Perfect Piping or Piping Pitfalls

There's nothing quite like custom piping to accent a garment or home dec project !  Pre-packaged polyester/cotton piping simply can't compare to custom! I just love adding piping to a neckline; it keeps the lining or facing from rolling to the public side.

There are many filler cord options depending on how you would like the piping to perform.  I have experimented with cotton yarn, cotton cable cord, rayon mouse tail, rayon rat tail and polyester mouse tail.  I like using the cotton yarn as my filler cord for garments because it is more pliable than rayon mouse tail. This is especially important when piped seam lines intersect other seam allowances; the machine can sew over the intersection much more easily and there's a much flatter intersection. (see black denim vest above)  Also, the cotton yarn piping washes and dries beautifully.  Rayon mouse tail offers a very smooth surface, however, it tends to be somewhat rigid in many garment fabrics making it stiff at seam line intersections. (You can always remove 1/2 inch of the filler cord near the seam allowances to reduce the bulk.)  I certainly don't want my piped seams to look or feel like spokes on a lamp shade!  On bridal wear and corset- type garments this can provide additional support.  Cotton cable cord is a better choice for home dec projects where the cable ribs are less likely to echo through on heavier weight fabrics. This is exactly why I spend time testing a few samples to evaluate the pliability and size of each cord in the respective fabric.

Begin the process of making bias strips by folding the selvage (finished edge) of the fabric to a 90 degree angle.(see bias strip at end of post.)  The soft fold will be a true 45 degree angle.  Slice up this fold.  I like to cut my strips anywhere from 1 inch to 1 1/4 inches.

If my piping fabric is a slippery fabric like silk charmeuse I know I am going to be hand-basting my filler cord into the bias strip.  Cotton fabrics  usually have enough 'tooth' and may not
necessarily need to be hand basted. Often times the strategic placement of my fingers from both hands is enough to keep the layers from producing a forward ripple.  If your finished piping tends to 'curl' or 'coil up' before it is attached to your garment then you definitely have stretched and twisted the bias strips around your filler cord.  Twisted piping will cause your finished seams to appear rippled or cupped. Hand basting usually results in a smoother finished product.  Sorry, short cuts generally aren't time savers in the end.   Note: the raw edges of the piping are staggered .  This will save a step in trimming down the layers.



The zipper foot simply can't stitch close enough to the piping. The 'finished width' will be too broad.

The center /middle piping was sewn without any basting or pinning. The forward gravity of the feed dogs causes the top layer to move forward.  The end result is a twisted/coiled length of piping.

The right hand sample is hand basted. The bias fabric strip is relaxed, not stretched, and straight.

(Please click on picture to enlarge for the details.)


And yes, I HAND BASTE the piping onto the garment.  Anytime you are sewing layers of fabric together the top layers want to travel forward.  As I am folding the bias over the cord I allow the raw edges to be at least 1/8 inch apart.  This way I do not have to grade my seam allowances after the piping is installed. I do NOT advocate pinning the piping.  It's very, very difficult to get the piping stitched on straight when using pins.  Stopping every few inches to remove a pin interrupts the continuous momentum of the stitching line.


I particularly like the 3 groove pin tucking foot for installing piping.  I find the zipper foot sometimes produces an inconsistent line of stitching exposing uneven amounts of piping.

I prefer not to 'lap' the ends of bias strips simply because of the bulk. On garments a seamed intersection is smoother and more finished.

Save the 'lapped' bias strip method for the home dec projects.