I've learned that not everyone seems to know what those arrows on patterns mean. Fabric is normally either woven or knit, but either way there is a definite "grain" to the fabric.
The arrows on the patterns mean that is the direction of the grain of the fabric. Seamstresses do not make lots of money. In fact they make very little, so they keep as much fabric as possible. I have yet to meet a seamstress that doesn't try to make the most out of their fabric as they can. If a seamstress tells you to cut something at an odd angle on the fabric that takes up lots of space and seems to create a large amount of fabric that can't be used for anything else on that garment there is a reason why. It has to do with the way the garment will lay when it is worn. If something is cut with the grain that piece won't have very much give when stretched. Where if something is cut diagonally across the grain the piece with have the maximum amount of give that fabric has. This really is important if you want to do things like wear a comfortable garment, sit, bend over, walk, etc. You can technically do all of those things with a garment that is made without fallowing the arrows, but you will notice that it is more snug than it should be. And, it will cause more stress on the seams. Which leads to more mending. In short: follow the arrows, and the advice of a good seamstress that you know and trust.
Now with that said, onward to making piping.
What you will need:
- Fabric
- Cording in desired thickness
- Sewing pins
- Shears or a really good pair of scissors
- Ruler
- Zipper foot for your sewing machine
To make piping cut strips of fabric diagonally across the grain of your fabric. My strips are 1.5 inches. Yours may not be. The strip of fabric needs to have two seam allowances plus enough fabric to go around the cord that you will use.
Once the strips have been cut out pin the ends together like this. The right sides are together, and when I open the seam up I will have a nice long straight line of fabric. Notice I overlapped the edges a bit. I did this so that when I sew my seams they will be edge to edge.
Like this. This is a sewn seam that I have opened up, so you can see what it should look like once the strips have been sewn together.
This is the cording I picked. I wanted a smaller diameter for this project, so I went with a 3mm cord. The only reason I went with a satin cord was I could get lots of it for cheap on Amazon.com. If you want to pick up some yourself click here. I didn't want to go with a braided cord since the braid tends to show up in the fabric once it is stretch over the cord, and I didn't wan that look on my garment. You might however.
Now you are going to stretch the fabric over your cord. Line up the edges of the fabric before you pin it. I pinned mine right at the edge of the cord to help stretch the fabric over it.
You need to use the zipper foot on your sewing machine to sew this seam. Here is a picture of what mine looks like.
When sewing the same get as close to the cord as you can without sewing onto the cord. This is why a zipper foot comes in handy for this seam. It helps you get close to cord while keeping it in place.
When you are done you should have something that looks like this. That's all there is to making piping. I trim the edges on my diagonal seams as needed when I place it into my garment. Yet, you can do that before hand if you wish to. :)
Hopefully this was able to help you out. If you have any questions please fill free to ask. >^.^<
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