Orange and Blue

Who can disagree that orange and navy are nature's perfect combination? That's how I came up with the idea to nicely finish V8413 with navy seam binding:

Doesn't hurt that I have every navy accoutrement known to the sewing goddess.

But, ah, the naivete. Here are some pieces of advice for y'all when next weighing the merits of seam binding:

• Can't say this loudly enough - when you use a woven fabric on a stable knit, it's rough. The likelihood that your knit will get wavy is high.

• If you remove the back zip feature of the dress (because the stretch of your knit obviates the need for it), be really careful about seam binding the waist seam. What you may not realize is that, in the absence of an opening, the waist seam needs to stretch, and it will not when you've wrapped it in a woven fabric. (A propos of this, my dress fits but I do have to smush my boobs somewhat to get the thing on.)

• I recommend 1/2 inch seams with tape that wraps over the seam allowance by 1/4 inch on either side. Because my original seams were 3/4 inch, I had to first baste for fit, rip out the basting stitches and then and cut 1/4 inch off the vertical edges.

• And (predominantly for me, in case I ever try to do this again):
  

1. Start the 2-step attaching of binding process on the wrong side of the fabric.
   
2. Use a 0 setting on your machine (centre the needle rather than right justify it).
   
3. Then, the 1/2 " binding outer edge should be flush with the right side of the presser foot.
   
4. Stitch the left edge of the binding to the raw edge of the fabric, about an 1/8th of an inch in from the edge.
   
5. Stop stitching a bit before the end of the raw edge so that you can fold the raggedy end of the seam binding under before you finish sewing the seam.
   
6. Press from the wrong side.
7. Fold the bias tape over the raw edge of the fabric. Press it and ensure you cannot see any stitch lines where the bias tape doesn't fold over the seam quite enough. Trim the raw seam slightly, if necessary, to ensure you can close the fold without seeing any stitches from the seam you've just sewn.
   
8. Stitch from the right side of the fabric about 1/8" in from the edge of the seam binding.
9. Press the front.

• I advise against using pins for any of this. It doesn't work, IMO. You just have to feel your tape and your seams and intuit how to keep them aligned. Believe it or not, that's easier than pinning.

• The binding will add bulk to the inside of your garment, but not too much if you use 1/2 inch tape (about as narrow as you can go on a knit) and keep your finished seam allowances to no more than 1/2 inch. Also, tack the seam bound edges to one another where they intersect. Don't bind the raw edge of a cut on cowl. It will show through. I had to rip out the seam binding on my cowl edge. Thank goodness my knit doesn't fray or I'd have had some serious challenges finishing that seam otherwise.
  

Nonetheless, somehow this thing came together in the end. Not just together, but together well.

Look at how all of those seams line up like a dream!

Not gonna lie, the seam binding in the bodice is pretty scary. Partly that's cuz I was using that stupid binding foot (which really doesn't work), the seams were curved and I didn't really know what I was doing...

The reason I'm showing it to you on a hanger, not the dress form, is cuz my dress form's upper bust (just below the shoulders) is wider than my own proportions and I cannot get the woven-seamed waist over that part of the form. Fortunately my upper torso is narrower than it, and my boobs are malleable, or I wouldn't be able to put this thing on. Mind you, once on, it fits PERFECTLY!

I catch-stitched the seam bound hem to the dress.

See - I can sew pleats!

Many who have sewn this lengthen the bodice but I don't recommend it unless you are very long in the waist. The idea is that the waist seam comes up fairly high (at the upper end of the true waist). Not quite empire, but moving in that direction. Otherwise the bodice may be baggy.

I cut an inch off the bottom of the skirt and then sewed a one inch hem - and that puts it at knee length, so the thing is pretty long.

Note to new(ish) sewists: The most challenging element of this pattern (never mind seam binding) is the facing-enclosed shoulder seams. It's a very neat finish but it's tricky. Read the instructions on this as many times as you need to, to ensure you've got it covered. Last time I made this dress, I knew something was wrong, but I didn't have enough sewing knowledge to realize it was that the raw shoulder seams should have been hidden by the facing.

Something tells me it's going to be quite a while before I seam bind anything - much less a stable knit (with a woven tape) - ever again.

But all's well that ends well, yes? So what do you think?

Note: I am totally going to show this modeled - it looks very chic - but I have to wait till I don't look like a Chia Pet.

Seams Endless

I've been working on this fucking dress for 2 weeks now and I'm ready to be finished. Thanks to your feedback, I did revise the way I'm applying the seam binding - doing it in two steps. It's created a much neater finish in the skirt (to show up the relative horror of the bodice seam edges). Alas, everything is vaguely wavy - I'm sure because I'm applying a woven tape to a stable knit. Whatever. You live, you learn.

I've come to the conclusion that I could have serged every seam on the damn dress neatly and in 5 minutes. Instead, I've spent hours taping up all the raw edges.

No, serging is not a retro-technique, but it's better than a mediocre vintage finish.

On the plus side, it seems to look quite nice from the outside. Here's hoping it's all done tomorrow because I've got to move onto the cerise, bias-cut Ginger skirt with boned waist. Part of me is afraid to take on another "new technique" so soon after this one. But I have to be open-minded. Each project is its own experience. And every new method is its own adventure.

Bound And Determined

To say that I'm so frustrated I want to rage against the machine (literally) is an understatement. Allow me to clarify:

1. As part of the Spring Basics Palette, Vogue 8413 is the pattern I'm constructing for a second time. I decided that "pretty" is the order of the day. As such, I opted to seam bind all raw edges, rather than to serge (clean but not elegant).

To complicate matters, I'm using orange double knit (a fabric with stretch) as my fashion fabric. Seam binding is not a stretch fabric. I suspect this is the basis of my hideous challenges (see below)

2. This is seam binding:

When you fold this over the raw edge and sew, it produces a 3-layered result.

3. Not to be confused with bias tape (though, effectively, they do the same thing):

Imagine folding this over a layer of fabric, at the raw edge. It would produce a finished edge having 5 layers?!

4. This is a seam binder foot:

Somehow I bought one of these - for 30 bucks! - when first I started sewing, even though I had no idea of what to do with it.

One uses this foot to wrap and sew bias tape or seam binding over the raw fabric edge. The process is deceptively challenging.

4. Bias tape is folded over at the edges to produce a crisp edge finish. However, the net result is that it adds 4 layers of bulk to finish the seam when you sew it on. That's a total of 5 layers?!

5. Seam binding is like bias cut ribbon. It only adds 2 layers of bulk over raw edges. It's the winner when it comes to keeping the garment as sleek as possible on the wrong side.

6. That's why I decided to use seam binding on every visible raw edge of this dress. There are approximately 8000 of said seams. That means I need about 4 zillion yards of tape. I have about three.

7. Seam binding has been wretched, in my limited experience, to apply to the seams. It shifts, it puckers, it avoids stitching down where it puckers. My workmanship, even after going over it many times and steaming the crap out of things, is hideous. I've spent hours accomplishing very little I care to show you.

Now, I don't know whether it's easier to use the binder foot to apply bias tape (the more structured, folded-over option) but I may have to find out as I'm almost out of the seam binding.

Can't say how much I hate having undertaken a project all about making seams pretty (although that's failed) and now I'm about to run out of my finishing product. It's not so pretty when you switch up seam tape for bias tape half way through. For one thig, bias tape adds bulk, and even though both types of tape are navy, they have different textures and tones.

So peeps who know something about this, please enlighten us:

• I'm using "no name" seam binding. Is Snug Hug a better brand? Or does it all pucker when you use that stupid binder foot??
• Is it the use of woven tape over stretch fabric that's making my experience so horrible? (Note that I'm not stretching the fabric as I sew. I have to hold the fashion fabric with my left hand as I ensure that the seam binding isn't screwing up with my right hand. That means I have nothing to do with the fabric as it meets the needle and comes out behind it. I usually hold the back of the fabric, the sewn part, with my left hand.)
  
• Does one improve at this over time?
• Is it just a stupid, time-consuming method?
• Should one simply use bias tape - not the less-layered seam binding, to undertake the finishing of individual seams?
• I need to find a way to avoid making this any uglier than it already is. I'm thinking of turning the centre back seam (I'm omitting the zipper - I don't believe it will be necessary given the stretch in the fabric) a faux or regular french seam to avoid the need to apply any kind of binding tape of any sort. But I wonder if it will add more bulk? (I'm committed to using the rest of my seam binding on the side seams because I've finished the bodice that way and I want to be as consistent as possible.)

Let me wrap this up by advising that, from a distance, the navy seam binding over the orange double knit is very elegant. I can get with sucking at this technique, on this garment, if there's some hope of improving. Of course, spending 12 times as long on a dress than I would otherwise have done, just to make crappily finished seams is somewhat demoralizing. But I don't want to be so dependent on my serger that I can't use other methods.

And, seriously, that I can attempt this with even a small amount of confidence is a sign that my sewing skills are vastly stronger than they were 2.25 years ago, when first I started sewing

Please give me your expert feedback. oxoxo