Review/Tutorial: Prym Bias Binding Tool, Me-Made Corsetry Plus Some Sneaky Sewing Time

 Bear with me sewing people. This post is going to be quite long as it has some sewing with loads of pics plus a product review for a tool that I find to be one of the most useful that I own. Now to start off I was at the Studio yesterday and managed to sneak in a  little sewing time, in between moving furniture and mini-meetings.

Totally rocking shot  of Lois Wetherup by the awesome  Tom Farmer @ Glasgow Photographer, Knickers and fascinator by the super-taleneted Marie @ Amuse Bouche. Corset by me.

There is much going on at the moment, everything is in a state of flux, so loads to do.

Recognize this fabric? Yep, it is the leftovers from my Flea Market Fancy shirt. Nothing wasted in Kitty Towers.

More on that when it is all finalized. However despite all the too-ing and fro-ing I managed to complete the lining for the orange neck corset and make the outer and lining for a red one.

Lovely super thick silk, so many pieces.

The red one will match the corset above that I was commissioned to make for a Miss Scotland to be featured in a Christmas-themed shoot for The Sun newspaper a year or so ago. I am trying not to look at my wrinkly fabric. Nice fit though for only having the rough measurements.

I am going to use the two of these in the upcoming photo-shoot and am looking forward to getting them finished. I have to say that making a neck corset probably takes me as long as making a bigger one.

I always line in quilting cottons. They are so pretty and the cotton is nice to wear next to the skin.

My pattern has 12 pieces to cut out in the outer silk fabric, interfacing, corset coutil and then a lining. the shell is sewn up from the interfaced silk flat-lined to the coutil. The boning is sewn to the shell and the lining will be hand-stitched onto that to keep it in place. They don't lie flat as they are both shaped to be three-dimensional. Plus I will steam them into shape and leave them to cool down in the same way that you would do a coat collar.

Once that is done I will  tidy up the edges and cover them with bias binding, sandwiching all the layers together and unpicking the holding stitches. This is where one of my favorite wee gadgets comes in - my Prym bias binding tool.

NB.To be fair I also have ones from Clover and they are equally as useful but this is the one I will always reach for first as I like the little handle and the size.

One of my favourite tools, ever!

The tools are simplicity itself to use and they come with pretty good instructions but here is my method.

Here are my bias strips. I have ironed them flat. Look how the grain is on the diagonal. That is the bias and will allow it to curve round edges easily.

You will want to cut out strips ON THE BIAS that are twice the width as stated on the tool e.g for a 12mm tool cut 24mm, for an 18mm tool cut 36mm, etc. If I am using silk (as I am here) I cut out 40mm strips instead of 36mm just because they will shrink widthways when you pull them through the maker. You won't need to do this with a thicker fabric like cotton.

Plus you need to be quite accurate in your cutting or your will get wonky binding.

The back of the tool. Right side of fabric facing this way.

An easy way to get your first cutting line is to fold over one end of your fabric so that the selvedge is at 90 degrees to the selvedge on the other side to form a right-angled triangle. Give this an iron and, hey-ho, your cutting line. The pointy ends of your strips make it easy to push through the maker but if they don't you can pull it through gently with a pin.

To make your binding you will need to push your fabric through the tool with the right side facing downwards. The fabric will be folded round as it goes through to create the little flaps on the back of the bias as illustrated below.

Please ignore the stray thread. Never noticed that one when I was taking the pic.

It helps to secure the end of your strip to your ironing board with a pin so that you can pull against it gently when you are ironing. Use loads of steam (test your fabric first) and keep the point of the iron quite close to where the binding comes out. you should then end up with beautiful "single-fold" flat binding that you can either use as is or iron over double to create "double-fold" tape.

Easy peasy! Now you have no excuse for finding matching binding, plus the design options are endless. I really recommend buying one of these if you use binding at all. They come in lots of widths too and are only about £7 or £8 depending on size & brand.

Apologies for the wonky photo editing and hopefully will have a few more things to show next week.
Take care,  lovelies!
Kxx

P.S. I won a sewing pattern  giveaway from the brilliant "Pendle Stitches" blog so will be making a much needed bag at some point. Huge thanks for the pattern. Am chuffed to bits. xx


Disclaimer: The views above are totally my own and this is definitely not a sponsored post.

Sheets, Shirts and Wardrobe Planning

This blog is a little late as I was recovering from the weekend. No drink was consumed, just the usual amount of running around like a headless chicken. Sprogzilla had a friend sleepover Saturday night- they were  really great to be honest- but I was too knackered yesterday to think about anything much bar some mindless iPad scrying. Well not totally "mind"-less, I spent a lot of time reading the Into Mind website which is all about personal style and wardrobe building prompted by the recent "Wardrobe Architect" posts on The Colleterie blog.

Those of you that know me in real life can stop laughing now as yes, I do resemble the Cat Lady from The Simpsons on most occasions (nor do I care) but recent changes in my day job mean that I am going to have to bite the bullet and start dressing like a sensible adult. However, I hate with a passion most of the baggy, shapeless tents that pass for plus-sized clothes, plus I don't want to look like a corporate Stepford Wife. Is it possible to retain a bit of individuality and still toe the party line? I am going to give it a good try.

I have cut out the pattern this week for Simplicity 2339. This pattern is one from their "Amazing Fit" range which has different sized pattern pieces for A, B, C and D-cups. All well and good but a bit of a non-event for me as I still have to do a 4-inch FBA over and above the biggest size, plus a broad back adjustment. I am really taking my time doing the flat-pattern alterations and am using both my Fast Fit book from Sandra Betzina and the "Sew Busted" Maria Alto DVD to help with the FBA and lowering the bust dart. And people ask why I never make myself anything!

I actually have muslin to make a muslin up in. I am taking this really seriously as I would like to have some smart, well-fitting shirts for a change and a TNT pattern would be nice. However, I am not sure that my fabric choices are serious. First off on the left I have a lovely vintage cotton sheet, the fabric is beautiful, and on the right is some quilting cotton "Flea Market Fancy" from Westminster Fibres that I bought in John Lewis. I am hankering after polka dot button plackets and collar/cuffs with these but might just play it safe. The quilting cotton is quite thin so I thought it would be OK for a shirt. I will get the final adjustments cut out tomorrow night. Hope that it fits after all the changes.

Excuse me Miss but your shirt is sheet. Well! There's no need to be rude.

I managed to get a half hour of wandering round the shops on Saturday and managed to pick up a couple of nice necklaces in a blue colourway. I bought a lot of vintage turquoise beads a couple of weeks ago and am looking to layer them up so need to add to the collection first. I love the colours and the owl is so cute.

Fashionable? I don't give a hoot.

Anyway, do you plan your wardobe? Is it a bit organic or set out with military precision? Do you ruthlessly cull the old and sick or just keep adding and still have nothing to wear (like me)?

Kxx