Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Scalloped Piping Tutorial......

I really like the look of scalloped piping. And it is very easy to make, not to mention quick and pretty inexpensive. I thought others may enjoy making their own scalloped piping....so I created this tutorial. All you need is fabric and a sewing machine.....let's get started!
First start with bias strips you have joined together to approximately the length you need. You really have to use bias strips here. The width doesn't matter so much. I make them wide enough so they go through the sewing machine well without getting hung up on the feed dogs. After the piping is finished you can trim the raw edges down to the width needed for the seam allowances on the item you are working on.
Fold the strip in half.
Set your machine to the blind hem stitch. On my machine I can reverse the stitch so that the little "v's" are on the right side and the straight stitches are on the left side. If you cannot reverse your stitch check your machine manual to see if you have a stitch like the one I just described. It may be called a "shell stitch." If not, you should still be able to do this with the regular blind hem stitch. You'll just put your fabric under the needle differently.
So...if you can reverse the blind hem stitch....then put your fabric in with the fold on the right side. If you can only do the regular blind hem stitch then put your fabric in with the fold on the left side. Make sure you are using a presser foot that can accommodate a zig zag stitch....I can't tell you how many needles I have broken from not checking the presser foot first.
Now we need to set some adjustments for the machine. Set the stitch width at 5.0. Set the stitch length at 2.0. And I have to increase my tension to 10. You may not have to alter the tension....check and see.
Position your fabric under the needle so that when the needle goes down it will go completely off the fold of the fabric and "into the air" so to speak. Then for the straight stitches it will swing back onto the fabric. Then start stitching.
Continue stitching in this manner....with the needle swinging off of the fabric and then back onto the fabric for the straight stitches.
After a few stitches take a look at the strip coming out of the machine to see if it looks like what you want. If not, make some more adjustments. If it looks correct...then keep stitching!
Continue to stitch for the length needed. When you are finished you can trim off the raw edges to the seam allowance needed for your project.
Then the piping can be applied just like any piping.....like on the dress above.....
Here you can see the piping on the dress as it buttons on the shoulder.

I think the scalloped piping looks great anywhere!!! Try it and see if you like it. If you have any questions feel free to ask!!! I'm no expert....but I will definitely try to help!!!

*Edited to add - This dress was made from the “Polly” pattern by Pintucks and Pettiecoats. 

*Check out my post about my favorite lotion for crafters here.

40 comments:

Chickie said...

Thanks for the tutorial! That's a really cool technique. I can't wait to try it.

Susan said...

It's really cute and looks very easy to do. I've never put piping on anything, though, so the whole thing will be new to me. Could this go around the bottom edge of a short sleeve? Or around a collar?

Cindy said...

Kelley....You're welcome!! I'd love to see what you make!!

Susan....Thanks!! You could definitely put it around the bottom edge of a short sleeve. When you were finished you'd have to decide if you wanted to finish the raw edges or if you needed to apply a bias facing to finish the edges(that is what I did with the dress shown on this post). Easy to do....harder to explain with only words. I may have to work up another tutorial to better explain it and show visuals.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the info! I can't wait to get my new pattern and try this!

Karen said...

Now that is just the sweetest thing. I've never seen this done, and I have three little girls that are my friend's daughters that I'd love to do this for. Thanks for the tutorial!

CandlebyNight said...

Oh I love it! Thank you. I've just learned to do my own piping in the last couple of years and really enjoy using it in my sewing. You can check out my sewing blog if you like at www.xanga.com/Jude1_22

E Caughron said...

What a great idea! Thanks for sharing, I had seen the shoulder button picture and wondered how you had made the scalloped trim. Found you blog just a couple of days ago from Cheryl.- Erin

Cindy said...

Cheryl M...you're welcome. I can't wait to see your creation!!

Karen...You'll have to post pics so we can all see!!!

candlebynight...love your blog!! You do beautiful smocking!!! Thanks so much for stopping by and saying "hi."

Erin...I'm glad you found me through Cheryl. And I'm thrilled you said "hi." If you have any questions just let me know.

Jessica said...

This is such a cool technique...I have never seen it before! Thanks for sharing!

Cindy said...

You're welcome Jessica!!!!

Katie said...

Cindy, this is my most favoritest =) trick of yours, ever! Thanks for sharing the instructions. It looks so neat.

Cindy said...

Katie...thanks!!! I would love to see what you create using this technique!!! I love it too!

greateight said...

This is great. They were showing you how to do the shell stitch in Sew Beautiful as a hem, but this is great. I love it as a "piping" without the cord (always seem to run out of the cord and end up using yarn or whatever I can find around the house).

Sewandthecity said...

Hi, I have featured this lovely idea in a blog post called 20 ways with piping. Please check it out if you’d like.
http://sewandthecity.blogspot.com/2011/09/twenty-ways-with-piping.html

Best regards
Irina

iveyc95 said...

Oh my!!! I am so happy you posted this Cindy. I've had that same dress cut out forever and never have finished it cause the scallop technique was going to take forever. But this is genious!!! Thank you.

Auntie Pam said...

Cindy, Tried it on a strip of fabric not bias with same settings, no luck, it really has to be a bias strip to work?
Will try again tomorrow & let you know Love this dress from Sew Beautiful #80-Pascale real similiar to Cherry Williams basic yoke dress, just with no smocking. I started y Heirloom sewing on Cherry Williams patterns, just love them & Sew Beautiful & Precious Martha Pullen!!

Donna Babylon said...

I loved learning about this technique! Thanks so much for sharing. I can't wait to try it.

Donna Babylon said...

I loved learning about this technique! Thanks so much for sharing. I can't wait to try it.

Roselee said...

super cute - and so simple! I will definitely be trying this soon!

Maria said...

Thanks for this clever tutorial. I'll be trying it out.

Unknown said...

I was looking for a nice trim for a pillow case and I think this will work for me. I am going to try it later today and see how it works. thanks for the easy to understand tutorial.

Sheryl said...

I wonder if you could do this to the hem of T-shirt sleeves and bottoms to get a lettuce-edge type look?

Unknown said...

Thanks for the tutorial, but for some reason I can't see the dress to see what it looked like :(

Unknown said...

Thanks for the tutorial, but for some reason I cannot see the dress to see it finished :(

Kate said...

I couldn't see the photos on the piping tutorial. :( But I read your blog and look forward to reading more. Thanks, Kate

Cindy said...

Judy and Kate ~ I'm not sure what's going on with the photos. Sometimes I refresh the page and they all pop up and then sometimes they don't. I will continue to troubleshoot it and see what I can find out. Thanks again for letting me know! Blessings!!!

Unknown said...

I love this!! Thank you so much. It is always a challenge to think of ways to do an even scallop trim. ♥

SewingSadie said...

Hi Cindy, The scalloped piping is so pretty and could be used in many different ways! Thanks so much for your detailed and easy to follow tutorial. I will print it out and save it for when I can use it in the perfect way. But I'd better practice first!!! Thanks again! Many Blessings...

ncredbird said...

I am a quilter and this would make a darling inset piping on a quilt!

Amievoltaire said...

How fun! Thank you for sharing :<) Can't wait to try this.

Beesknees said...

I love this! I like to put piped binding on my quilts and I am thinking that this will work great in place of the piping that is attached to the binding. I can just see this cute binding on a baby quilt! Thanks for a great tutorial.

DonnaRae said...

I am looking at the date of this tute. 2008!?!? 6 years later I am reading it. How did I miss this way back when? Where have you been hiding? Or rather why have I not been paying attention! (-:

Thank You Bunches for this tutorial.

DonnaRae said...

I am looking at the date of this tute. 2008!?!? 6 years later I am reading it. How did I miss this way back when? Where have you been hiding? Or rather why have I not been paying attention! (-:

Thank You Bunches for this tutorial.

DonnaRae said...

I am looking at the date of this tute. 2008!?!? 6 years later I am reading it. How did I miss this way back when? Where have you been hiding? Or rather why have I not been paying attention! (-:

Thank You Bunches for this tutorial.

Claudia/Ompompali said...

I just found your tutorial on pinterest and it's such a neat idea. I will save it until the opportunity arises to use it - it's definately worth a try. Thanks for sharing!

Auntie Henno said...

What a wonderful site blessed lady, and for sharing your expertise.

God Bless.

Helen

Denver

Stefanie Orton said...

This is the most amazing thing!!! I'm working on a quiet book and wanted to jazz up the edges a little. I searched for alternatives to standard piping and this came up. I have never seen anything like this and I am seriously giddy right now! I busted out some scrap fabric because I just couldn't wait to try it and it worked beautifully! At first the scallops weren't as pronounced as I wanted them, so I bumped up the tension and now they're perfect! Thank you times a million!!! This is exactly what I was looking for!!!!

Tena said...

That is SO smart! Thanks for sharing!

thejoyfulcottage said...

THANK YOU for sharing this and may the Lord bless your homeschooling ABUNDANTLY!!

A homeschooling Momma and now Grammie for going on 37yrs,

Ginny in KY

Cindy said...

Ginny,

Thank you so much!!!

Blessings to you!!!

Cindy

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