rayon bias facing: the "no swearing necessary" method

okay, you asked so i'll share...

if you've ever tried to use rayon bias tape for a facing, you'll know how tricky it is. it shifts, it frays, it's generally uncooperative. before my portrait blouse, i had done it twice: the first time was a bloody mess, the second time took for-ev-er! and still didn't look that great. so i was searching my pile of scraps for a lightweight cotton or basically anything that would work as bias facing. nothing. okay, fine. [deep breath] i'll use self fabric.

i didn't take pics when i constructed the blouse, but i used scraps to show you my method.

leave the full 5/8" seam allowance on the neckline of the blouse and stay stitch at 1/2" (or just inside the SA) directionally from the shoulder down to center front, then shoulder to center back. make sure you overlap those last few stitches at CF and CB. stay stitching makes a world of difference, trust me!

cut your bias tape to 1 1/4" in width, then serge one edge with 1/4" wide serging. if you are living in a cave and don't have a serger, take your bias tape and press one side in by 1/4".

line up the edge of the blouse with the edge of the non-serged (or pressed) edge of bias tape and sew at 5/8". don't bother pinning the bias tape all the way around first, just go slow and keep adjusting the bias tape as you go around curves. don't stretch the bias tape or you will end up with a puckered seam.

once it is attached, trim the seam allowances down to 1/4".

press the seam flat first in order to shrink back any stretching that may have occurred and to eliminate any wavy-ness at the seam.

now lift the bias tape out flat and press the seam open from both sides. this will give you an good clean edge.

press in the serged edge of the bias tape using the serging as a guide, or re-press the 1/4". seriously though, get a serger.

now turn the bias facing into place and press. pin as little as possible perpendicular to the bias tape. excessive pinning or pinning parallel to the bias tape can distort the seam and if you have adequately pressed along the way, you won't need many pins.

finally, topstitch at a scant 1/4". i find that if i move my needle to the left position i can get 1/4" by lining up the right edge with the edge of the opening on my presser foot. i tried using my 1/4" piecing foot as a guide, but it was just a smidge too wide.

now you have a perfectly bias-faced edge!

this may seem like a lot of little steps that take too long, but in reality it goes very fast. if you half-ass or skip any of the pressing steps, it will take much longer and not look as nice. true story.

—lisa g.

thread belt loops

before i get engrossed in my next project (the colette patterns macaron, if you've been following along) i want to show you a little dress i made for my just turned 6 year old. as far as mainstream patterns for kids go, it's pretty slim pickings. plus half the stuff out there is just bizarrely sized. the simplicity/new look project runway series however is much more true to the sizing chart and usually doesn't require a thousand alterations! so as a birthday gift i decided to make up a little casual dress for her in a (bright!) pink polka dot flannel she picked out weeks ago. i used new look 6088 which is cute, casual enough to wear to school and has a few sweet details that make it special.

fortunately i didn't have to change a thing. while it took a little longer than i expected with all the pockets, plackets, tabs, buttonholes, buttons, etc. i'm glad i didn't leave anything out. all the little details make it look so much less homemade, if you know what i mean. i made her the size 6 which is a little big, but perfect for growing into. then after wearing it for a day my little fashionista decided it needed a belt.

fortunately that was a simple matter. i cut two pieces of material on grain, sewed, turned and topstitched. to make sure it stayed in place i added little belt loops to the side seams of the dress. now, here is the cool part and what i am really getting to in this post! you know those little thread belt loops you see on dresses? just enough to keep a belt in place but discreet enough that you don't really notice them? well it turns out there is a super easy way to make them yourself. i remembered a handy tutorial on colette patterns website.

here's a super close up so you can see what it looks like

i won't post step by step pictures since they do such a nice job, but basically all you do is take 6 threads and sew a zig zag stitch over them, keeping the threads taut as you go. it was very easy, fast and created a nice sturdy belt loop!

to attach it, i just marked a spot at the waist on the side seams and ripped a few stitches (just enough to poke the loop through) then stitched it back up. then using a short stitch (1 mm) i stitched again about 1/8" inside the seam allowance just to give it a more secure anchor. ideally you will have thought to do this before finishing the seam to begin with, but it was easy enough to go back and add.

hope you find this useful, i know i'll be using these time and time again for belt loops, button loops and probably a hundred other things!

and i think she was right. it does look better with the belt.