dining room table protector pads
piping adds a nice finishing touch to projects like cushions or upholstery. i'll be sewing a pillow to show how to make piping. the cord inside the piping is referred to as cording, welting, piping cord, welt cord. 1/8 inch is a common size, but there are any thicknesses. the core can be made of of various materials like cotton, paper fiber, or foam. cotton will be soft and flexible, the foam is stiffer, and the paper fiber seen here is in betewen. this is fiberflex tissue welting cord. first cut out strips of fabric. piping is often cut on the bias, which means diagonally,
because it gives the fabric more stretch for wrapping around corners. but if your project doesn't require precise curves, cutting straight across works fine and saves yardage. to determine how wide the strips should be, take the width of your cording, add the seam allowance you'll be using, then multiply that number by 2. this is 1/8 inch cording and the seam allowance will be 1/2 an inch, so the strips are 1 and 1/4 inches wide. for the length, measure enough to wrap around the perimeter of your project plus a couple extra inches. you may need to cut multiple pieces. to make the piping, sew the strips together diagonally for a smoother transition. at the end of one of the pieces, mark a 45 degree line on the wrong side of the fabric.
line up the end of another piece so it's perpendicular, with the right sides facing. this will create a continuous piece when opened. sew along the line and cut off the excess fabric. put the cording in the middle of the strip of fabric and fold it in half. attach a zipper foot to your sewing machine. place the piping to the left of the foot. sew with a long stitch length, not too close to the cording. this will temporarily hold the piping in place. next sew the piping to your other pieces with the right side of the fabric facing up.
leave a couple inches of piping loose at the beginning. match up the edges of the fabric and the piping and sew. you can continue to use a long stitch length here and again, don't sew too closely to the cording. when you reach the corner, make a couple of cuts into the edge of the piping. this will make it easier to turn the corner. with the needle down, lift the foot to adjust the fabric as you go around the curve. continue to sew until you're a few inches from where you started. cut the piping a little long and rip open the cover a couple of inches. pull back the fabric form the cording.
cross the two ends of the cording and cut through so that they meet without overlapping. on the other end, fold over the fabric diagonally, and wrap it around the piping. finish sewing it to the fabric. finally, take your other piece of fabric and place it on top of the piping with the right side facing down and pin it together. change the stitch length back to a standard length and sew with a half inch seam allowance. this time sew close to the piping for a tight fit. back stitch at the beginning and end, and the piping is now complete.