Dateline: 08/10/00
Whether you are making home decorating items, such as pillows, or embellishing clothing, adding various trims make an item unique. Today's jeans are loaded with trim. Save money by adding the trim your self. There really is nothing to stop your creative inspiration once you know how to add the trims.
The first step for any trim is to pre-shrink them. There is nothing more disappointing then having just the look you want and once it is washed everything shrinks, leaving a puckered mess. Pre-shrink the fabric by washing it in the same manner as you will be with the finished item.
To pre-shrink trims, soak them in the same temperature water as you will be washing finished item. Use your fingers to "squiggy" out the extra water, then lay them flat on a towel and roll the towel tightly to remove the remaining water. If you will be machine drying the finished item, you will need to machine dry the trim. Many times this leads to a tangled mess. This can be prevented by placing the trim in a lingerie bag or a pillow case.
Flat trims usually will fray on the ends and you must find a way to prevent that on the finished item. If you are making an item from scratch, add the trim before you construct the item so that the ends of the trim will be enclosed in finished seam allowances.
To add flat trim to already finished items, such as blue jeans, mark where you want the trim with chalk or a disappearing tailors pen. Measure how much trim you will need for that area. Start pinning the trim on at a seam joint. As you reach where, the trim will over lap, extend the trim so it does overlap and turn under a 1/4". Top stitch the trim into place and slip stitch the overlap seam closed to prevent the ends of the trim from working their way out and fraying.
For a very bulky trim, it may be necessary to turn under both ends and butt them up to each other, so there is no more then two layers of trim for the machine to go through at one time. Slip stitch the butted seams to each other.
| Tip: Many trims are made with synthetic fibers that will melt when exposed to a flame. This will prevent fraying but if your sewing machine needle hits a lump of melted fiber it will break and can cause machine complications. If you choose to singe the ends to prevent fraying, do so very lightly and do not leave lumps of melted fiber on the end. |
Rick Rack offers it's own challenge. When you purchase rick rack be aware that there are many types available. The least expensive is made for crafts and does not wash well. It will curl up and often lose it crisp curves. If you are applying rick rack to a garment or item that will be washed often, be sure to buy a quality rick rack.
A quality rick rack can be top stitched down the middle, using the same techniques as a flat trim. To further prevent curling of the points, hand stitch the points to the item using a small stitch in the rick rack and running stitches inside the item from point to point.
A fluffy flat trim may need to be totally attached by hand to prevent the fibers of the trim from being compressed and losing the fluff. Use the same technique as described above to enclose the ends, even when hand stitching the entire trim.
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