Piping is a great way to add a little pizazz and retro fun to a garment. Surprisingly, this is actually the first time I’ve used piping before, but it definitely won’t be the last. For my 1st Ginger I used a store bought piping – even easier! Here’s how I inserted it:
I noticed that there was a right side and a wrong side to the piping. On the wrong side the stitching seemed a bit thicker and the piping was sewn into the fabric in such a way that putting this side flush against the fabric made the right side pop up. To start, I took one one side of my seam allowance – this would have been the skirt section at the waistband on the Ginger.
I took my seam gauge and starting pinning the piping to the skirt at 5/8″ away from the edge. The actual piping extended beyond the 5/8″. See?
After I had pinned the piping in place, I hand basted the piping to the fabric real quick like.
With right sides together, I took the other side of the seam allowance – in this case the waistband section of the skirt – and basted these two sections with the piping in between with 1/4″ seam allowance.
Next I put my conventional zipper foot on my machine and stitched flush against the piping with a 5/8″ seam allowance. Press. Open and voila – a piped seam!
Pretty easy huh? Here’s a few links for extras:
Make Your Own Piping – Burda Style
A different type of piping – Casey’s Musings
Alright sewalongers, tomorrow is the last day of the Ginger Sewalong. I’m am seriously a zombie – meaning I’m going to turn into a pumpkin tomorrow night because I’m so tired. Don’t worry! You’ll have plenty of time to catch up because we’re not going to be showing off our Gingers until next week. Tomorrow’s the hem! Yay!
xoxo,
Sunni
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Whistlepea - I really need to try piping. Soon.
Whistlepea recently posted..Saskia
monkeysocks - hmm, I probably could have done with this before doing the piping in my skirt last night, would have got the curves better if I had basted it. Never mind!
monkeysocks recently posted..Thoughtson my boring upper half
Darci - You made it look so easy that this former pipe-a-phobe is willing to give it a shot! I’d like to use some fabu piping on a coat I have planned. This will work out fantastically! Thanks!
Darci recently posted..V1049 OOP The Hunt for the Perfect Boatneck is Over!
Linda (crazygrad at pr) - See, having allergies so bad that one of my eyes has almost no vision right now really changed some things. I thought you said tomorrow is the ham, which made me twist my face in disbelief. What does ham have to do with the skirts? I don’t even eat pork!
But thanks to a good eye wash, I see now– HEM… yes, it’s HEM.
Crystal - This seems really clear with your instructions and photos, so I feel hopeful. I was wondering about the top part of the waistband…is it much different to insert in that spot?
Elaine Maul - Sunni, I have a really basic question about something you haven’t mentioned and that is, how best to finish off the seams?
I don’t have a serger, so that is out!
I have read that you can use zig-zag stitch on the edge to ‘seal’ the edges and stop them fraying. However, in the past I have tried this but had some problems in that the edge would sometimes pucker. Is there a technique to doing this?
There are French Seams and the Colette website has a pretty good tutorial for them. However, is medium weight cotton too thick to try French Seams?
Are there any other things to try with finishing seams?
Thank you.
Elaine Maul recently posted..More Gingeryness But Of A Sewing Kind!!
Sunni - There are a few different ways to finish seams. Yes you can zigzag the edges, but do it after you sew your seams and that way it makes them pucker less. You can definitely do french seams too and your cotton fabric should be just fine. You can always invest in a set of pinking shears too. I have a pair and even though I also have a serger, I use my pinking shears alot. This is especially good for bias cut seams, I think. If you decide to go the pinking route, pink after sewing your seams and then run a straight stitch along the pinked edge for added security. Hopefully this helps.
Sunni - Nope, I did the same thing in that section too. Now for version 2 with the curved waistband, I would definitely not put the piping in the top of that one. The curves will not come out that well I think.
Cathe - Sunni you totally rocked this and I have to say a gigantic thank you! All your advice has been spot on. I plan to go onto my next Ginger on a bias this weekend and will use all your tips!
Cathe recently posted..The Ginger
Judy - Sunni, thankyou so much for sharing your piping with us..That helped so much.. I am adding it to my skirt..so will definitely use your tips.. Happy Sewing.
Elaine Maul - Thank you Sunni.
Yes, I do have some pinking shears and that approach sounds the easiest. I think I’ll go with that one
Elaine Maul recently posted..More Gingeryness But Of A Sewing Kind!!
Patricia Austin - this is helping me soooo much. I’m adding piping to my Violet blouse for the Sew Weekly. (I’m a complete novice to the piping world) Thanks so much!
But now I might have to join this sew along too! Too much fun!!! Your fabric choices are gorgeous!
Sunni - Oh I do hope you join in here too. The Ginger skirt is so easy to whip up and you’ll be able to wear both your Ginger and your Violet together!
Turvy - Thanks for the tips! I personally found it a little easier to machine-baste the piping in exactly up against the piped edge – that way, I could trace my already-stitched line with the second pass of stitching, and know that even if my pinning had gotten slightly wobbly, the piping would look perfect once I turned everything the right way round.