Monday, June 21, 2010

A New Project

I was hard at work tonight, creating something new! Fun!

For my project I made some narrow piping for an accent. Out of pretty sky blue Fairy Frost (I don't think it's really sky blue, but I forgot what the actual name of the color was - I'll try to remember to check when I go in to the shop to teach tomorrow night).


Making this piping is really easy - there are several great piping books available by Susan K Cleveland. The one I learned with was Piping Hot Curves. I actually bought the book and ruler set, and love the ruler - it has a groove in it so you can trim your finished piping to have a perfect 1/4 inch seam allowance.
First things first. You start off with a 1 1/4 inch strip of bias (for my project I cut 6 of these out a half-yard of fabric). Sew them together end to end with a diagonal seam. You then sew the narrow poly cord into the fold of the fabric to create the cording. You can use your zipper foot for this, but I purchased a cording foot and it makes it even easier to sew because it has a groove for the cord and a perfect 1/4 seam allowance! As you can tell, I am all about the tools - I firmly believe that if there is a tool to make a technique easier it's well worth investing in it! Especially if it involves getting a perfect seam allowance!
After you sew your long strip, you trim it up so it has that 1/4 seam allowance, then it's ready to sew to your quilt.

Of course, it helps to have a good assistant to help with those trimmed edges!

After making my piping, I added it to the edges of an Emporer's Collection panel. I am still playing with the borders, but it's looking good so far! I want to do something a little different in the corners, but as it is late, it's time to wrap it up for the night. Hopefully I'll have time tomorrow to finish the borders!

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