Piping is making a comeback in clothing as a nice edge finish on necklines and opening edges. In home dec, piping is always popular in pillows, slip covers, and adds a nice finish to curtain tie-backs.
Detail of jacket by the master of piping, Kenneth King, from his book "Designer Techniques" published by Sterling Inc.
For a garment construction, use a soft filler such as yarn, cable cord or rattail cord (Kenneth King's favourite). Be sure to pre-shrink the filler. The fabric for piping is cut on the bias to allow the piping to curve without wrinkles; if your piping is only going to trim a straight edge, you can cut the fabric on the straight grain or the cross wise grain. But if you have any corners or curves, cut the strips on the bias; bias piping yields some interesting effects. Consider a stripe to accent a solid colour - the piping will have diagonal stripes in it, like a barber shop pole. In home dec magazines, you will often see striped piping accenting floral fabrics. With the same colours in both, the two designs are mutually complementary.
Fine striped piping on a pillow Scanned from "Designer Techiques" by Kenneth King, published by Sterling.
Cut the bias strips 1 ½"- 2" wide; this allows for two seam allowances and enough to wrap around your cord. You can always trim away excess fabric later. Join the strips at a 45 degree angle to reduce bulk in the seam allowances. Press seams open. Tie fabric makes great piping since ties are cut on the bias and you can find some wonderful silks and silky fabrics in old ties.
Piping outlines this shawl collar This collar is actually double piped with a bias satin strip and a striped knit cut at right angles to the knit, picture scanned from "More Power Sewing" by Sandra Betzina.
The trick to perfect piping is to apply the piping in 2 stages, with the needle in two different positions. My machine has only three needle positions, left, center, and right, and I have to move the zipper foot rather than the needle to get the needle in the right position. Position #1 is with the needle as close to the foot as possible. Position #2 is with the needle about 1/8" to the outside of position #1 (i.e. farther away from the presser foot). Position #1 is "used on anything that is not a final seam." (Kenneth King, Designer Techniques)
"Position #2 is for final seams only." (Kenneth King, Designer Techniques)
Needle positions for applying piping
To make the piping, lay the filler cord on the wrong side of your bias and fold the fabric over to cover the cord. Stitch beside the cord with the zipper foot butted against the cord and the needle in position #1.
Apply the piping to the right side of the garment so that the seam allowances of the piping lie along the seam allowances of the garment. You want the stitching line to lie directly on top of the seam line on the garment. With the needle in position #2, stitch the piping to the garment piece, pushing the zipper foot as close to the piping as possible. This falls just to the left of the first line of stitching, thereby making that first line fall within the seam allowance.
Tip: Sandra Betzina finds that applying all the piping by machine stiffens up the seamline too much. So she applies the piping to the garment edge by hand, then does only one line of machine sewing when she attaches the facing or lining over the piping.
One more step - To sew the piped edge to its corresponding facing, pin the two fabric pieces right sides together with the piping sandwiched in between. Now turn the fabric over and place the garment on the machine with the first stitching line on top. You can then see this stitching line and sew right on top of it. This ensures that, when the piece is turned right side out, no stitching is seen next to the piping. Your piping will be snugged right up to the seamline.
Tip - If you do not have different needle positions on your machine, get a zipper foot which can be moved by a back screw to the right or left of the needle. The old Singer zipper foot is great for this and cost me a whopping $3. It will fit most machines which have a low straight shank with a screw hole on the left side of the shank. Some machines have a "pearls and piping" foot which has a groove on the underside. This allows you to ride the foot right over the piping while stitching just to the side of it.
Double piping on a jacket by Sandra Betzina
Sandra Betzina uses a lot of piping in her garments and even does double and triple piping for very interesting effects. Refer to her book, More Power Sewing, for several references to piping. I also recommend Kenneth King's book Designer Techniques, which will inspire you to add beautiful couture touches to both your garments and home dec items.
Any sewing questions? I would be happy to try and answer them: you can email me at mail@timmelfabrics.com
Copyright by Julie Culshaw, November 2000
