Rhapsody 2.0 - And Homemade Bias Binding

Pattern - Love Notions Rhapsody & Dress
Skill Level - Intermediate
Fabric - Rayon challis from Fabricland
Skills - French seams, bias binding, burrito roll method
Pattern Links - French seams, burrito roll method, bias binding

My favourite pattern just got an upgrade!  The new Rhapsody still has all the bonus features that the original Rhapsody had - the full bust piece and 8 sleeves options but now there's a dress option and the size range is more inclusive as well!  So much in one little package!  And for those who use a projector, there's a file for that, too.

The raw edge of the neckline is finished with bias binding (although you can skip that entirely if you want and just fold the edge under and stitch). You can definitely buy bias binding but if you make your own, you will guarantee a perfect match.  Making your own is surprisingly easy and you can make more than enough from a 12" square.  There are a couple of links in the pattern tutorial to bias binding articles, but I thought I'd go through the procedure I followed to make my 3/8" double-fold tape - step by step.

Making Your Own Bias Tape

First you start with a 12" square

Cut the square in half diagonally and pin the halfway points top and bottom

Lay one triangle on top of the other - right sides together - matching the centre pins

Now stitch them together on the pinned edge with a 1/4" seam

Press the seam open

Now take the fabric back to your cutting mat and lay it out with the top against a horizontal line.  This helps ensure that your fabric doesn't distort.  Draw lines 1.5" apart - you can use a pen or a pencil as you'll be cutting on those lines eventually.  That's the width for 3/8" double fold tape.  If you're making 1/4" double fold, the lines should be 1.25" apart.  Trim off any excess fabric.

This next part is the only tricky part so take your time.  With right sides together, match lines, but offset one strip.  I usually start pinning in the middle and work my way to the edges.  So you will have a one strip width sticking out each end.

Take it to your sewing machine and stitch a seam 1/4" from the edge.  Press the seam open.

Now just start at one end and keep cutting following the line until you have one long strip of fabric cut on the bias.

Now you're ready to make the tape.  If you're making 1/4" double fold you use a 12mm tape maker (or 1/2") and if you're making 3/8" double fold like I did you use an 18mm tape maker (or 3/4").

Insert one pointed edge of the strip in the tape maker with the right side down.  As it feeds through, press with your iron. 

You now have single fold tape.  To get double fold tape, you just fold it over once more and press.

I store my finished tape on empty toilet rolls and store them in one of my sewing drawers.  And once you know how to make your own bias tape from a small square of fabric, you'll never have to buy it again!

Securing the 3/4 Sleeve Cuff

And one more little thing.  To keep the cuff where it's supposed to be I always do a "stitch in the ditch" on the seamline plus about 5 stitches at the opposite. 

If your thread is a good match, no one will ever know it's there, but your cuff will stay folded up.

Now back to the Rhapsody!  I chose a rayon challis border print to make mine.  I cut my pieces to make maximum use of the print and even managed to get the back yoke and sleeve ends on the border print. 

The Rhapsody is the perfect summer top - it's light and loose, just what you need for warm weather.  If you already have the Rhapsody, the updated version is in your account on the Love Notions website.  If you don't have it yet, you can get it through my affiliate link below.

Love Notions Rhapsody Blouse & Dress sizes XS to 5XL

Making Your Own Bias Tape

Pattern - Love Notions Pullover and Hoodie for Men
Skill Level - Confident Beginner
Fabric - Brushed sweatshirt fleece and ribbing from l'oiseau fabrics
Skills - Making your own bias tape

Love Notions' newest addition is the North Star Pullover and Hoodie for men.  Now you can make this great pullover for the whole family!  Collar style or hoodie - the guys are going to love it!  The details really make it and the bias binding for the neck is so easy and gives you a professional finish to be proud of.  In fact, you'll want to make it stand out and you can do that by making your own bias binding.  And once you find out how easy it is to make your own bias binding, you may never buy it again!

Did you realize you can make a huge amount of bias binding from a 12" square?

Since the North Star (and the Constellation for women and the Navigator for children) calls for 1/2" double fold bias binding I used my 25mm tape maker.  Click on any picture to see it more clearly.

So I started by cutting a 12" square of my fabric - in this case it was a beautiful rayon that worked with the heathered burgundy sweatshirt fleece and black accent materials from l'oiseau fabrics.

Next, slice diagonally through the square from one corner to the opposite one.

Mark the centre opposite of each triangle with a pin - as I have in the picture

Now match the pins and your fabric pieces will look like this.

Pin those sides together, take it to your sewing machine, stitch with a 1/4" seam and press it open.

Back to the cutting mat because I like the grid lines to make sure my top and bottom are parallel.  I draw - with a pen - lines every 2".  The pen doesn't matter, because eventually I'll be using that as my cutting guide.

Now the tricky part!  Bring the short sides together to match lines creating a tube, but offset the lines by one strip so that you have a 2" strip overhanging on each side.  Initially this was a little awkward for me, but I eventually mastered it.

Once you've pinned your lines together, stitch along the edge with a 1/4" seam and press it open.

Now you're ready to cut along the lines with your scissors to get the 2" strip.

Time to bring the bias tape maker into play!  Feed the pointed end of the strip into your 25mm tape maker with the right side to the back - you can use a pin to help it through.  It's quite magical how the tape is folded as you pull it out!  Press the folded tape with your iron while gently pulling back with the tape maker.  Be careful to hold the tape maker by the handle so you don't get steam burns!

Once you've run the strip through the tape maker, you can now fold this in half and press it to get your 1/2" double folded bias tape.  My 12" square of fabric gave me 66" of tape - more than enough for the neckline of the North Star and a nice little bit left for another project!

I store my tape on cardboard rolls and secure them with a pin.  I have a whole drawer full of beautiful bias tape.  You can use this same method for other size tape makers - cut:

• 1.25" for a 12mm maker to get 1/4" double fold tape
• 1.5" for an 18mm maker to get 3/8" double fold tape - and of course
• 2" for a 25mm maker to get 1/2" double fold tape

Here are a few more examples of how I used bias tape in the necks of this pullover. This was cotton batik on a test muslin.

And this was the neck binding for a hooded version.

And tiny pink roses for this burgundy and black hoodie.

And don't forget plain quilting cotton - but you can still make a statement with it!

Now that you know how to make your own bias tape, you're ready to dress up those neck seams of your pullovers and make them pop!

And if you don't already have this amazing pattern - or the other members of its family - you can get them from my affiliate links below.

Love Notions North Star Pullover and Hoodie for men
Love Notions Constellation Pullover and Hoodie for women
Love Notions Navigator Pullover and Hoodie for children

To Understitch Or Not?

I didn't enjoy high school sewing - it was basic and boring and I dropped out as soon as I could!  However, sewing is in my blood - my grandmother was a real whiz, my grandfather was a Singer dealer and genealogy showed me a long line of seamstresses in my background - so I had to give it another try.  I took sewing in night school a few years later and learned a LOT!  And one of those lessons was the importance of understitching.

So what is understitching?  It's a line of stitching close to the seamline on the facing (or bias tape) side which prevents your neckline from rolling.  It keeps that facing where it's supposed to be.  It reinforces the seam - makes it stronger and less likely to fray with woven fabrics. And it makes turning that neckline (or sleeveless armscye) just so much easier.

I wanted to see what the real differences were with necklines understitched and not understitched so I cut 2 XS necklines from Love Notions' new Harmony blouse.

It calls for a facing of 1/2" single fold bias tape on the neckline.  I was careful while stitching down the bias tape to follow the curve of the neckline - not to straighten it while sewing - as this will cause stretching and the neckline will not lie flat if this happens.  You can stay stitch the neckline before sewing on the bias tape to prevent this, but I was lazy and wanted to get the job done - so I was careful!

I stitched the bias tape to both necklines to make a proper comparison.

Next, I understitched one neckline.  I brought the seam to the facing side and stitched slightly less than 1/8" from the seamline while holding the seam to the facing side.

I took both necklines to my iron.  The understitched neckline was so much easier to iron!  Most of the work had already been done for me by the understitching.  The other neckline took more work to make sure that the facing didn't show.  It seemed to me that the understitched one also lay flatter.

Finally, I topstitched both necklines.  (And wouldn't you know - I ran out of thread while topstitching the understitched one!) The understitched one on the right definitely lay flatter.

After ironing, both necklines lay flat, but I could see where a bit of facing was peeking up on the non-understitched one and the neckline wasn't as smooth.

Conclusion?  If you want the neckline to be as trouble-free and smooth as possible, definitely take a little time and understitch it!

And want to try your hand at understitching?  Love Notions has a couple of great patterns that are easy to sew and you can use my affiliate links below to get them if they aren't already in your inventory.

Love Notions Harmony Blouse
Love Notions Cadence Dress & Top