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
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.

María Rosario
Monday 3rd of October 2022
Thank you for sharing. I surely will have it in practice!
Rachel
Wednesday 28th of September 2022
This is very nice BUT...what about a circular hem? Help. Thank you
Olga Balasa
Monday 3rd of October 2022
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
Linda
Monday 26th of September 2022
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!
Olga Balasa
Monday 3rd of October 2022
Indeed, it is fast and really works. Much easier than the foot, especially for very narrow hems.
Olga Balasa
Tuesday 27th of September 2022
Thank you! Yes, Ban roll is good for this. But I have never heard about scrap monks cloth, going to google it right now.
Rita
Friday 22nd of April 2022
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.
Lynn
Tuesday 5th of April 2022
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.
Olga Balasa
Thursday 7th of April 2022
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!