Chances are you have ready-to-wear garments in your closet that have the cover stitch as a finishing or construction element. Take a look at the hem on your knit tops and T-shirts, casual and athleisure wear. If you see two or three parallel rows of stitching on one side and a “loopy” stitch on the other side, you’re looking at a cover stitch. The loop side is also often seen as a seam highlight on the right side of sporty tops, jackets, and pants. You can use a belt loop binder attachment to replicate these results.

In recent years, machines capable of making these stitches have become more common in home use. Explore the attachments and specialty feet available for your stand-alone or combination cover-stitch machine, and you’ll have fun expanding your cover-stitching possibilities. Case in point: the belt loop binder, a versatile attachment for the cover-stitch or combination machine. Similar to a bias-tape maker, ­­the binder turns under the raw edges of a fabric strip. Affix a binder to the table of your cover-stitch machine and you can fold and stitch fabric strips fast. The name comes from its industry use; you’ve seen its results on jeans. You can use it to finish belts and belt loops, make bag and garment straps, or create bracelets.

There may be multiple belt loop binder widths for your machine, so check availability with your machine dealer or the manufacturer’s website.