What you need to make your own piping:
- A length of cord
- Your fabric of choice
- Tape measure
- Meter stick or yard stick (or ruler of some sort)
- Fabric pencil
- Rotary blade
- Cutting board
- Sewing machine with zipper foot
- Pins and scissors
You will be cutting strips of fabric to create your piping. To determine how wide your strips of fabric must be, you need to measure the circumference of your cording.
Add to this measurement 2 x seam allowance you need. For instance, the circumference of my cord is 1/2 inch and I want 1/2 inch seam allowance -- so my strips will need to be 1 1/2 inches wide.
The strips of fabric must be cut on the bias. Why cut on the bias? When you cut on the bias (45 degree angle) the fabric has more stretch to it and you want your piping to bend and flow around the curves of your body and the garment. In case you are like me and forget every bit of math you learn the moment you pass the exam, here's what a 45 degree angle looks like.
Lay your fabric evenly on your cutting board (with the selvedges horizontal) and use your rotary blade to cut the strips at the 45 degree angle in the width you calculated. Cut as many strips as (once sewn together) will give you the length of piping you need. You can use your fabric pencil to mark your lines before you cut.
Once your strips are cut you are going to attach them to one another. Start by squaring off the ends.
Attach the ends at a right angle and sew from corner to corner (pic: I have pins across where you want to sew).
Here is what they look like once the ends are sewn together from corner to corner:
Once your pieces are attached to your desired length place the cording inside, fold over evenly, and pin.
Use your zipper foot to sew along side the cording. Be sure not to push or pull on your fabric as it feeds through the machine - it's bias cut and can easily stretch making your stitching uneven.
And that's it!