When I made my Megan Nielsen Briar topΒ for Project #SewMyStyle, I did something a bit unusual to the hem. I finished the KNIT hem with WOVEN bias tape. And it turned out just lovely!
Mixing wovens and knits can get dicey, but I found (some) woven bias tape is stretchy enough to roll with (some) knits, and the bias tape hugs curves in a delightful way.
Instagram sewing pal @rosiejanesewsΒ asked for a tutorial on this knit + woven finish, so here it is! The technique lives somewhere between binding and facing. You use bias tape, but you’re not binding a raw edge. You fold the bias to the wrong side, but you don’t understitch it like a facing. (I asked sewists on IG for their two cents on this technique, and consensus was it’s closer to a facing than a binding.)
Why finish a knit with woven bias tape?
I’ve got three plum reasons to give this finish a bash. A bias-tape finish:
- Can add a pop of color to the inside of a garment (if that tickles your pickle).
- Neatly conceals and protects raw edges (and who doesn’t like that??).
- Adds a bit of mass to a bottom edge (which, depending on the design of your sewing project, can be a great construction detail).
The following directions for how to finish a knit with woven bias tape are for a conventional sewing machine. If you sew knits with a serger or coverstitch machine, I trust you’ll make appropriate adjustments.
Step 0: Test on a curved scrap of your fashion fabric.
It’s important to see if your fashion fabric and bias tape play nice together. Use a decent-sized test scrap to get a feel for how the fabrics will hang together. Yes, I’m telling you to go through the following directions on scrap fabric BEFORE doing the final edge.
Step 1: Make single bias tape.
Single bias tape is a bias strip folded in half the long way. Making it is simple:
1.) Cut bias strips.
2.) Press strips in half the long way, wrong sides together.
The tape should be made of lightweight fabric; a lightweight woven on the bias can be a good facsimile for a knit binding. For the record, when I made my single bias tape for the Briar top, I used Liberty of London cotton lawn (which was left over from my Sew Caroline Larchmont T.)
I used 1-inch wide tape for my Briar top. This width was easy to sew without being too big.
Step 2: Adjust the length of your garment.
The hem of the fashion fabric only will be turned up about one-eight inch using this technique. Adjust accordingly (likely removing length).
Step 3: Place right sides together, align raw edges, and stitch.
Use a one-eighth-inch seam allowance. Use a three-part straight stitch (strong and great for knits) or a narrow zig-zag. Balance keeping the stitches close to the raw edge with preventing them from straying into the seam allowance. This line of stitching will become the bottom of the hem and you don’t want it mangled.
Step 4: Turn tape to wrong side.
Pressing is key at this step. First, press the seam open, with the seam allowance pointing toward the bias (away from edge).
Next, press the bias toward the wrong side, rolling the bottom of the hem slightly to the wrong side (as if you were sewing a facing).
Pressing here shapes the fabric before you commit your final stitches.
Step 5: Topstitch in place.
Choose a stretch friendly stitch.
Step 6: Press using a tailor’s ham to mold the curved edges.
It’s not necessary, but a clapper at this point helps set the seam.
Step 7: Admire that finished edge!
And that’s how to finish a knit with woven bias tape! Have you tried using woven bias tape on knits? How did it go? What other tips would you add to this tutorial?Β Please sound off in comments!
Do you like this type of blog post? On the backend of my blog, these “educational” posts get a lot of action and live a long life. If there’s something you’d like me to explore, lay it on me! Research is my jam.
P.S. ICYMI, here’s my post from last week:Β My body type analysis (aka, me in my underwear). And let me tell you β I’ve already used my croqui to firm up plans for my next sewing project, WAHOO!
P.P.S. Here are a handful of those “educational” posts I’m talking about:
Buying an iron for sewing: 5 irons less than $100 from Amazon
How to press scuba knit and more: Tips for working with scuba fabric
Sewing patterns for yoga clothes: 4 yoga sewing patterns, side by side
Thanks for this tutorial. The seam looks very neat.
Regards Muriel
Thanks for reading, Muriel! When I can swing it, I love having clean-looking insides of garments!
Such a great post, Erin! I love having another option to serged seams on some of my knit tops that just beg for a little something more. Thanks for the great photos and tutorial- I’m going to try this tonight!
Glad to hear that you’re eager to try it out! Let me know how it goes!
Sorry, meant to say “edges” not “seams” but hopefully you knew what I was thinking……:)
Oh, I got ya! π
I love your tutorial but it left me with a question that I don’t think was addressed but it could be my problem not yours! You say to press the bias tape, wrong sides together lengthwise in half BUT when you’re sewing the bias tape onto the bottom of your hem it looks like it had been folded in half TWICE (in other words it looks like it’s 1/4″ wide when you’re sewing it to the bottom not the 1/2″ it would be if folded only once in half. Does this make sense? Am I not seeing it correctly in your photos? Thanks for your help!
You’re right on about the 1/2-wide tape! I started with a 1-inch bias strip and folded it in half. So when it’s doubled up, it’s 1/2-inch wide.
Let me try to answer your question, though —
When the tape is first sewn to the hem, you sew through three layers – two layers of bias and one layer of the fashion fabric.
When the bias tape is rolled to the inside, the tape now is about 3/8ths – 1/2-inch wide minus 1/8-inch seam allowance.
And when you do the final topstitching, you’re still stitching through three layers of fabric – the bias tape folded in half and one layer of fashion fabric.
Please let me know if I can be more clear! Thanks for asking, and thanks for reading!
P.S. You could make bias tape in any width; 1 inch worked best for me! Like I say in the post, be sure to test before doing the final finish!
Thanks again Erin! Your response was super clear – in the pictures it actually LOOKS like it’s folded twice but it is only once which makes sense. I’m going to try this because I do love that bias finish on a woven top and I can imagine it would be just as nice on knit and provide some stability if that’s what you’re after. But I will practice first π I am a practicer because why not? It’s fun too!
OK, good! I’m glad I was able to help you! Yay!!
Thank you for that tutorial I for one am going to give it a try as I usually cut and make a facing even for the arm holes.
I used a pattern that has a sleeve and didnβt know to cut the armhole smaller or even how. Maybe youβd like to show us how to do that.
I also wanted robtake the same pattern and cut the regular sleeve into a bell sleeve especially for work.
Many thanks
Hi, Julie! Thanks for reading! Thanks for the post suggestions, too.
Good luck with the bias tape technique. I think as long as you’re gentle with the armhole and don’t stretch it, you’ll probably be OK. You might want to staystitch the opening first. Try it and see what happens!
This is such a good idea. I don’t like the look of most hems used for knits. The double needle is nice, but just not as clean as this. I doubt it would take much longer than other methods. I always have some batiste bias strips cut in a few colors anyway. Now I have another thing to use them for. Will be testing it out this weekend as I’m finishing up a knit top.
Thanks so much
Hi, Brooke! Thanks for reading! I think batiste would be great for this application.
Have fun finishing your top!
I’ve never seen bias tape just folded once in the middle. You refer to this as single bias tape. I guess this is different from single-fold bias tape, then, since that has the left quarter and the right quarter folded in to meet at the center of the tape (and double-fold is single-fold tape that’s then folded at that midpoint).
Yes, it is different! Thanks for reading.
I am going to try this . Hope it works!
Good luck, and let us know how it goes. π
I loved your tutorial. Can you please tell me if I am correct? Neck bands are usually serged in the round. Binding is usually bias sewn to woven. When would someone use a binding attachment on a coverstitch? I am so confused!
Yes, neckbands usually are attached “in the round.” They can be sewn with a sewing machine or serger/overlocker.
Bias binding usually is attached to wovens to finish a raw edge. Bias binding is stretchy and works especially well for curved raw edges that would be a pain to turn under and stitch down (to finish a raw edge).
Now, I don’t have a coverstitch machine, so I’m speaking a little out of school here. But – it’s my understanding that you use a binding attachment on a coverstitch to attach a binding (usually/always a knit binding) to the raw edge of of a knit garment.
My sewing pal, Johanna LΓΌndstrom of The Last Stitch, has TONS of coverstitch intel on her site – thelaststitch.com (I think that’s the URL). She also wrote a book on coverstitching. She’s the expert!
When it comes to knit binding, in my experience it’s usually a strip of fabric cut on the crossgrain (left to right vs. up and down). The crossgrain of a knit is stretchy enough to finish a neckline (which needs a touch of negative ease to keep it from flopping open).
Does all this make sense? LMK! Thanks for asking & reading. β₯οΈ
I’m wondering if this would work for necklines on t-shirts. I have a bunch of t-shirts that have cute saying on them, but the neckline always feels like it is choking me. I was thinking of cutting down the neckline and finishing with bias tape, since I don’t have extra fabric to make a new binding with.
Hi, Claudine. Thanks for reading! If you re-cut the neck opening to be large enough, I *think* this would work. I think I’m going to try a woven bias binding on my Cass T-shirt, just for kicks.
I, as always, suggest testing your hypothesis. Cut a large-ish rectangle out of scrap fabric that’s similar to your T-shirts, and then cut a circle/oval in the rectangle for a neck opening. (I suggest measuring the neckline of a shirt that feels good to you and cutting that circumference.) Use woven bias binding to finish the test neck opening, and pop it over your head (yeah, basically I told you to make a dickie). You can see what circumference neck feels right to you and translate that to your T-shirt/s.
Something to think about – you might find that you need to staystitch the neck opening and/or interface/stabilize it to keep it from stretching out. Test, test, test.
Good luck!