This week, I show you something a little different: how to make and use bias tubes to form an unusual braid! It gets its name from the single, colored strand that runs down the middle of the braid.
GIVEAWAY UPDATE: We have a winner! It's Natalie, who said, "I don’t think I could pick a favorite spot to vacation! Anywhere with family is great(as long as it’s not camping!), but I’d love to visit Ireland." Ireland sounds amazing, Natalie....and good times are always better with loved ones :) We'll be in touch via email soon.
And, thanks to everybody who entered! Wow! :)
There are lots of places you could use this braid, but today I'm going to use it as straps for the Liberty Jane Maxi Dress.
Cut fabric strips on the bias, 1" wide by about 12" long. You'll need three from your main color, and one from an accent color.
(By the way, "bias" just means at a 45 degree angle to the straight grain of the fabric -- there are lots of videos on youtube if you're not sure about this part. Cutting on the bias makes the finished tube lay a lot more smoothly when it's braided.)
Fold a strip in half, then stitch a shy 1/4" away from the folded edge.
Trim away the extra seam allowance, close to your stitching line.
Cut a tiny slit in one end of the tube, and thread a bobby pin through this spot.
Carefully work the bobby pin through the tube, to turn it to the right side. Give your finished tube a gentle press.
Do this with all the strips, then lay them out in order: two base color, accent, then the last base color. Stitch them together at one end.
Secure the end to your worksurface with a piece of tape -- or, you can just leave them in your machine, and hold them in place with the needle, like we suggest in the Maxi Dress pattern. It's time to braid!
Take the strip on the very left. Run it OVER strip #2, then UNDER the accent strip.
Then, take the strip on the very right, and put it UNDER its neighbor, and OVER the accent strip.
Keep going! (Left side: Over, Under. Right side: Under, Over. Left side: Over, Under...)
Your braid should start to look something like this:
When you get to the end, stitch the strips together at the bottom so they don't come unravelled.
Then, measure off the length of braid you'll need for your project, and stitch on either side of your cutting line. Now you're ready to chop the braid up, and put it to good use.....
...like sewing them into a cute new summer maxi dress!
Giveaway Time!
Wanna win this maxi dress? I made it just for this tutorial, and I'd love to send it to one lucky winner!
To enter, just leave a comment below, finishing this sentence:
"My favorite summer vacation spot is...."
We'll pick a winner on Monday, April 13th, and get in touch via email.
Thanks everybody, and have fun with this!
For Pixie Faire,
Melinda
344 Comments
My favorite summer place is where I live in the Okanagan. Everyone comes here to visit so we have so much to do. No only are there breathtaking veiws, we’ve been boasted as a wine destination. In our small city, there is a lake on the north (we can ride along for it 2 hours) and a lake on the south and mountains on the east and west. There are super twisty roads to take that don’t consist of taking the highway so riding on them with my granddaughter and her Maplelea dolls (Cindy & Madison). We all LOVE to ride on my motorcycle!!!!
My favorite vacation spot is the Biltmore Estate in Asheville , NC. We chose it for our 50th anniversary get away but my mother’s health has led to us postponing it. It will be there waiting for us when the time is right again. We would go every year if we could afford it.
What a cute idea, use up smaller pieces and something cute for summer.
My favorite vacation spot is my own back yard, spending time with my children, grand children and great grand childern
My favorite vacation spot is Venice it’s so beautiful !!!You can by beautiful , masks with lovely designs and pretty shapes. And other cool stuff to !
And if you go to Yesolo , a town not to far from Venice you can go to the beach ! My family and I love going to Italy ! ( Oh did I mention that they have the BEST ice cream EVER