Sewing On The Bias Part 1

Hi Everyone! Welcome to Sewing on the Bias. For this series, Shari Fuller will be taking the lead and bringing you a set of tutorials focusing on using the bias cut of fabric to achieve soft flowing garments and design interest!

One of the first things I was taught when I began to sew was the importance of following the grainlines on a pattern. These grainlines are meant to line up with the lengthwise grain of the fabric, the yarns that are parallel to the selvage edge of the fabric. Usually, the lengthwise grain runs straight up and down a garment since it is much more stable than the crosswise grain.

For the most professional looking finish, I was taught to measure along the grainlines on my pattern pieces to make sure they were perfectly parallel with the edges of the fabric because any tilt from the grainline into the bias would alter the balance of the fabric and distort the overall appearance of the finished garment.

While all this is true, what if... what if we threw caution to the wind and cut our pattern pieces out following the bias of the fabric instead of the grainline?

In the early 1920s, French designer Madeleine Vionnet asked herself this same question. At this time, ladies clothing was becoming more free-flowing and less structured. The problem was, the new styles were looking boxy and unfeminine.

Madeleine had been experimenting with fabrics, and found that bias-cut fabrics were more fluid and produced delicately draped dresses that clung naturally to the body...free-flowing AND elegant. The effect was stunning and this technique would become her trademark and a defining characteristic of fashion from the 1920s and 30s.

In this series, we are going to experiment with cutting whole garments on the bias and to start things off, I am going to show you how to make a simple 1920s era dress designed by Madeleine Vionett.

Follow along in the video tutorial as I re-create this look at the 18-inch scale. 

• Download the PDF Tutorial in the Sewing With Cinnamon Bonuses Section.

 

 

 

If you are making your own handkerchief squares and want to create a beautifully sewn delicate hem, follow along in this video:

I hope you enjoyed this project. For our next tutorial I will be working with my new pattern, A Shift In Bias, this will help to demonstrate the difference between bias and straight grain designs. See you then!

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