The program on Wednesday night was "Bias Binding", courtesy of Judy, who showed us a method to make a continuous strip of bias binding. First she had us try it with a piece of paper. We cut it along a diagonal, then taped the pieces back together as directed to make a parallelogram, then marked the width of our binding. Then we wrapped one side around to meet the other, slightly offsetting our marked strip ends, and found we had made a tube. The strip we marked spiralled along the tube, forming the continuous bias piece.
The next step was to try this with fabric. The hardest part was matching up the marks to form the tube, but with a little help from Judy, everyone got their samples sewn up. They began to cut them apart just far enough to see how the strip would form, but left them unfinished so as to have an example for later reference.
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| Two examples of bias binding on a neckline. |
Bias binding can be used to finish quilts or any curved edge. In home dec sewing it's often used to cover cording to make piping. Judy showed us some examples of using bias binding to finish necklines of garments instead of a facing. Since a bias edge will not ravel, the raw edge of the bias on the inside of the garment can be left as is. She also showed us an example of piping used in a child's garment to accent the seam of a bodice and skirt.
So think about using bias binding in some of your next sewing projects!
There are lots of events coming up soon, from the Dear Jane trip, the East Fishkill Library reception, Banksville Fabric trip, to the annual meeting. So check the chapter calendar and mark your own accordingly.
Make A Difference Day is fast approaching. Connie has been taking the lead on organizing it and has the Poughkeepsie Plaza booked for Saturday, Oct. 22 from 10 am to 3 pm. This year's projects are pillowcases, fleece hats and scarves to donate to local shelters. Our October meeting will be used to prepare for this, so we plan on doing a lot of cutting and pinning to have things ready to sew that day.
Our November meeting will be a sewing program led by Pat M., who will help us as we make a handy fabric bag with handle. Originally sized to be a trash bag for your car, it can be customized for other uses as well. More detailed information will come out about that later.
December is our dinner out. Venue yet to be decided. Suggestions and ideas are welcome.
Show and tell pictures follow.
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| Pat's rug made of scrappy strips. |
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| Tanya's bags made of cork fabric (yes, cork!) |
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| Peggy's sleeveless tops |
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| Peggy's capris and blouse |
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| Sue K's Challenge piece |
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| and the try-out piece. |
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| Sue K's Circle quilt |
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| Using left-overs from the circles |
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| Even more of the circle scraps! |
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Free-form crochet bags from the April workshop
left, Maura's bag; right, Cyndy's bag |
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