piping

I've reached the conclusion that each post needs to be about one topic. Otherwise I get overwhelmed by the amount of creation-related topics I want to share!


So in this post, we will talk about piping. What is piping (in the sewing world)? It is a strip of bias fabric that wraps a piece of string. Or, generally speaking, it is a strip of "flat" fabric with a "bulky" edge. You use it to decorate your sewing creations (pillows, clothes) by adding it as an accent around the borders or in any seam. 


For example, this beautiful dress has black piping around the edges:

{ Fatina in White with black piping by yoshimi }

This skirt has piping along the panel seams, which accentuate them and make it totally different and really pretty I think :-):

{ Aimee's A-Line by aimefemme }

 The piping in this jacket totally upgrades it:

{ Seeing Double by Myk }

This clutch with piping is so beautiful! I am so inspired by it for my future bag sewing:

{ Everyday Clutch by amandamechele }

One last one: how can we talk about piping without seeing a pillow with piping?

{ Square Pillow with Zipper & Piping }

Well, now that we agree how pretty piping is and how it can totally upgrade a sewing project, I hunted the internet for tutorials on how to add it, and found this excellent set of videos. Here's a good one to start with:

On the list of related videos on the right, you will find more videos from this series: how to make the piping yourself, how to sew it in a circle and in a 90 degree angle, and so much more. Definitely worth watching.


They say you need a special presser foot in order to install piping. The piping foot for my Bernina Activa 240 is piping foot #38:

{ Bernina piping foot #38 }

It costs 120 NIS at the shop which is around 20 Euros, and they don't have it in stock. I managed relatively well installing white piping on my red dress with this presser foot, which came with the machine: 

{ Bernina blindstitch foot #5 }

I ran the metal bar along the piping, and the seam came all the way up to the piping. I tried the zipper foot first, but the seam came out about 2 millimeters away from the piping, which won't look good I think. 


Well that's it for piping for today. What do you think? Have you done any project with piping? Do you have any tips? Please share!