A. Hemmed Band.
See description of the Gathering, [page 68]. Gather as desired. Place the right sides of the cloth and band together and baste just above the gathering thread, taking care that the gathers are arranged perfectly even. Stitch just below the gathering thread. Turn in a fourth of an inch at the ends and along the other side of the band. Fold the band over just covering the gathers, and baste. Hem or stitch along the edge, overhanding the ends of the band.
B. Overhand Band.
See description of Gauging, [page 69]. Make the band by turning in one-fourth of an inch all around, folding and basting the edges together. Overhand the ends of the band. The whipping of the full part to the band will be sufficient to hold the two sides of the band together. Turn back the raw edges of the piece to be gathered one-half inch and gather once, twice or three times as desired. Pin to the band and overhand, taking a stitch for each pleat of the gathers. Fasten all bands very securely.
Bias.—A bias is a diagonal cut. To cut a true bias, fold over the corner of the cloth so that the warp and woof threads are parallel. A choice bias is a true bias, having the twill of the cloth at right angles to the cut. Great care should be taken in measuring and cutting bias strips to have them the same width throughout the length. Also avoid stretching after cutting.
a. To cut a bias facing, bias binding or fold, measure in the desired width on the true bias at a number of points. Draw a line, crease in a fold or baste where the facing is to be cut off.
b. To put on a bias facing, place the edge of the strip, right sides together, even with the edge of the cloth to be faced, baste and stitch. Turn the facing back exactly in the seam and baste along the edge so that the facing will not show on the right side. Turn the fold at the top, baste and hem.
A bias facing for a curve should be cut narrow enough so that by stretching one edge of the facing it will lie perfectly smooth when finished.
c. To join two bias strips—Cut the ends to be joined straight with the threads of the cloth and place the right sides together, slipping the top piece past the under piece the width of a seam, but having the top edges even. Stitch where the facings cross, open the seam and crease; or, after trimming, a seam may be turned back at the end of each piece and the folded edges overhanded together.
Cloth.—A fabric woven of fibers, either animal or vegetable. The edges of cloth are known as the selvedge, the threads running lengthwise the warp, and those crossing the warp from selvedge to selvedge the woof. The selvedge should be trimmed off, as it is hard to sew through and draws up when wet.