreaded chiffon rolled hem. It works well with cheapo buckram also, which is what I had in the basement. A hem stitch will occasionally go right through a warp thread of the buckram. If this happens, sacrifice the buckram by carefully cutting into it around the stitch until you can pick all the bits of buckram out of your fabric. If you are purchasing buckram to do this, check that it’s pretty loosely woven, as they can be very different in their manufacture.
Thank you; I have never tried with buckram, I bought once the stiff Ban Roll tape and I now have enough supply for my lifetime I think. Good to know it works with that too, but I think you would need woven material, right? I see the term “buckram” is applied also to non woven material, like this on Amazon for example: “Non Woven Filter Fabric, White, Sew-in Buckram”
@Olga Balasa, Oh, yes, I have seen the “non-woven” type buckram, not a fan. It basically looks like heavy-duty interfacing; I use woven for draperies so I had loads in the stash. It did nicely on a shallow curved hem, just had to notch the non-frayed side to ease it a bit.
Thanks for the great tutorial! I used the Ban Roll tape and the hem came out great!!
Glad it was helpful; since I learned it myself, I used it consistently and indeed, it works great. Thank you!
This is brilliant! I have ban-roll tape so I’ll be using this technique.
Thank you very much!
Thank you; let us know how it works out for you perhaps?
@Olga Balasa, traduction french ….?
Malheureusement, je ne parle pas français…
Thanks for your videos! All these tips are very helpful! You might be happy to learn that we can find BanRoll in canada for far less at Cleaner’s supply. Here is the link 😉
https://www.cleanersupply.com/search-results/?q=ban%20roll
Thank you; it is indeed a good price. I was not aware of this site and I see it works both in the US and Canada.
Would this technique work on knit fabric? So many dresses call for a small rolled hem, but this looks a lot easier. Thank you!
The narrow hem presented here is not really a rolled hem, it is a double folded hem. I do not believe the technique would work on knits, especially the stretchy ones and the thicker ones, but I didn’t try it. It might work in some instances. It is not really difficult to hem knits with a serger, and I present a number of techniques for hemming knits in my article “How to hem knit fabric”.
Thank you. I can’t wait to try this!
I hope you will succeed! Let us know what how was your experience please?
Oh how I wish I had known this trick earlier! But as soon as the Ban Roll tape that I ordered on line (I had no luck finding it locally) arrives, I will put this tutorial to the test. I have a 3 layer prom dress to shorten & hem for my oldest grand-daughter. I had a horrible experience with a bridesmaid dress. It took forever and several swear words to hem the 3 layers on it. I’m so looking forward to a fast & professional looking hem!
I was so happy to read and watch your video method of sewing a narrow hem using BanRoll. I have been sewing a straight stitch line at the point of the final hem length and using that line as my guide. I can iron the turn-up or simply turn it up as I sew, using the stitch line as my guide and then pulling out the stitched line. However, the BanRoll makes it even faster and more accurate. I ordered a roll of BanRoll from Amazon after not being able to locate it at my local JoAnn’s or Hobby Lobby. Neither of the stores had even heard of the product name. I found it very interesting since I have elastic with the BanRoll brand name, which I purchased at JoAnn’s to have on hand. Thank you for your instructions, tips and tricks they are invaluable, especially to us self-taught sewers. The first and only sewing class I had was in the 8th grade. The only project we had was an apron and we had to tear our sheer fabric (not allowed to cut it) and sew it all by hand. The teacher misspelled scissors on the black board as “Sissors” and when I pointed out her mistake, she told me I was wrong and made ME look it up in the dictionary. LOL.
Well nowadays there are NO sewing classes in school period, I see the school has become a political battlefield instead. Let us know please how it works out for you with the BanRoll if possible!
This demonstration is more than wonderful. I hem prom dresses for friends of my daughters. I don’t like to charge them much. This ban roll tape takes me 1/2 the time and makes the hems perfect. thanks so much! Keep up the good work.
I really like this idea – I’ve been using heavily starched scrap monks cloth or cheese cloth for years like this but then there are a LOT of threads to pull out – this looks much faster. Thank You!
Thank you! Yes, Ban roll is good for this. But I have never heard about scrap monks cloth, going to google it right now.
Indeed, it is fast and really works. Much easier than the foot, especially for very narrow hems.
This is very nice BUT…what about a circular hem? Help. Thank you
No, this method is not for circular hems. I usually use my serger (a rolled hem stitch) for this or a double-turned narrow hem. I have an old tutorial on my site that might be helpful Top 20 simple (and not so simple) ways to sew a curved hem
Thank you for sharing. I surely will have it in practice!
Thank you so much for sharing your narrow hem trick! There is no way I could have altered my niece’s chiffon bridesmaid dress without it! I found the ban roll on etsy, just as you said, and it worked just like in the video. You’re awesome!
Thank you. For very narrow hems I like this better than the machine foot.
Hi Olga,
I love your videos 😊. Your narrow hem technique worked perfectly on my latest project. Thanks!!!
Not my technique; I learned it myself from someone a number of years ago. But indeed it works!
Hi Olga,
I love your tutorials 😊. Your narrow hem technique worked perfectly for my latest project. Thanks!!!
Is this product available in Australia?
Yes; looking on Amazon Australia web site I found it here if I searched for “ban roll tape hem”. There are probably other local stores selling it if Amazon has it.
Thank you so much for this tutorial! The Ban Roll tape was a HUGE help. It was so easy to use and resulted in a frustration-free alteration of my bridesmaid dress for my sister’s wedding. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and skill!
Thank you! Indeed it really worked for me too.
so helpful. Thank you for your expertise. You are the best teacher. Now I can complete my overlay for my grandson’s wedding on Saturday. Gwen
Hello, Olga, thank you for the brilliant technique. About 10 years ago, I bought 8 pieces of chiffon, 2-yards each, 60″ wide, cut a curve on each corner of each piece, and then hemmed each piece on all four sides–that’s 264″ of chiffon narrow hem each on 8 pieces of fabric=2,112″ total, or 58 yards of hemming insanity! The plan was to fold each in half, lengthwise, use a pareo clip, and make the chiffon pieces into pareos that matched my swimsuits to be used on a lengthy beach vacation–instead of a shapeless cover-up which never do look good on me at all. How I wish I had known this trick then! It took me forever to get those narrow hems done and looking great, and I could have used the same piece of Ban-Rol more than once. I still use the pareos, it was worth the investment in fabric and my time, but Lordy, life would have been a lot easier with your trick! I’ll be ordering some Ban-Rol from your affiliate right away as my granddaughter loves costumes that have chiffon and sheer fabrics involved. Thanks again!
Indeed this works and I personally find it easier to use than the foot.
OMG! This worked beautifully. I have 5 more hems to do. Kinda excited to do the rest of them. This was simple and effective. No longer afraid to hem chiffon! Thank you so much.
Indeed, it works beautifully, and it is much faster (and safer) than using the machine foot. Especially for very narrow hems.
Perfect, takes the scare out of sewing chiffon. I am having to take off about 4 inches of a formal grown, chiffon, of course. Thanks your very clear instructions.
I hope it works for you also; I find this much easier than using the hemming foot, especially for very narrow hems.