Hi, I'm Haley. I'm the pattern designer here at Seamwork. You can find us at Seamwork.com.
We are a community of sewists that are all about designing and sewing our own wardrobes,
so check us out! Today, I am going to teach you all the basics you need to know for making
your first bias-cut garment. We're going to be covering what is bias, cutting, stabilizing,
construction, and finishing. The bias grain is super stretchy and malleable, and this
can make for really lovely garments, but it can also be a little bit tricky to sew. But
that same malleable nature is what provides bias-cut garments with their natural ease
and flexibility. I am here to urge you to keep it really simple when making your first
bias-cut garment. And you'll find that most garments that are intended to be cut on the
bias are really simple anyway. Things that are really great for the bias include camisoles,
simple woven tees, and wrap skirts. Basically, you're going to want to avoid anything that's
super super fussy wtih 8 darts and a ton of seams and closures. That just simply is gonna
fight against you when you are sewing a bias-cut garment. Really quickly, I want to show you
two examples of camisoles. One that is cut on the bias and one that's not, so you can
just see the difference. Here I have two camisoles. The Gwen, which is not cut on the bias and
the Savannah which is cut on the bias. Savannah doesn't utilize any shaping devices and this
is because the bias will really mold to the body as you wear it. Then we have the Gwen.
The Gwen utilized princess seams for it's shaping, because it's not cut on the bias.
It really needs to have that shaping in order to fit the body. You can also see a difference
in the way that they hang. These are both roughly the same size and the Gwen looks a
lot bigger because it doesn't hang quite as heavily as the bias-cut garment. Let's talk
about cutting your bias-cut garment. The first thing that you are going to want to do is
prepare all of your pattern pieces to be cut single layer rather than on the fold. Here,
I've prepared the Savannah top open, rather than on the fold. Here's a tip, when you're
working with really slippery fabrics, try placing a piece of tissue, just like this
one, underneath your fabric when you're cutting. It's just gonna add a little bit of extra
stability. A rotary cutter will be the best tool for cutting
out your bias-cut projects, instead of fabric shears. But make sure that you're putting
a fresh blade on your rotary cutter. When you're considering the cutting layout of your
garment, it's important to remember that every fabric has two biases, and you're gonna want
to utilize both of them. Here's an example. If you cut the front pattern piece and the
back pattern piece on parallel biases, the garment is going to have a tendency to want
to twist around your body and your side seams are going to look a little bit crooked. Instead,
what you want to do is place the back piece on the perpendicular bias, so that everything
hangs beautifully. Let's move on to stabilizing. Bias garments are particularly prone to stretching
and so for that reason, you are going to want to be really diligent with your staystitching.
Here, on the Savannah, I've staystiched along the underarms and neckline just to make sure
nothing stretches while I am sewing. You also might find that you want to use stabilizers
to make sure things stay...stable! Lightweight knit interfacing is going to be your best
bet. It's really ideal because it stretches and moves with your bias-cut garment. Use
it in places where you will be installing zippers or other closures. Let's move on to
construction. Bias-cut garments have a tendency to stretch over time and as you wear them,
and if your stitching doesn't stretch, the seams are going to have a tendency to bust.
So, to combat that, you're going to want to use a stitch that has a little bit of stretch.
I like using a really narrow zigzag stitch so that it works with my bias-cut garment
and not against it. Here's a tip: use a gentle touch when you're sewing your bias-cut garment.
Making sure that you are not stretching it or yanking it around when you're sewing it.
In fact, you're going to want to make sure you are doing the opposite. You want to make
sure you are really supporting your garment as it passes through your sewing machine,
and not hanging off of your table as you sew. There are two separate ways that you can use
an iron. The first way is to remove wrinkles—this motion is called ironing. Ironing is a back-and-forth
motion, and while it's really good at removing wrinkles, it's going to stretch out your fabric
like crazy. Then there is pressing. Pressing is an up-and-down motion with your iron. This
is how you're going to want to treat your bias-cut garment when you are pressing your
seams. All you need to do is press, don't iron. While your project is still in the process
of becoming a garment, you're gonna want to make sure that you are storing it flat instead
of hanging it. This is going to help make sure that nothing stretches out between sewing
sessions. So, you're almost done sewing your bias-cut garment, and you may be tempted to
just go ahead and hem it right away. But don't! You're gonna want to hang your garment overnight
to allow your fabric to relax a little bit. In the morning, you'll probably find that
the hem looks a little bit uneven and wobbly. Just trim it and make it nice and even again,
and then you can hem it. One thing that I preach to all of my students is a steady progression
of skills. Remember that sewing should be fun, so choose projects that allow you to
work on a few new skills at a time, and you'll absorb so much more. If you liked this video,
be sure to like and subscribe and follow us on Instagram, too. Thanks for joining me,
and happy sewing!