| Cording is that rounded trim you see around pillows and on upholstery. It falls in and out of fashion. Sometimes it is made in a contrasting color to accent a shape, sometimes made in the same fabric (self-cording). The core of the cording is a tube of fibers that is called cording, piping or welting. We carry it here. |
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You need to cut fabric wide enough to go around the piping/cording and give you a seam allowance. I like to use a 5/8" seam allowance on cording because it just gives me more fabric under my sewing machine presser foot which can prevent slipping. In these pictures, I was using a 8/32" cording, which refers to the cording's diameter. So, to compute the fabric width I needed, I used this formula: 8/32" (cording diameter) times 3 (for Pi, which will give me the circumference of my cording. I just dropped the decimals.) plus 2 times 5/8" (for my 2 seam allowances). After much fraction math, it comes out to 2".
Normally, cording is cut on the bias. Cutting on the bias means at a 45 degree angle to the selvage. Cutting on the bias allows the cording to curve around corners easily. Use a cutting mat or a ruler with angle markings to figure that out for you. Once you've figured out where your angle is, just starting cutting strips in the width you computed above.
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Now that your strips are cut, you can stitch strips together to obtain the length you need. Place the pieces at a 90 degree angle and stitch at a 45 degree angle (where the pin is in the picture) and press open. Notice I offset the ends a bit to compensate for the seam allowance. |
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Wrap the fabric around the cording and stitch together. Use the zipper foot on your machine so that you can get as close to the cording as possible. Use a thread that matches the cording as this stitching will most likely show. |
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I always baste the cording to one piece of fabric before I sew pieces together. Here is a chair cushion where the cording goes all the way around the piece and then meets. Cut the fabric and cording to about 2" longer than that point at which they meet. Then remove the stitching from the cording to expose the inner cording and cut the cording ONLY to just meet the other side. |
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Now fold under the fabric approximately 1" to hide the raw edges. |
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Place the start of the cording within the folded fabric of the other end. |
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Pin in place and baste. |
copyright 2008 j. caroline designs, l.p.
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