All posts tagged: tutorial

Tutorial: self fabric bias binding

I’m long overdue for a tutorial, and long overdue for an update on some sewing progress, so I’m multitasking. I love multitasking. I hemmed my not-so frothy fairy dress (now dubbed the Marianne gown, because it combines Sense and Sensibility) with self fabric bias binding, which is my favourite hemming technique. It takes a little longer, but it provides a beautiful effect, especially on curved hems.  It is also very strong, and can be replaced if the hem gets soiled (unlike traditional hems). Whether you use it for hems, or any other technique, self fabric bias binding is a useful thing to know how to make.  You can buy metal tools to make it, but I find they don’t save much time, and don’t give you nearly as much flexibility in terms of size. To make your own self fabric bias binding, cut bias strips of the fabric you intend to use. This tutorial uses many of the same techniques as my self-fabric piping tutorial, so you might want to check that out. Your strips …

1850s raspberry swirl ball dress thedreamstress.com

Tutorial: Cord gathering

Here is a little sewing tutorial to make your costuming easier.  Cord gathering is a method for gathering huge amounts of fabric without pleating it.  It is also fantastically easy, especially compared to modern ‘pulled thread’ gathering, so is wonderful for any project where you want to gather a huge amount of fabric. I’ve seen a similar technique used on one 1900s petticoat, but have no other evidence to suggest this is a historically correct technique for any other timeperiod – I simply use it as an awesome timesaving hack for non-historically accurate costuming. I used it for the ruffles at the bottom of my hoopskirt petticoat, and for the tiers of ruffles on the 1850s raspberry paisley dress.   Note: for this tutorial height goes up and down in relation to the body, and width goes around the body, so all descriptions are given in height x width You will need:  a piece of narrow cord 6″ longer than you want the finished gathered width to be.  You can using piping cord, or the …