Sewing on the Bias Part 4

The unique properties of bias-cut fabric have been known and used for hundreds of years, but because cutting on the bias uses up a lot more fabric than cutting them on the grain, it was only used for smaller practical applications. In the 1920s, fabric was cheaper and easier to come by which allowed Madeleine Vionnet to fully utilize the unique properties of bias-cut fabrics.

One early application of bias cut fabric was for fringed trim on hunting frocks back in the 1700s. This trim was not for fashionable purposes, mind you, but practical ones.

Early American woodsmen would wear loose fitting pants and frocks made out of sturdy inexpensive linen over their clothing to protect it as they made their way through the thick dense forests. Basically, an early form of overalls. We often see images of Daniel Boone and other frontiersmen dressed in these hunting frocks.

Bias-cut fringe, made from scraps of fabric, was strategically placed on the frocks and pants to prevent ticks and other annoying insects from getting under the clothing. Like ruffles and smocking, which were originally added to garments for practical purposes among the working class, this bias-cut fringe was eventually picked up and reworked into a decorative embellishment for more fashionable clothing.

Coco Chanel, a mid-twentieth century French fashion designer, made this fringed biased trim popular on her trademark Chanel jackets which are still in high demand today.

In this tutorial, I am going to demonstrate how you can apply a bias cut fringe to make a chic Chanel inspired jacket for your dolls. There are a number of patterns in the Pixie Faire catalog that would work well for this project, including Read Creations Riding Jacket, Liberty Jane's Schoolboy Blazer, Cropped Jacket, and Penny Lane Jacket, Forever 18” Campaign Jacket, dkinley Designs Perfectly Plaid Jacket, Keepers Dolly Duds Parade Day and Train Station Jacket, and Little Miss Muffet's Autumn Rose Jacket.

I have decided to use Liberty Jane's Cropped Jacket and Dkinley Designs Perfectly Plaid Jacket for our demonstration.

Follow along in the video to see how Shari has brought the Chanel look to these garments!

 

Interested in adding the Hong Kong Binding to the Cropped Jacket? See more about that in this video (at 5:44 minutes in).

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