hem the edge of clothing

I'm just making my first outfit. The outfit is looking pretty good but the "hems" do not look finished. I mean like around the top of the neckline...or shirt ends. Is there a tip someone can give me to finish the edges? How do i make an edge look finished?

There are several ways I "finished" the edges. The easiest for me is to use the dodge/burn tool and darken the edges slightly (you can lighten them too if it seems to work better with the item). Another simple way is the copy the layer that the clothing is on and put it below that layer, change the color to a contrasting color and shift it so whatever edge it is that to "finish" show is to your liking. You can do that for all edges if you want. And you can always draw your edges on too.........but do that on a transparent layer (not on the layer you are going to have uploaded.

When you get everything lined up the way you like or want merge it all into one image or layer.

Another way is to create a path along your hem lines, do a select from path and copy it, then past it into a new transparent layer. Then in the new layer, do a select from path and then fill with a gradient of your choice and lower the opacity. Can do interesting effects with this method adding additional filters and effects.

I use a layer style; a little (or a lot of) drop shadow and sometimes inner glow can simulate a stitched hem. It's nearly impossible to perfectly mate that effect across the front-back collar area, because that area seems to warp and flex a lot in actual use. Good luck!

I use an overlay layer that is filled with 50% gray, then use dodge and burn; this doesn't affect the original layer at all, and I can reuse the overlay on any other layer I choose. SecondStyle magazine, Issue #4 has a great tutorial on folds and such using dodge and burn and the overlay layer. Saves heartburn and heartache too...

Many thanks to all that replied to this thread. I didn't want to reply until i had a chance to try out one or two techniques. I'm newbie to clothing design so the first time I read through the posts...i was like say what?

Then, i tried the dodge and burn method as that seemed most accessible. I find I can select my clothing, shrink the selecting by a specific number of pixels, then, in a new layer fill, to get an overlap...i can burn a hem or use an eraser to take out a hem. I"m still working on making it look good eh?

Now, I read the posts again and see the other solutions better and I"ll try those as well. Thanks!

Hi Burian!

May I suggest you try a mask instead of erasing the hem area. The method I use is to fill a layer with 50% gray (or lighter), set the layer to multiply or color burn depending on how dark you want it, then add a mask and fill it with pure black then draw the edges on in white. The beauty of masks is that you aren't erasing anything and can always go back if you need to make changes.

For added depth, high light the areas you've darkened with a fine line of white > overlay or screen in the center of the dark hem. Add a touch of the blur tool.

Have fun

Best,
~Ari