There are lots of ways to sew a bias binding to finish a garment, so I've put together a series of tutorials to walk you through three of my favorite options! You'll see...

Good Morning All! I received a question about how to adjust the fit of the Magic Bias Dress from Fashion In Harmony, and I was asked if there are side seams for adjusting. I decided to do a special post to answer the question as I thought an explanation might be helpful to many of you who are making the dress. Just as a review, there are 3 main pieces to the dress. 2 sleeve patterns are included, but of course the sleeves is optional, the 3 main pattern pieces of the dress are not. There are no side seams in the dress. Look closely at the picture below. The largest pattern piece is the main body of the dress. You see the armholes and the back neck which are angled to the side. The smaller pattern piece in the top right hand corner is the front inset and includes the front neckline. Then there is a long triangular pattern piece. The long triangular piece is your key piece for adjusting the fit of the pattern. A few notes on bias garments; Remember that the bias grainline has the most stretch of the 3 grainlines in a piece of fabric. Typically, when a garment hangs on the bias, due to the stretchy nature of the bias grainline, it is not necessary to adjust the fit. With that said, bias garments look best if there are 4" to 7" of ease at the hips, at the VERY minimum, 3" of ease. Remember, we want the garment to skim the body and not cling or appear tight. If your shoulders are quite narrow compared to your bust and hip measurements, then it would be best to adjust the pattern. If your shoulders are quite narrow, choose your pattern size based on your upper bust measurement and then make adjustments to the pattern. The key to adjusting the Magic Bias Dress is the triangular pattern piece. Simply draw a line down the center of the pattern piece. Cut down the center of the pattern piece. If you need to adjust for a larger bust measurement, spread the top portion of the pattern piece the amount needed to obtain the desired ease for the bust. Also spread for the hips. If you need to adjust for an even larger hip measurement, the spread may angle out at the hip area. If the bust is fine, but you need more in the hips, cut down the center of the pattern and then keep the top portion of the triangle pattern piece together but spread for the hips. So now you see more of the "magic" of this pattern. A bias garment that's cut on the straight of grain is revolutionary. The fact that you can adjust the pattern by simply spreading what seems like a rather non-important pattern piece is ingenious! If you have any other questions about the pattern, please ask and I will do my best to answer.

I've been making plenty of circle skirts this past year as I am developing my first pattern which has 2 views, one with a 1/2 circle and another view with a gathered full circle skirt. So I quickly learned different ways to hem them. Circular hems are sometimes tricky to finish as its rounded shape makes it difficult to fold over and sew, which can result in a warped looking edge. Therefore the best (in my opinion) and easier way is to make a facing out of a strip of bias cut fabric. You can ch

BIAS TAPE: what is it, how to make it, and why you NEED it! Plenty of detail and description....all about single fold and double fold Bias Tape.

This is the third and final tutorial in my bias binding series. Many of my women's sewing patterns, including the Gemma tank shown in this post, use bias binding to finish the neckline and armholes. There...

Since I began sewing my wardrobe one of my goals was to make a quilted coat out of all my scraps and I finally made […]

Now, I promised to write this tutorial to show my Mum how I applied this finish to her top… and others expressed an interest too; thank you so much to everyone else who did… I finally did it, yay 😉 Mostly I would use this…Read More→

Finishing a neckline or armhole with bias facing can be a bit tricky, but there are a few ways to do it. This method is pretty foolproof and is great for adding a decorative bias band to the right side of your garment at the neckline or armhole. Also you don’t need a bias tape maker