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Sew Basics: Bias Tape (part 1)


I am so inspired by all of you that are new to sewing, getting back into sewing, or are thinking about buying a sewing machine to start sewing.  I love all the emails you have sent me and conversations we have had over on facebook.  I haven't been the most consistent with my "Sew Basics" tutorials, but I'm going to try to put more of these together in hopes that you all will get as hooked on sewing as I am.

As most of you know, I am a self-taught sewer (well, mostly).  I've had a few lessons from my Grandma and grew up with my Mom sewing (though I never showed much interest).  Bias tape was very confusing to me when I first started sewing garments.  I couldn't figure out which side was supposed to go where.  If any of you are like me, I hope this tutorial will help ease the confusion. 

Here's the plan for Sew Basics: Bias Tape

Part 1: Sewing bias tape to a garment
Part 2: Making your own bias tape from fabric

After part two, I will show you how to take your homemade bias tape and turn it into corded piping.

Let's get started........

Bias tape is a narrow piece of fabric that is cut on the bias (45 degree angle) which allows it to be stretchier and more fluid than fabric cut straight across.  Because of it's stretchiness, bias tape works great for encasing raw curved edges and giving items a finished look.


Bias tape can be purchased in the notions section of your local fabric store.  You can usually find it near the zippers and ric-rac.  These days, most bias tape comes in basic, solid colors; however, you can find vintage bias tape (see above picture) in all sorts of different fun patterns.  To customize your own bias tape, you will need to make your own (we will discuss that in part 2). 

There are two different types of bias tape that is made in varying widths - single-fold and double-fold.

Single-fold bias tape has two sides folded inwards (one fold is slightly larger than the other) and it is not folded down the center.  Double-fold bias tape is basically single-fold bias tape, but folded in half again lengthwise.  Double-fold will encase an entire raw edge with bias on either side of the raw edge.  Single-fold will allow you to fold over a raw edge to the inside of a garment to finish the edge, but generally you will not see any bias tape on the exterior of the garment.  I like to use double-fold for most things.

Here is an example of how to sew double-fold bias tape to encase an armhole on a vintage pillow case dress:




Open up your double-fold bias tape.  If you look very closely you will see that one side has a larger fold than the other.  This is a very important detail to notice before you sew on your bias tape.



Open up the fold on the smaller side. When getting ready to encase an arm hole, you want to line up the raw edge of the garment with the raw edge of the smaller fold of the bias tape.  Pin this in place on the right-side of the garment.  So as you can see above, you will need to unfold the double-fold tape quite a bit for this step to work.  The larger fold will remain folded over.


Stitch in the fold along the raw edge of both the bias tape and the garment.  Sew on the right-side of the garment.


Here (picture above) is what your bias tape will look like once you have stitched in the fold towards along the side with the smaller fold.


Next fold your bias tape over to the other side (wrong-side of the garment).  If you notice in the picture above, the bias tape on the underside is ever so slightly wider than the top.  This is exactly what you want.


Now stitch as close to the edge of the bias tape as possible on the top side (smaller fold).  Stitching on this side will ensure that you will catch the larger fold (on the other side) and have perfect looking bias tape every time!  Important to note:  You stitched your original line of stitching on the right-side of the garment and you are doing your second set of stitching on the same side (right-side) of the garment.



Here is what your bias tape will look like once it is sewn into place.

I used the double-fold bias tape technique on this vintage pillowcase dress arm hole.  Using this method, I have no trouble sewing perfect bias tape every time!


You can use bias tape to encase any raw edge of a sewing project or simply use it to add a pop of color and style.  Try it on the bottom edge of a skirt, the bottom of a dish towel for some added decorative detail, or on the edge of a pocket. 

Single-fold bias tape works very similarly to double-fold.  The only difference is that when you fold over your bias tape to the wrong-side of the garment there will be nothing left on top (you won't see the bias tape from the right-side of the garment).  Instead you will just see a line of stitching on the fabric where you have sewn your single-fold bias tape to the wrong-side of the garment.  Personally I find double-fold bias tape to be easier and have a cleaner, more finished look, but use whatever your pattern or design calls for.

Once you master sewing bias tape, you will feel like you have come along way as a beginning sewer.  Honestly, I used to dread sewing bias tape, but now it is a piece of cake!  Don't let bias tape scare you, it can be a lot of fun and I will show you how to add your own special flare to projects in Sew Basics: Bias Tape (part 2).

Cottage Mama's Note:  If you have any questions, please email me at thecottagemama@gmail.com and I am happy to help.  We have lots of fun talking "sewing" over on The Cottage Mama facebook page, so come on over and join in the fun!

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Link Love No.29!

Hi everyone, how was your weekend? I bet many of you had a wonderful time on Halloween. It all started on Friday, I had a Halloween parade to attend at my kid's school, after the parade, I went to three different class parties for each one of my children. Around 3 o`clock, there was a company Halloween party at my husband`s work. Then, there was a church party to go to. It was a great day, well, especially for the kids.

Now it is November; are you ready to switch gears for Thanksgiving? I am planning a "Thanksgiving giveaway" like I did last year, so start looking around for the blessings in your lives! :)

I have five links that I am going to spotlight for this week.

There is always something new to learn every week. Have you ever heard of "Paintable textured wall paper"? Suzy's Artsy Craftsy Sitcom used this paintable wall paper and did wonders to her stairwell wall. Isn't it pretty?


Simply Step Back used a men's Sweater to make a cute tunic top for herself! I think the new sweater fits her well and is very pretty.


Jcrew inspired floral ruffle top was linked by Welcome to the Good Life. There are many t-shirt repurposings out there, and I think this is one of my favorites! I want this top for myself!


Check out this well put together tutorial for a flirty flower pin by Twelve Crafts Till Christmas. I bet many of you are starting to thinking about Christmas presents for your friends and family (yes I am one of them). I think it is so cute by it self or as a part of the wrpping of a gift for Christmas.


Creating Comfort shared some amazing furniture redos. She has an eye for transforming something plain into something beautiful...Great job!


Usually, I do five spotlights... but I had to share this one for Halloween next year.
I was going through the links, and the title, "Ghost Poop", caught my eye... "What is that?" I thought. So I went to Can`t Stop Making Things. Isn't it so fun and clever?!


Thank you all for sharing your awesomeness (is that even a word?). Have a great start of the week everyone!

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Happy Halloween


Happy Halloween from The Cottage Home!  
Hope you all have fun trick-or-treating with your little pumpkin heads - I know we will!!

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Fall Gingerbread and Transferware



One of my favorite fall breads is gingerbread. There's just something about ginger, cinnamon, cloves and rich molasses that make it so delicious.


I love to pair fall foods with my brown transferware. I'm certain it makes everything taste better.

I purchased the transferware several years ago when I came across them at Home Goods. I bought twelve bowls, salad plates, and dinner plates as I thought they would make wonderful Thanksgiving dinner ware.


This is what the pattern looks like. I love the birds with the flower adornment.


This is the mark on the back.


This monogrammed 'B' silverplate was my Grandmother's everyday ware, but I keep it tucked away for special occasions. I actually found an entire set of this pattern at a flea market, but without the monogram. I wonder where one would bring silverware these days for monogramming?

Gingerbread Recipe:

2 cups organic all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 cup low-fat organic buttermilk
1/2 cup organic sugar
1/2 cup organic molasses
1/4 cup organic low-fat milk
1/4 cup organic canola oil
2 large organic eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray.

Combine flour through cloves in a large bowl with whisk. In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk through eggs and stir with whisk. Pour into flour mixture, stirring until moist.

Bake for 45 minutes or until done. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes and then remove from pan. Enjoy.

Happy last weekend of October to you! xo

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{20 Must Have Tools}

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Polka-Dots

My friend's nine-year-old daughter got the chance to have a say in the re-decoration of her bedroom. The theme:

Polka-Dots!!

And, since she's a very good friend, I got my chance to help!

Her very talented husband was tasked with creating a daybed with a round back board. I got to help with upholstering the headboard, and covering it with dots. First he cut three different sizes of circles from some 1/4" board. He has lots of handy tools to do things like that (and yes, I'm jealous). The tool leaves two tiny holes in the middle of each circle, and we used those like buttonholes, stringing wire through each set.

Next we cut a circle of batting the size of the wood, and then a circle of fabric a couple of inches larger.

Using a handy-dandy staple gun, we then stapled the fabric to the back of the wood circle.

It helps to staple North/South/East/West first, and then fill in the rest.


Ta-da! A cute little padded dot.


Oooh, look! LOTS of cute padded dots!

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We laid the dots out on the headboard to get an idea of placement. Then we drilled holes in the headboard for each dot. The headboard was then covered with thick batting and white duck cloth.

Next we had to string all those wires from the dots through the front of the headboard, finding the holes in order to get out the other side! That step was lots of fun.

Here's what it looks like with all the wires sticking out the back side. Notice the neat and even pleating of the headboard fabric all the way around. We're very proud of that :-).


We use pliers to pull the wires straight, then bent them to the side and stapled them in.
Bent the wires in another direction, and stapled them one more time.
They ain't movin', baby!


C. (that's the daughter) got to help by pounding in the staples and any loose wire ends.


Naturally we had to get an idea of what it looked like half-way through...


But then, here it is, all completed! C. looks pleased!


Obviously we chose to use lots of different fabrics, incorporating C.'s chosen colors of pink, purple, with a little green and turquoise thrown in. Plus it helped us use up our respective stashes (but not by much).

It was several weeks later when the bed was completed and assembled, but....here it is!

See the cute polka-dot panels on the ends?

The ends of the bed are actually bookshelves (they face out), and the panels are the back side of the bookshelves, padded and polka-dotted like the headboard.

Yes, I know the bed's not made. If you have a nine-year-old in your house, you should understand!

I also helped with the painting. Two walls and the ceiling are purple. Reeaaallly purple. The other two walls are pink. Reaallly pink!

I covered the shades on the ceiling fan in some polka-dot material...


...and I painted two garage-sale lamps pink and covered the shades for those as well. Hmm... they're supposed to have multi-colored yo-yos on them too! I made them...I'll have to ask my friend what happened to them...


Fun room, don't you think? And I'm not really complaining about the color. You should see my daughter's room...it's NEON green, also with polka dots!





Furniture Feature Fridays


calm+breeze+button.jpg




Catch As Catch Can


Funky Junk's Sat Nite Special


Photobucket


The DIY Show Off


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Funky Junk's Sat Nite Special

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