Now, I promised to write this tutorial to show my Mum how I applied this finish to her top… and others expressed an interest too; thank you so much to everyone else who did… I finally did it, yay 😉
Mostly I would use this finish for a neckline that is wide enough to need no zip or button opening, as pictured above. Another example of its use is for a hemline such as the skirt demonstrated here. I’m making this in a totally inflexible fabric with about zero give, PLUS the design has such a sharp curvature around the bottom edge a regular turned-up-twice hem is quite difficult to execute neatly. The bias binding finish is a good solution for this 🙂 It results in a clean, banded finish on the inside of the garment, with one row of 1cm (3/8″) topstitching visible on the outside of the garment.
This method is just one of several ways of doing this kind of finish, I prefer this way because I find it the quickest and easiest, results in minimal fabric bulk, and minimal mucking around.
Firstly, make a strip of 2.5cm (1″) wide bias cut fabric long enough to fit the opening to be finished, plus at least 20cm (8″) extra. Best fabrics to use are something woven that is very thin, fine and lightweight, like cotton voile, silk or handkerchief linen; in an unobtrusive colour toning in with the fabric. For Mum’s cotton top above I used the self-fabric because it is quite light; for the blue suedette skirt I used a scrap of leftover silk-like microfibre.
Right sides together, pin around the edge to be finished, and stitch in a 6mm (1/4″) seam, leaving a gap between start and finish of around 15cm (6″) and ideally tails of at least 20cm (8″) 
Fold and press the strips to meet together on the bias. I find it best to leave a very tiny gap, like 1-2mm or so, between the pressed edges. Don’t have any explanation for this, just that it works better when it can stretch into it just a touch. Keeping everything straight and right sides together, pin along the folds, stitch, and trim. Press seam open.
Stitch up the gap to complete the bias strip attachment to the edge. Press the bias strip, bias strip seam allowance, and garment seam allowance away from the garment. Understitch these three layers together close to the seam line, keeping just the garment layer free.
Turn the garment wrong side up and press the bias strip back onto the garment, keeping the seam line just inside the pressed edge.
Turn under a 6mm (1/4″) seam allowance on the bias strip, press and pin in place. Topstitch 1cm (3/8″) in from the garment edge. Done! and the nice thing is that you won’t ever be able to see where the strip starts and ends 🙂
ly perfect Word that describes my new “thing” to a T springs to mind instantly. Other times I just plump for the obvious. Today, inspiration was like a wispy breathe of smoke in a dark shadow of the night. Barely present, fleeting and rapidly lost amongst the dusty cobwebs in ye olde brain.
Pattern; Vogue 1351; bought aaaaaaaages ago. With the intention of making it up immediately, funnily enough! but more on that later…
Details:
Partly because of the colour. And partly because the designer is also French Navy. Truly!
So, recently I discovered 
The Orla is a super quick and fun little pattern which is exactly what I wanted to cleanse my palate, so to speak, after my mad Christmas making-fest… Featuring a gently fitted bodice, rather pert short sleeves, which I think I would be rather nice in elbow length too; a highish waistline, and with a gathered rectangle skirt. I think the low scooped neckline is really lovely, it’s my favourite thing about the pattern. I added 3cm in length to my skirt… just because I thought the gathered skirt gave it a rather young look and I’m.. well, you know. not. Hehe, to be honest I agonised over the length of this skirt, you don’t want to know for how long.. at least as long as it took to make the whole dress. I pinned and tried on, contemplated; re-pinned, re-tried on, re-contemplated… I finally settled upon keeping some extra length that I’d added while cutting out, but I’m still partially tossing up the idea of re-hemming it shorter again. Man, I am SOOOOOO indecisive sometimes, I drive myself batty… I think I’m going to be ok with this length… FOR NOW, she intones, dramatically. I may or may not change it up on a whim, whenever. But maybe not. Might do, though.
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Funny story; I made this nearly two months ago… and risked 
2. a white cobwebby, lace-y skirt, with a very pretty border. I used Vogue 1247… again! and spliced the pattern pieces together so there’s just one seamless front, and the two back pieces with one centre seam for the zip. The white lace shell and cream suiting gabardine lining/underlining fabric are from Fabulous Fabrics. The waistband is cut from the same cream fabric. I like the cream peeping through from underneath the pure white lace, I think it makes a really nice, tonally subtle contrast. The waistband looked a little bland by itself but I didn’t want machine topstitching, I thought it would look a little… I don’t know, like it would lower the tone of the skirt or something. But it needed something. So I did some hand-picksitching along the top edge… and really like how this looks; it adds a little bit of something, a certain handmade je ne sais quoi, and practically speaking achieves the stabilising effect of topstitching without the regimental look of machine topstitching.
Oh! I almost forgot! not a Christmas present, but a few months ago I also made a Named pattern Inari tee dress for her. This isn’t for work obviously, it’s just a casual, slop-around-at-home thing… the fabric was leftover from a hoodie that she made for herself previously, and she bought it in Tokyo during one of our holidays there. I added a kangaroo pocket at the front because, well you know; pockets! and finished the neckline and opening edges of the pocket with a bias binding; left off the slits and finished the bottom gently curving longer at the back than at the front, mimicking the high-low hem of the original pattern.
o buy/make-for men in my life. Honestly, it would be so much more fun and frivolous if I only had girls to make stuff for, but you know. I love these big blokey-bloke creatures anyway.
All fabrics and buttons are from Spotlight, both a crisp cotton print. Funny thing, while I was making each shirt, I kept each guy’s shirt super secret from that particular guy, but was less careful when that guy wasn’t around. So every now and again they would catch sight of the other one’s shirt. And even though I was careful to say to them, “btw, this is NOT for you!” they each privately thought the other’s shirts WERE for them, and were looking forward to wearing them! I’m sorry! but yes, I was telling the truth 😉
I altered things very slightly on each shirt… the pockets are different on each one. They both have two breast pockets; but Craig’s has arrow-pointed bottoms, and I did a little bar tack on the top edge of the topstitching, in lieu of the usual triangle. I don’t know why, just a whim. For Sam’s, the pockets have a rounded bottom, and the regular triangle at the top edges. I chose shiny black button for his shirt, to pick out the black feather borders, and unobtrusive, white, matte buttons for Craig’s shirt, to allow the floral to truly shine, hehe.
