Applying Piping Cord to Your Project

Did you check out last week’s tutorial on Covering Your Own Piping Cord? I hope it inspired you to try it. This week- How to apply the piping to your project. You can use your own covered piping or pre-made piping. 

First off, what is piping? Piping is a decorative piece that you can apply to pillows, purses, quilts, etc. To simplify it, the construction of piping is basically a piece of material with some type of cord sewn in between the layers. Take a look at your fancy bed shams or bed spreads- many of them will have accent piping. The piping is typically “sandwiched” between two fabric layers.The piping adjoins the fabric pieces and adds a decorative look.

If you made your own piping last week, applying it is a piece of cake. The most important thing to remember? Use a zipper or piping foot! My machine didn’t come with a piping foot, so I use a zipper foot. A zipper foot allows close stitching against an object, like a zipper, that would normally not be possible with a typical sewing foot. This is the same concept with piping. The zipper foot allows stitching right next to the piping cord for maximum hold. Pull out your sewing machine manual if you need help finding and attaching your zipper foot.

Applying piping to fabric– The covered piping should have around 1/2″ excess fabric behind the piping. Take the fabric  RIGHT side up. Lay the piping on the edge of the fabric (where the piping is being applied) and make sure the raw edges of the piping and fabric are aligned. Pin in place.

When applying piping to a round object or piece of fabric where the piping ends meet, cross the ends of the piping and pin in place. Fold the raw edges of the piping under.At the end of the project, these ends can be tidied up with slip stitching.

Stitching the piping in place– Using the zipper foot, baste the piping very close to the cord to secure it in place.

See the below picture for what the fabric should look like after the piping is applied:

Use the secondary piece of fabric to “sandwich” the piping in between two pieces of fabric (this will make more sense as you are actually doing a project.). Use a zipper foot to stitch this piece of fabric into place, stitching close to the piping cord.

Take extra care and precautions when stitching piping that is “sandwiched” and unseen. Remember to always use the zipper foot when stitching around piping, even if the piping cord is in between layers of fabric and is not visible.

The Round Pillow that we are making on Monday uses Piping Cord! Here is a sneak peak of the pillow and of what a finished Piping Cord project looks like:

Linking to these great parties!