Finishing seams that work - without a serger!

Let's gather some resources for different ways of finishing seams so they don't fray when it's washed.  

Thank you for posting this, r! I'd completely forgotten the open, sewn edge finish, and didn't know the completely enclosed one was known by that name. The ones I typically use - depending on what I'm making, are the pinked edge, the French, and the flat-felled. I've found that not only in clothes, but in totebags, first aid type sewing (heating pad/ hot water bottle covers, etc), and in filtering bags - like nut bags, reusable bouquet garni, and fruit/herb press bags, a French seam (with the bound edge on the inside, for first aid, or on the outside, for filtering) is my favorite, making cleaning easier on filtering bags and gentle but strong touch, on the first aid items.

The flat-felled seam is strong, neat, and very useful, but not in some seams, for my clothes. In inseams, it can be uncomfortably bulky, and tends to wear out faster, from rubbing, but outseams, side seams, and others like those really seem to benefit from the added strength.

I've been trying to find the kind of seam that used to be common in handsewing. In my brain, it's like two clasped hands.

The reason it's not used today is that you don't align the seam allowance for both pieces.  

I just wish I could find what it's called so I can search for tutorials.

Hi, Raven, I went through the hand sewing and seam finished sections of the Vogue Sewing book. One that comes close is the self-bound seam.   Do you mean aligning the top and bottom pieces with different SA so no trimming is needed? If you know how to do it but just don't know the name, a few pictures would be helpful.