My favorite way to finish a seam edge is with a serger. It’s so easy and looks professional. But you don’t need to have serger to have nice looking seams. Sometimes I feel like I leave out a whole group of people when I say “serge your seams.” So here are a few other easy ways to finish your seams sans serger.
Pinking
You need a pair of pinking shears for this one, but all you do is cut the seam allowance with these babies and you’ve got yourself a mostly un-fray-able seam. Pinking shears cut triangles on the bias of your fabric. Pinking it will help the fabric fray less, but if you want to prevent fraying more, stitch the seam allowance first and then pink it.
Pinked:
Stitched and Pinked: (If you look close you can see the line of stitching)
Turned and stitched
If you want to whip out your iron, this method looks pretty slick. Just turn under your seam allowance 1/8″, press it and stitch close to the edge. 
Zig Zag
Using your zig-zag stitch, stitch along edge of seam allowance and trim it down.
And now you have happy seams!
Thank you for sharing this! As an amateur seamstress I really appreciate this information! I recently learned how to sew a French Seam for finishing my projects. The result is very clean looking, but can be bulky inside clothing. Glad to have more options!
Thanks! I’m loving this whole “learn to sew” series since I just got my first machine at Christmas, but esp this post cause I don’t have a serger! :)
thanks for this! i hope you keep doing more sewing 101 posts! i’m learning (slowly) and these posts are great!
I totally forgot about pinking. Thanks for the reminder.
Gosh, I can’t tell you how timely this is for me
I’m doing the Vogue 1102 pattern to wear to a wedding and wanted to do the seams nicely. Thank you for this post it’s serendipitous !
Best,
Elise
I use french seams whenever possible! it just looks so much neater, and it makes me feel like the seam is just a little bit stronger (even though I don’t think it really is.) But thanks so much for these tips, now I know what to do when I can use a french seam.
Just what I needed! Thanks!
Thank you so much for all your helpful tips!! I’ve been wanting to buy a serger so my seams don’t unravel, but your other alternatives are good enough for the mean time! :) Thanks!! :)