I've been working on my tshirt dress, trying to get the right balance of tshirt and dress, and I think I'm finally onto something. I've also been worrying about how to do necklines on dresses that I don't have matching FOE for. The turn twice and stitch hasn't been working for me so I decided to try self binding and I really like the look. Forgot to add that I also like the way it hangs, the fabric is softer and has a better drape than the elastic so it lays better on Lauren's neck/shoulders. Woohoo, I'm finally not dependent on FOE (of course my big box of FOE arrived in the mail today, anyone need some?)!

http://www.jaymelee.com/liliclothes/lavenderdress.jpg


And just because I found a picture of it, here's a diaper I made recently:

http://www.jaymelee.com/albums/sewing/dahliadiaper.thumb.jpg

Very nice, Jayme! I have to agree that I think there's a defninite formula of bodice : skirt with that kind of dress. It look perfect! And I'm rather partial to self-binding myself ~ that looks really nice!

The diaper is sweet, too! I did one out of the lavender lili a while ago. If I wasn't so against using up all of my pretty fabtric I'd probably do more! LOL Did you use velour inside? It looks yummy! Your own pattern?

Jayme, that's really beautiful! I like the self binding too. Can you share how you put it on? I'm struggling with it looking neat on both the inside and the outside.

Oh, and your dress looks very well balanced... sleeve length, gathers, everything!

Meagan ~ the diaper is a modified cuddlebuns and yes, the inner is velour. I also made a lavender diaper and had perfectly matching light lavender velour for the inner on that one. :) I'm not overly concerned about running out since I have over 30 yards of lavender left. :rolleyes:

Heather ~ I cut a strip 1.25" and first sewed it .25" in with the right side of strip to wrong side of dress ~ raw edges lined up. Then I flipped the bodice piece over and folded the other raw edge of the strip down to the raw edge of the neckline, then folded again and stitched. The front side was slightly longer than the back and the front stitches were pretty much "in the ditch" on the back. Clear as mud? I can take pics for you tonight if you'd like.

That is beautiful!!!! Forgive my ignorance...what is self binding??

Originally posted by Tap dancin mama
That is beautiful!!!! Forgive my ignorance...what is self binding??

Finishing the raw edge by encasing it in a folded strip of the same fabric. It's hard to see in the pic, but look at the neckline and the bottom of the sleeves.

yes post pics of your self-binding how to!

did you turn and topstitch that CB diaper pattern? I was contemplating getting that one, but I don't have a serger and wasn't sure if it was possible to T&T it.

nak

Here's the 1.25" strip ready to be sewn.

http://www.jaymelee.com/sb1.jpg


sewing it .25" from the raw edge on the back of the shirt w/raw edge of strip and shirt lined up

http://www.jaymelee.com/sb2.jpg

now this is the right side of the shirt, bring the strip up

http://www.jaymelee.com/sb3.jpg


fold it down so the top raw edge meets the other two edges

http://www.jaymelee.com/sb4.jpg

then fold it over the top

http://www.jaymelee.com/sb5.jpg


and sew close to the finished edge of the strip

http://www.jaymelee.com/sb6.jpg

Beautiful, that is now crystal clear to me! I was having problems visualizing it earlier, but your pictures and description helps immensely. Now I know what I'll try next!

very cool, thank you for posting that!
-sarah

Thank you so much! It makes so much sense now.
nak

I missed the original post behind this. Is this for necklines or hemlines? If for a neckline, how long do you make the binding?

Thanks!

Originally posted by Sharon
I missed the original post behind this. Is this for necklines or hemlines? If for a neckline, how long do you make the binding?

Thanks!
Yeah yeah what she said, how long...
PLUS? Is the strip stretchy or cut the nonstretchy way?
Thanks for the pics and sew a long! :cool: It's really appreciated

Thanks sooo much for posting this! :)
Ditto what they said (about how do you know how long to cut your strip/stretch the strip)? Also, when you folded it over and sewed it down on the front, did you just use an ordinary straight stitch?

(Original post has now been merged with this thread - r.s.)

I used the strips on the neckline and for the sleeve hem. I didn't use it on the bottom hem, *I* think it might look odd there. The strip is cut so the stretch goes side to side (longways).

I just eyeball the length, but you could lay a measuring tape around the neckline to get a rough estimate. On the lapped shoulder I just sewed it off the edge, but on the circular neckline I used Shecki's method (for FOE) of sewing the strip on until there was only an inch or so left in the back. Then I stopped, sewed the strip ends right-sides together to the proper length, then continued binding them to the neckline.

Oh, and I do sew the front on with a straight stitch.

Thanks for posting that!

Oh, and I'm jealous of your machine ;)

Oh my! I just did this and it worked wonderfully! I can't believe it. I actually tried it w/ a woven & after pressing it looked pretty good. Thanks again!:cool:

wow! two shout out's! I'm special.

Thanks for visual aid....I suck at instructions unless I can see pictures. This will be printed and put in my little "how to" binder.

Oh WOW!!! This is EXACTLY the info. I've been wanting!!! I made my boys 3 tank tops while Barb (fw221) was up here for the weekend and I made all three a bit different. I was trying to get the rtw look......these instructions are totally like rtw!!!

Thank you, thank you , thank you!!!! :p

This is pretty much the way I've tried to do this in the past, but I've had two problems that maybe someone can help me with ...

First, especially when trying to work w/ knits, the collar turns out too wavy/stretched. I've tried serging the raw edge of the shirt first, and stretching the binding a bit as I go, but I still have yet to be really pleased w/ how it turns out.

and secondly, it has always seemed a bit thick to sew through on the last go-round.

any ideas for me?

(and thanks for the pics ... I'm glad to know i was at least doing some of it right :)

Originally posted by bluehalo

First, especially when trying to work w/ knits, the collar turns out too wavy/stretched. I've tried serging the raw edge of the shirt first, and stretching the binding a bit as I go, but I still have yet to be really pleased w/ how it turns out.

and secondly, it has always seemed a bit thick to sew through on the last go-round.

any ideas for me?

(and thanks for the pics ... I'm glad to know i was at least doing some of it right :)

The first thing I did it on was a lapped shoulder tshirt dress and I was really pleased with the look. Then I did it on the pink mama shirt last night and noticed the wavy neckline problem when I tried it on today. I washed and dried it to see if it would recover and it's improved somewhat, but I'm still not thrilled with it. Back to the drawing board, it seems.

I think I'm going to try another shirt and apply the binding before I sew the front and back together and see if that helps. It'll leave seams on both shoulders, but I have longish hair so it shouldn't be too noticeable.

Not sure what to say about your thickness problem, I didn't have any trouble with that.

we need otadd this to the sewing faq-EXCELLENT insturctions, mama!!

I am ecited to sew somethign now, lol!