Thursday, January 23, 2014

Tutorial: How to Finish a Waist Seam with Bias Tape (Faux Waist Stay Tutorial)

Hey guys!
As promised, here's the little tutorial to show you how I finish the inside of dresses with a bulky waist seam. It will reduce some unwanted bulk and give you a clean, beautiful finish, all in one!

It's a super easy technique, you'll see; and the only notion you need is about 1m of bias tape (as much as your waist seam measures).

This is the stage of construction you want: the bodice and the skirt of the dress have been joint, but there still isn't a zipper. This dress has a center back zipper, but this technique will work on a side zipper as well.
I didn't even care to remove some of the basting threads I used to gather the skirt because we are going to trim the seam allowance anyways.
You want the seam allowance of the waist seam to be pressed upward.


1. Fold down the bodice of the dress so it's out of the way, and pin your bias tape through both seam allowances, very close to the seam. If you're using a slippery fabric or you're not very experienced, you might also want to baste before you move to the sewing machine. 

2. Edgestitch the bias tape to the seam allowances all along the waist seam; be careful not to catch the bodice in the seam.

3. Now trim the skirt seam allowance down to 5-6mm (1/4"). You don't want to trim too close to the seam (I went a little overboard) or you will weaken one of the most important seams of your dress.
If your fabric is very bulky, you might want to also trim down the seam allowance of the bodice; in this case, grade the seam allowances.

4. Fold  the bodice up again, and give a good press if needed. Pin (and baste, if you need more security) the bias tape to the bodice.
At this point you have two choices: you can either machine stitch or hand stitch the bias tape. Hand stitches are easier to conceal on the right side but are time consuming. Machine stitches are visible on the right side but are much faster.
If you decide to use your sewing machine (like I did in this case), remember to use a bobbin thread that matches your fabric and, as you sew, to slightly pull the bodice perpendicularly to the seam to avoid sagging.

This is how it looks on the inside...

... and on the outside.

Once the dress is worn, the seam is not very visible, especially if you're using a dark fabric (more photos of the dress here). 

I hope this tutorial will be useful, please let me know if you try this technique!