Beaded Trim to Bottom Edge

[YvonneR]

Hi Everyone

Sorry to ask this question! I have some interlined silk roman blinds to make which have to have a beaded trim to the bottom edge. The trim is on ribbon (one of the British Trimmings sort). I normally do this by following the M & D Method whereby I press a 8cm seam to the face and put the ribbon in the seam and machine along with the zip foot, this normally gets nice and close the edge and turn back on itself and it is very neat! Well today it won't work, I've tried changing needles and tensions etc etc and after messing about for an hour and half have achieved nothing only that I have to get my unpicker out!!

Does anyone use an alternative method or do you think I may need to resort to handstitching this one on!!

Many thanks
Yvonne

[nic]

Re: Beaded Trim to Bottom Edge

I can't see why it won't work! It might be quicker in the long run to hand sew, what a nuisance!

[thecurtainmaker]

Re: Beaded Trim to Bottom Edge

If the fabric and trim wont behave themselves going through the machine, curse it, then sit and handsew. It will save time in the long run.There's normally a good play on the radio in the afternoons!

[Tam]

Re: Beaded Trim to Bottom Edge

Silk is especially hard to attach beaded trim to as the tension of the machine needs to be perfect. I'd say hand sew too.Poor you, I cant bear days when you spend most of it unpicking work~says she whos struggling with piped cushions and tiebacks that are just about to be thrown into the garden and jumped all over . Im hoping the fairies can go in my workroom and finish them for me while I drink my coffee .

I cant bear anything with piping it takes too long

[YvonneR]

Re: Beaded Trim to Bottom Edge

Thanks to all three of you - I thought I was doing something wrong (as usual) - I have just managed to get the 50cm length in on the machine but it has taken since 10am and I am all behind now. Still have 3 more to get it into another 50cm length a 120cm length and a 180cm length - oh boy I don't like today. I am still not 100% happy (as Tam pointed out) the tension is not great and there is a tiny bit of puckering on the silk although I have managed to gently iron most of it out. Thank you Nic, Pen and Tam for taking the time to comment - much appreciated. Yvonne

[Flooz]

Re: Beaded Trim to Bottom Edge

I too had this problem with silk roman blinds, i found the beaded trim - well, the beads just finished soooo close to the ribbon it was impossible to get the ribbon hidden and the beads to hang right too. If i remember correctly, i ended up attaching them within the seam by machine, then going over the bottom with tiny hand stitches to ensure the front face of the blind covered the ribbon completely (unfortunately, the ribbon wasn't a good colour match, although the beads were). Next time - i'll just do the whole thing by hand from the start............

[detailspatterns]

Re: Beaded Trim to Bottom Edge

I'm not sure if this will help, but if the bead trim is the long, dangling variety, you can use pliers and break off the top seed bead on each dangle. It helps you get the ribbon trim all the way in the seam, without your presser feet getting in the way.

And on piping, do you use the tunneled cording feet? I just purchased sets of a couple of different sizes last year after learning about them, and they make applying piping and cording a breeze. You can often find them on eBay.

Lunch break is over! Have a nice day!

Liz

[Schuhby]

Re: Beaded Trim to Bottom Edge

I was once told, many moons ago to crack the top bead off before sewing into place, this way you get a closer finish. You could also try double sided tape to hold the ribbon while sewing.

Philip

[YvonneR]

Re: Beaded Trim to Bottom Edge

Thanks for the last few replies - all very good advice I didn't think to crack off the top bead which I might do in the future. I have made good progress since the last posting and only have one more to do now. I am quite pleased how they look now and the ribbon is now enclosed nicely; I did manage to do this on the machine. I stitched along the ribbon edge as close as I could firstly in order to secure an stop the beads moving and then put the fabric back over and stiched up close against the beads to enclose into the seam (just like Merrick and Day show in the Blinds, Curtains and Cushions book) - the main tip I would have for doing this after today is to use a domestic machine and I was lucky to find in my box of bits an "adjustable zipper foot" this coupled with adjusting the needle position on the domestic machine has enabled me to sew this trimming in. Thanks everyone for your tips and I will certainly bear your suggestion Liz in mind for future ones! Yvonne

[Louise]

Re: Beaded Trim to Bottom Edge

re. bead cracking

I have a friend who does a lot of bridal sewing - she regularly cracks beads when she needs to alter dresses and the beads get in the way of seams, darts, hems etc. It is a good tip.

My domestic machine has a very flexible zipper foot and the needle will move through about 16 positions to help with piping. I will investigate cording feet as I guess they help hold the piping in place through the feeding teeth. I think I'm in a minority - I love piping........