Electrical Wire as Cording to Make Stiff Piping

I'd never heard of maxi piping and certainly it wouldn't be available in Hong Kong (few people sew for themselves here!) so I thought about what might do the job. I went to an electrical shop and just felt the various wires (cables). One for computers seemed to have the right thickness and bend-ability so that's what I bought. They thought it was very funny that it was for sewing!

I just cut strips to make the piping from the bag material (sadly I didn't have enough to cut it on the bias as I should have but it worked OK) and covered the wire using the adjustable zipper foot to the right in to the wire.. Because I'd chosen quite thick wire I had to pull some of it out before making and sewing the top of the bag but that wasn't too much trouble. I'd used a good quality canvas so it was pretty thick. How to Cover Cording to Make Your Own Piping

Using this thickness of piping means that you can't use a serger for construction but I used a good jeans needle on my regular machine.

Here are some pics to show you the effect. I remembered handling bags which have very thick piping so that's what I was aiming for. I might get around to sewing a lining and a money pocket but we'll see!

How to Sew a Grocery Bag