|
|
|
Fun with Hem Facing
In the Ruching and Ruffles supplement, under Ready-made fabric strips, I say that 2"-wide (5 cm), bias-cut hem facing, which has 1/4" (6 mm) pressed-in hems at both edges, can be used to make ruched and ruffled trims. It can also be made into other types of trims (stiffened with interfacing; or cotton hem facing, with spray sizing or starch, if needed). The binding can be made narrower by folding and pressing one edge, then trimming the excess to 1/4" (.6 mm).
Make longer strips by sewing pieces of facing together on the bias, as you would bias binding (see the Sewing Primer). Cutting it in half results in 1"-wide (2.5 cm) strips, with one finished edge, that can be used for frame binding (allowing for matching trim and binding), and for the binding on ring shades. New facing only comes in basic colors, but it can be painted, stenciled, rubber stamped, and otherwise decorated. It can also be dyed, but the hems are lost in the process. With regards to painting, try Design Masters COLORTOOL discussed in Colorizing White Paper
|
|
To create 1" (2.5 cm) of tightly gathered ruffles, such as these, requires 6" (15.2 cm) of hem facing, resulting in 6" (15.2 cm) of ruffles per yard (91.4 cm). So, for example, a 10" (25.4 cm) ring, with a 31.5" (80 cm) circumference, would require 189", or 5.25 yards (4.8 m) of facing, and if both rings are 10", that's a total of 10.5 yards, or 378" (9.6 m).
|
The lavender, vintage, rayon hem facing is unevenly faded, creating a rather nice effect. Let me know if you figure out how to do this on purpose.
|
|
Packaged hem facing comes in 3-yard, or 108" (2.8 m) lengths, so you'd need four packages to do a shade this size. A 36-yard (33 m) roll (1,296") will produce 216" (548.6 cm) of these ruffles. Of course, the looser the gathering, the less facing is required. Looser gathers, though, allows the stitches to show, so you'll need to use a decorative thread, or cover the stitches with a matching or other trim.
You'll probably only find packaged, poly/cotton hem facing at fabric stores, but you can get rayon, cotton, and poly/cotton, by the yard or bolt, from professional sewing supply sources. There's also plenty of packaged vintage cotton, rayon, and acetate hem facing still around (and some by the bolt), in a whole lot wider color selection. The only problem may be finding enough in the same color, but you can blend two or more colors together. See Sewing Supplies and Embellishment Supplies for new hem facing sources, Shopping on eBay for the vintage version, and search for it elsewhere on-line, too. Do let us know on the board if you have any other ideas for how hem facing can be used.
|
|
|
