the title says it all – i hate facings and go out of my way to avoid putting them on anything. i will line a piece completely, but mostly i go through a LOT of purchased seam binding.
is it difficult to make your own binding? every instruction i find is so incredibly time consuming that a simple 2-hour pattern turns into a major production and i end up putting the project aside until i can find appropriate binding (fortunately, i keep to the same colour family and just buy package after package at sale time).
there has to be an easier way…
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I like to use binding instead of facings too, when it gives enough support.
To make my own seam binding, I bought a tool from http://www.nancysnotions.com, they come in several sizes. I use fusable tape with it. She also sells a little wooden holder for the tape that is very helpful. You can also buy water soluble fusable tape and thread which really leaves a nice finish. Mary
What is the particular problem about facings for you? I know that some of them are too stingy with the result that they skew and show themselves. Sometimes facing are necessary to give body to the project.I am a fan of binding edges. It is not difficult to make bound edging, always on the bias. I never buy seam bindings - they are too stiff and as you say, difficult to find in the fabric and colour you desire. I use ultrasuede, ultraleather, anything that matches my project and is the right weight and texture. Right now I am sewing a top from a remnant from another project and am going to bind the sleeve cuffs and
V neck with black ultraleather.I also like to use Sandra Betzina's idea of lining just the front of a jacket instead of using facings. It looks a lot more elegant and finished. If a facing is needed in this situation, attaching lining to the facing will look rather nice, especially with piping inserted between the two.
Sometimes I have to use binding.... and I find that is very often more of an issue that making a facing...... I have made my own bias binding and used readymade... and always find real issuea easing around curves and corners.... not to mention blind or topstitching...
You can build some memory into your binding by taking it to the ironing board. Lay it out mimicking the curves on your garment and steam the dickens out of it. Let it lay till cool. Then install the binding. This makes a big difference.
Making binding isn't hard. Unless you are making a lot of bindng, cut strips on the bias and sew them together. When I googled make bias binding there were lots of results, this is the first one.
Joanne - so many ideas, so much fiber, so little time
I think there is defiantly a easier way. Here is a link that explains how I make seam binding.
http://www.quilterscache.com/StartQuiltingPages/startquiltingfive.html
To add my two cents: I sometimes slice thru with my rotary blade in small intervals (leaving the edges intact) to make it faster to cut out the tape in the end and I also use a small stitch length to make the seam.
I looked up "making seam binding tube" on Google, you might find more. I don't like facing either (how many ready to wear or manufactured clothes use facing?). I have made lots of bias tape including very large widths. I have heard of people making lots of extra bias tape to have on hand for later projects.
stitchagain
What do you hate about facings, constructing them or having them flap out of place when you're wearing them? Sometimes facings give a garment a much higher quality look than bindings, especially when the bindings twitch out of place as you're sewing. I've found all kinds of sneaky ways to tack facings down that add to the garment, like using buttons or beads as decorations or a few discreetly placed stitches.
As for making your own bindings, it's neither hard nor time consuming. Any binding left over after a project can be tossed into a container and used to make ties for fabric bags, etc. Buying a bias binding folder makes a big difference. Once you get the fabric prepared it, you can just pull it under a hot enough iron and have yards of the stuff in five minutes.
tatsy, that's what i hate - the flapping around when i'm wearing them.some patterns have facings that are SO huge it doesn't make sense.thanks for the links and info everyone, i'm going to use some lining scraps this weekend to practice making bindings.
I find sometimes bindings are appropriate and sometimes facings are. I really don't have a strong preference. I don't have problems with flapping facings. I understitch them and ALWAYS stitch them in the ditch on the right side, usually the shoulder seams. solo
I forgot to mention that you may be able to buy a "binding foot" for your sewing machine. I have two for my serger, one of them folds the binding and attatches it at the same time using the coverstitch.
I prefer to use the binding folder, fusable, and the steamer to press as I create it though and then attatch it to the clothing item. More tedious, but looks much more professional on the inside.
Solosmocker had great advice on this. Mary
Once I learned to trim, press, and most importantly, understitch facings, I learned to love'em--they can really add a lot of support for the the fashion fabric and finish edges neatly. A recent article somewhere about decorative facings--flipping them to the outside and finishing them as contrasting bands--has also caught my eye.
I like bias binding, too, though, especially the kind that is doubled, then topstitched to the outside or catch-stitched on the inside. A number of websites detail how to make yards and yards of continuous bias binding, and a cheap, easy tool to use with an iron to make double-fold bias tape has made binding an easy option, too.
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